faculty news

Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West

Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 23:12:49 +0000

Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West Elizabeth Williams Thu, 01/22/2026 - 16:12

Wednesday, February 4 at 5pm
ENVD 134

In an upcoming event, Prof. Max Perry Mueller (University of Nebraska Lincoln) and Forrest Cuch (Northern Ute) will discuss Prof. Mueller's recent book Wakara’s America: The Life and Legacy of a Native Founder of the American West.

From the book: The Native American leader Wakara (ca. 1815-1855) was among the most influential and feared men in the 19th century American West. In Wakara’s America, historian Max Perry Mueller illuminates Wakara’s complex and sometimes paradoxical story, revealing a man who both helped build the settler American West and defended Native sovereignty. Wakara was baptized a Mormon and allied with Mormon settlers against other tribal nations to seize large parts of modern-day Utah; yet a pan-tribal uprising against the Mormons that now bears Wakara’s name stalled and even temporarily reversed colonial expansion. Drawing together deep archival research with Native oral histories, archaeology, geology, and ecology, Wakara’s America offers an innovative new vision of the history of the American West with Native people at its center. It serves as a powerful testament to Wakara’s legacy, which endures in his story, in his tribal descendants, and in their stewardship of their ancestral lands today.

This event is being cosponsored by the Department of Religious Studies, the Center for the American West, the Department of History, the Department of Ethnic Studies, and the Office of Native American Affairs.

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The Urdu Shiʿi Practice of Khiṭābat (oratory)

Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 22 Jan 2026 16:32:38 +0000

The Urdu Shiʿi Practice of Khiṭābat (oratory) Elizabeth Williams Thu, 01/22/2026 - 09:32

Join the Department of Religious Studies on February 24th for The Urdu Shiʿi Practice of Khiṭābat (oratory)

January 24th, 5-6pm
Eaton Humanities 135

On any given day in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, tens and hundreds of Urdu-speaking Shiʿa khāṭibs (orators) address audiences that have gathered to listen to them. In this talk, I draw upon twenty months of ethnographic and archival fieldwork in Karachi to argue that khiṭābat (oratory) is best conceptualized as "intellectual practice." By intellectual, I refer to aspects of oratory such as designating topics of oration, presenting clear arguments, and providing citations as evidence for claims. By practice, I refer to aspects of oratory such as the materiality of the ritual space, the technologies that mediate between orators and their audiences, and the relationship between what is said in an oration with where and when the oration is taking place. In attending to khiṭābat as intellectual practice, I push back against dominant scholarly tendencies that divide “popular” practice from “elite” texts, often relegating practice as secondary to doctrine or belief. Attending to khiṭābat as intellectual practice is helpful because it shifts the methodological emphasis from an abstract or a solely discursive domain of ideas to the world in which such ideas are articulated, debated, and circulated. Additionally, rethinking khiṭābat as intellectual practice is also productive because it moves the conversation on Muslim ritual practice beyond mere functionalism (intended towards specific ends, like ideological dissemination or the reification of tradition) or mere phenomenology (reducing khiṭābat to bodily techniques or individual reception).

Mohammad Nabeel Jafri holds a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (Canada) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Centre for Modern Indian Studies, University of Göttingen. He is a scholar of Islam in modern South Asia, with a focus on Twelver Shiʿi practice in Pakistan. He received his PhD from the Department for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto in 2024. His dissertation, Orating Knowledge: Urdu Shiʿi Khiṭābat in Contemporary Karachi, received the 2024 S. S. Pirzada Dissertation Prize in Pakistan Studies, awarded by the University of California, Berkeley. His research interests include ritual practice, semiotics, authority, and language use.

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November: Living in Beauty through Difficult Times: A Talk by Diné Elder Lupita McClanahan

Elizabeth Williams — Thu, 13 Nov 2025 21:57:08 +0000

November: Living in Beauty through Difficult Times: A Talk by Diné Elder Lupita McClanahan Elizabeth Williams Thu, 11/13/2025 - 14:57

“Living in Beauty through Difficult Times: A Talk by Diné Elder Lupita McClanahan”

Thursday, Nov. 13, 2025, 5-6pm, Eaton Humanities 250

“Hozho,” or “The Beauty Way,” is a core practice of the Diné people. Raised in secrecy by traditional elders in Canyon de Chelly, Lupita was hidden to preserve her family’s lineage from the boarding school system. Though eventually taken, she drew on her cultural strength to endure and overcome unimaginable challenges. Join us to hear her powerful stories of resilience and discover how we, too, can walk in Hozho. Please see attached and below for details. This event is sponsored by Religious Studies, Ethnic Studies, and the Center for Native American and Indigenous Studies.

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October: Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness

Elizabeth Williams — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 20:50:31 +0000

October: Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness Elizabeth Williams Mon, 10/27/2025 - 14:50

Selling Sacred Drugs: The Existential Stakes of Altering Consciousness

Gary Laderman, Goodrich C. White Professor of American History and Cultures, Department of Religion, Emory University

Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, 5pm

HUM 250

In this conversation, Gary Laderman will explore what drugged life has do with

religious life. The discussion will be tied into his recent book, Sacred Drugs: How

Psychoactive Substances Mix with Religious Life, which argues that altering consciousness

is not only a natural phenomenon in human and other species, but also an integral

element in religious cultures throughout time and around the globe. The conversation

will be framed by religious studies concerns and conceptualizations. We will likely

touch on coffee and cannabis, alcohol and amphetamine, psychedelics and

pharmaceuticals, and other drugging agents that are ubiquitous in American society,

as well as their dangers and the discourse around addiction which are also infused

with religious sentiments and sensibilities.

