The Devil’s in the Details: The Krampus Conundrum
Madison Tarleton Accusations of blood libels and ritual murders only heightened suspicions that Jews were demonically possessed and were most evidently non-Christian beings, perhaps even sub-human.
Suicide: The Last Taboo?
Gary Laderman I am still hesitant to pursue it in my class—perhaps because of the feeling that it is “taboo”; perhaps because a lingering sense that only “professionals” should be talking about it. It is highly, highly charged for so many of us. As one student put it, “trigger warnings were made for this topic.”
Thanksgiving Rites and Wrongs: Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and the American Imagination
D. F. Sebastian The contrast between the practices of modern and archaic thanksgiving rites gives us insight into the broader imagination behind how our society is constructed.
With the Dead in Paradise: American Memorial Day, Floating Lanterns, and Free-Floating Spirituality
Gary Laderman The dead are with us. At least that’s what most religious cultures tell us.
The Body of Fried Chicken and the Blood of Bud Light: Religion Around the Tailgate Table
Madison Tarleton The relationship that the tailgating participants have not only with one another but with the event itself allows them to create a countered “sacred space” to the mundane routines of work and daily life.
Disney’s Christopher Robin and the Idolatry of Work
Daniel Anderson Tragically, Christopher Robin’s life seemingly proves Adorno’s adage that a “wrong life cannot be lived rightly.”
The Ghost of Roy Orbison Goes on Tour
Peter Lehman He seemed to be defined by an absence, which then materialized as a dark, quiet persona who always kept his eyes covered in public, inviting people to project their thoughts, fears and melancholy onto him.
A Long Strange Trip: Exploring How Yoga-Narasimha Landed on the Grateful Dead’s First Album Cover
Deepak Sarma He did suggest that I try to interview living members of the band but, alas, I am still pursuing that unreachable lead.
A Conversation with Be Zero’s Andrea Sanders
Madison Tarleton The longer Andrea and I stayed on the topic of “sacred,” the more I began to understand the short-sightedness of my question.
How Computer Simulations May Help us Understand Religious Behavior
Wesley Wildman The human approach to processing terrifying events involves an exquisitely complex system of deeply intuitive human responses to emotional, social and environmental threats and uncertainties.