Graduate Program in ReligionGraduate Program in Religion alumnus Dr. Thomas McGlothlin, whose 2015 dissertation was directed by Dr. J. Warren Smith, was awarded the 2019 Manfred Lautenschlaeger Award for Theological Promise. McGlothlin, who currently teaches at the Christian Academy in Japan, won with his publication Resurrection as Salvation: Development and Conflict in Pre-Nicene Paulinism (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018). From the FIIT (Research Center for International and Interdisciplinary Theology,… read more about McGlothlin Wins 2019 Award »
GPR's Associate Professor Leela Prasad has been awarded the 2019 Dean's Award for Excellence in Mentoring! Along with the recognition, there is a $3,000 prize attached to this award. The recipients will be honored at a ceremony on Wednesday, March 27, at Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Read more here. read more about Prasad Wins Dean's Award »
Diana Abernethy, of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, successfully defended her dissertation November 13, 2018. Her dissertation was titled "Profiles in Deception: Lying and Falsehood in 1 Samuel." Dr. Stephen B. Chapman directed the dissertation, and Carol L. Meyers, Anathea Portier-Young, Kathi Weeks and Jennie Grillo were the other committee members, with Grillo attending remotely. Abernethy is Assistant Professor of Religion at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL as of August. Her degree will be… read more about Dr. Diana Abernethy »
Yael Lazar successfully defended her doctoral dissertation "Networked Devotion: Hindu Adoption of Digital Media" November 14, 2018. Yael, Oren and children will be moving back to Israel in December. Pictured are Negar Mottahedeh, Laurie Patton (remote), Yael Lazar, Leela Prasad (chair), and David Morgan. Yael's degree will be conferred by The Graduate School in December. read more about Dr. Yael Lazar »
As part of the Teaching and Learning Luncheon, we were joined by Julia Trimmer and Lamont Cannon from Duke’s Office of the Provost, Finance and Administration to learn about Scholars@Duke which features the research, scholarship and activities of Duke faculty members and academic staff. As a research discovery system, Scholars@Duke displays web profiles that summarize a person's roles at Duke and displays their connections with colleagues. Visitors can search for faculty members by name, keyword or subject area or anything… read more about Teaching & Learning Holds Session on Scholars@Duke »
Chris Howell, PhD student in American Religion, was quoted in an article by The Chronicle for his upcoming class "Harry Potter and Religion." Read more here. read more about Chris Howell's Class Featured in Chronicle Article »
Jill Hicks-Keeton, a Duke Graduate Program in Religion alumna, has released her new book, Arguing with Aseneth: Gentile Access to Israel's Living God in Jewish Antiquity. One of the central controversies of the early church was whether or not gentile converts would be required to be circumcised before entering into the New Covenant. This is, obviously, an inherently male issue. So, in a community where there is now "neither male nor female," how does this dilemma apply to women? One way to approach this… read more about Arguing with Aseneth: Gentile Access to Israel's Living God in Jewish Antiquity »
A number of GPR students and faculty will be presenting in the AAR/SBL to be held in Denver, Colorado November 17-20. The annual conference of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature is perhaps the most important conference of the year for those in the field of Religious Studies. More than 1,200 events—academic sessions, additional meetings, receptions, tours, and workshops—will be offered at this annual conference. Graduate Program in Religion students who plan to… read more about Duke is Well Represented at AAR/SBL »
A first-year PhD student in Duke's Graduate Program in Religion, Jonathan Homrighausen has recently published a new book. Illuminating Justice explores the call to social ethics in The Saint John's Bible, the first major handwritten and hand-illuminated Christian Bible since the invention of the printing press. Situating his close analysis of The Saint John's Bible's illuminations in the context of contemporary biblical exegesis and Catholic teaching, Homrighausen shows… read more about Illuminating Justice »
Wen Reagan, an alumnus of the Graduate Program in Religion, has recently released a new live album: "A Live Retrospective: 2017-2018!" These recordings are the sounds of teachers, physicians, accountants, students, speech therapists, and engineers, all volunteers in a 200-person congregation, offering what little time they could (usually 1-2 hours a week) to practice and then lead their church family in musical worship on Sundays. In this, these songs document the lovely and messy singing life of a congregation led… read more about A Live Retrospective: 2017-2018 »
Asian Religions alumna Mani Rao's new book Living Mantra was just released in the Palgrave Macmillan Contemporary Anthropology of Religion series. "An intellectual journey through mantra practice at three Goddess-centered mantra communities in Andhra-Telangana, India Combines narrative, autoethnography, andrecentscholarship to paint a full picture of mantra as lived experience Reinterprets mantra in the light of fieldwork to bring a new understanding of mantra to… read more about Alumna Dr. Mani Rao's Book Release »
Recent alumnus Scott Muir reflects on his journey searching for tenure-track jobs while writing his dissertation, and where it has led. Read more here. read more about Dr. Scott Muir Reflects on "Postdoc Purgatory" »
Dr. Elaine Heath has stepped down as dean of Duke Divinity School. Dr. L. Gregory Jones will be interim dean while a national search is conducted. To read more, click here. read more about Duke Divinity's Dean Heath Steps Down »
David Smith, a 6th year student in New Testament, successfully defended his dissertation today! Titled "Luke, the Jews, and the Politics of Early Christian Identity," his dissertation was on identity politics and Jewish/Christian relations in the Gospel of Luke. He is pictured here with his advisor Joel Marcus and committee members Ross Wagner, Brittany Wilson, and Mark Goodacre. In addition, Kavin Rowe attended remotely. Smith recently completed a year in residence in Jerusalem at the University of Notre Dame… read more about David Smith Successfully Defends Dissertation »
Ryan Juskus' summer has not been a typical one. He has been involved in a project researching sanitation access in Lowndes County, Alabama, where up to 90% of households have either no or inadequate access to sanitation. Read more here. read more about Ryan Juskus' Research Takes Him to Alabama »
Kara Slade successfully defended her dissertation today! Her dissertation "The Fullness of Time: Christological Interventions Into Scientific Modernity" was directed by Dr. Amy Laura Hall and Dr. Willie J. Jennings. This is not Kara's first PhD at Duke. Her BSE, MS, and PhD in mechanical engineering and materials science at Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering led her to a post at NASA. Somewhere along the way, she decided to pursue ministry and joined our program in fall of 2013. Slade serves as… read more about Slade's Dissertation Defense »
Two of our Graduate Program in Religion faculty have been appointed Distinguished Professor chairs. Dr. Jeremy Begbie and Dr. Norman Wirzba, whose primary appointments are in Duke Divinity School, have been recognized with this, the highest honor awarded by the University to outstanding faculty. Dean Elaine Heath writes, "Dr. Begbie has been appointed the Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Professor of Theology. Dr. Begbie has been with the Divinity School since 2009. His work has focused on the intersection… read more about Two GPR Faculty Appointed as Distinguished Professors »
David Smith, PhD Candidate in New Testament, recently completed a year in residence in Jerusalem at the University of Notre Dame Tantur Ecumenical Institute. Smith was one of four young scholars chosen for this competitive fellowship for advanced doctoral students. In addition to completing his dissertation research in Israel, he gave a public lecture at Tantur entitled "The Earliest Jewish-Christian Dialogue: Reconstructing the First Century Debate." Smith was also one of… read more about Smith Completes Notre Dame Fellowship in Jerusalem »
GPR alumnus Sean Burrus, Ph.D. has been appointed by Bowdoin College Museum of Art as the next Andrew W. Mellon Post-Doctoral Curatorial Fellow! He will serve from 2018-2021 in this role, which includes strengthening the academic role of BCMA's collections across campus and helping facilitate the faculty's use of museum objects in their curriculum. To read more, click here. Congratulations, Sean! read more about Sean Burrus Appointed as Mellon Fellow »
Diana Abernethy, Ph.D. Candidate in Hebrew Bible/Old Testament has accepted a tenure-track position as an Assistant Professor of Religion with a concentration in Old Testament in the Religion Department at Huntingdon College in Montgomery, AL beginning in August 2018. Abernethy is slated to complete her dissertation in fall 2018. Our congratulations and best wishes go to Diana! read more about Abernethy Announces New Position »
Jeff Nicolaisen, Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Program in Religion, has been awarded two fellowships for the 2018-2019 academic year. He was selected to receive both the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Fellowship and the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship. Nicolaisen has been no stranger to winning fellowships and grants since his matriculation in fall of 2013. Having recently returned from Taiwan, where he was on a Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad fellowship, Jeff has also been the… read more about Jeffrey Nicolaisen Awarded Two Fellowships for 2018-2019 »
Marvin Wickware has been elected to the faculty of Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago as Assistant Professor of Church and Society and Ethics. He will begin teaching there in fall of 2018, after he defends his dissertation this summer. During his stay at Duke, Wickware has been the recipient of a number of scholarships and fellowships, including the Forum for Theological Exploration Dissertation Fellowship, the Louisville Institute Dissertation Fellowship, the Kenan Ethics Institute Graduate Fellowship at… read more about Wickware to Join LSTC as Assistant Professor »
Congratulations to PhD candidate Joseph Longarino, who has been awarded a scholarship from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service)! The grant will support his research as he works on his dissertation, which focuses on Paul’s view of the significance of the fact that Christians will continue to face the problem of sin and death in this age. He will be based at the University of Heidelberg from October 2018 through July 2019. We wish Joseph well on this exciting opportunity! read more about Longarino Awarded DAAD Scholarship »
Join us in congratulating PhD student, Rebecca Mendelson, who has won a 2018-2019 Bass Instructional Fellowship: Instructor of Record! Funded by the Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Endowment Fund for the Bass Undergraduate Instructional Program, this award provides a stipend to assist Rebecca in her ongoing education. From its website, the fellowship "supports high-quality teaching experiences for Ph.D. students where normal means of funding are unavailable. It also helps students become more knowledgeable in online college… read more about Rebecca Mendelson Wins Bass Instructional Fellowship »
Ph.D. student Torang Asadi has been awarded a Julian Price Graduate Fellowship for the period of September 1, 2018 - May 31, 2019. The competitive fellowship provides an annual stipend, payment of tuition and fees for the academic year, and a research award to be used towards research expenditures. Recipients of this fellowship are graduate students who have passed their preliminary examinations and are actively engaged in the process of research for their dissertation project. Asadi's application was selected… read more about Torang Asadi Selected for a Julian Price Graduate Fellowship »
Matthew ("Matt") Elia, PhD candidate in the Christian Theological Studies track, has been awarded a Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) Dissertation Completion Fellowship. Elia is one of 67 applicants to be chosen for the prestigious, 12-month award for which there were in excess of 1000 applications this cycle. The DCF program represents a partnership between the Mellon Foundation and ACLS to support scholars working to complete dissertations in a timely fashion., and carries with it a full stipend,… read more about Elia Awarded Mellon/ACLS Fellowship »
Dr. Michelle Wolff, 2017 Christian Theological Studies alumna of the GPR, has accepted a tenure-track position at Augustana College in the Religion department! Augustana College is located in Rock Island, Illinois. In addition, Michelle's first peer-reviewed article is out - Madonna and Child of Soweto: Black Life Beyond Apartheid and Democracy read more about Alumna Michelle Wolff Announces New Position »
What's better than studying German in Germany? Winning a grant to study German in Germany. Erin Zoutendam has done just that. She has won a grant from DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) that will pay her course fees and travel to participate in International Summer School German (and) Theology at the University of Mainz. The curriculum includes three one-week modules and daily classes in Theological German language. The weekly German theology modules include German theologians, German… read more about Zoutendam Wins DAAD Grant »
Beloved faculty member Hwansoo Ilmee Kim has accepted an offer at Yale. Yale has created a new position in Korean Studies. An alumnus donated $3 million for an endowment specifically for Korean studies. There is also an endowment of $1.5 million in the Department of Religious Studies that can be used for developing East Asian Buddhist studies. With these resources, Dr. Kim hopes to lay the groundwork for Korean studies, as well as for Korean Buddhist studies, during his remaining career. During the last 9 years, Kim… read more about Hwansoo Kim Leaving Duke »
PhD candidate in Early Christianity, Jen Benedict, today successfully defended her dissertation entitled "Truth to Power: The Politics of Theological Free Speech in the Cappadocian Fathers and Augustine of Hippo." Serving on her committee were Professors J. Warren Smith (chair), Stanley Hauerwas, Meredith Riedel, and C. Kavin Rowe (not pictured). Congratulations to Jen from all of us at the Graduate Program in Religion! read more about Jen Benedict Defends Dissertation »