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Remembering Frederick Denny

Alex Hartburg — Tue, 08 Jul 2025 14:19:48 +0000

Remembering Frederick Denny Alex Hartburg Tue, 07/08/2025 - 08:19

It is with great sadness that we share the passing of Frederick Denny, Professor Emeritus and former Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at �鶹��Ѱ��Boulder, in March 2025.

Fred Denny was a giant in the field of Islamic studies. He marked the field in Qur’an and ritual studies and authored the foundational and widely used textbook, An Introduction to Islam (4th edition Prentice-Hall, 2010), as well as numerous articles on Islamic and Religious Studies topics. His projects over the last few years focused principally on Islam and human rights, religion and ecology, religion-focused cartography, and Unitarian Universalist history and thought.

He is remembered as a dedicated and gifted scholar and teacher. His passion for teaching was apparent to all who knew him. The faculty remember him as an unfailingly kind and generous colleague, mentor, and friend. Colleagues across the field of Religious Studies share that his warm presence and down-to-earth nature will be sorely missed.

His contributions to the discipline, to the American Academy of Religion, and to the Department of Religious Studies are immense and lasting, and we will remember him with deep gratitude.

Obituary for Frederick Denny

Frederick Denny's Faculty Page

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Graduation Reflections

Alex Hartburg — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 22:02:40 +0000

Graduation Reflections Alex Hartburg Mon, 06/02/2025 - 16:02

This academic year, two graduating majors, Olivia McCaa (Fall 2024) and Sam Johnson (Spring 2025), shared their thoughts on what their BA in Religious Studies meant to them and how it will continue to influence their goals and future work. Read more below!

Olivia McCaa

Olivia focused her studies on the intersections of women, gender, and religion, while taking coursework in Jewish studies. Though she originally majored in linguistics and neuroscience, the compelling questions raised in religious studies classes inspired her to shift focus.

“I was fascinated by how the world worked according to religion,” Olivia reflects. “My senior capstone project explored religiosity as a result of conflict rather than a cause. That project—and courses like Holly Gayley’s Women in Hagiography—sparked the idea for a science fiction novel I’m now writing about the necessity of women and religion in breaking cycles of violence.”

After graduation, Olivia will continue working in the emergency room at UC Health Aurora while pursuing a paramedic career in fire services. She hopes to study religious studies again in the future.

Sam Johnson

Sam is currently applying to medical schools across the U.S. He credits the Department of Religious Studies with not only expanding his knowledge but also honing critical academic and life skills.

“My religious studies degree not only exposed me to so much knowledge, but taught me how to read, write, and think,” Sam says. “The faculty are not only remarkable in their intellect, but always kind and professional. They continually showed dedication to my education.”

Through his studies, Sam was able to successfully prepare for the MCAT, defend an Honors Thesis, and form meaningful relationships across campus. He feels confident in his readiness for the rigors of medical school and looks forward to contributing to the medical and religious studies fields.

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NEXT Volume 8: Reimagining the Sacred

Alex Hartburg — Mon, 19 May 2025 20:18:51 +0000

NEXT Volume 8: Reimagining the Sacred Alex Hartburg Mon, 05/19/2025 - 14:18

The latest edition of NEXT (Vol. 8) is here, showcasing the innovative research of emerging scholars in the field of religious studies. This volume highlights seven thought-provoking papers that tackle a range of contemporary and historical issues. The papers explore the intersection of religion with literature, music, art, globalization, and colonialism, offering new perspectives on the sacred and the secular. These works demonstrate the curiosity and creativity of the next generation of scholars in their contribution to the discipline. We hope you enjoy these exciting contributions in the latest volume of NEXT.

Vol. 8 (2025): Reimagining the Sacred

Special thanks to the student editors whose hard work made this volume possible:

Editors: Emma Wood and Jamie Mullennix
Associate Editors: Genevieve Hauer, Shafiu Alidu, and Lucienne Brown

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Holly Gayley wins the Exceptional Graduate Faculty Mentor Award

Alex Hartburg — Thu, 15 May 2025 21:57:57 +0000

Holly Gayley wins the Exceptional Graduate Faculty Mentor Award Alex Hartburg Thu, 05/15/2025 - 15:57

We are proud to share that Professor Holly Gayley, along with fourteen other faculty members, has been recognized with this year’s Exceptional Graduate Faculty Mentor Award.

Gayley was nominated by the department for her outstanding mentorship of individual graduate students and her contributions to cultivating a positive and productive graduate education environment.

“More and more research is highlighting the importance of faculty mentorship to graduate student success. That’s part of the reason the Graduate School created the Graduate Inclusive Mentorship Community or GIMC, and this award... The faculty members recognized by this award have demonstrated their willingness to go above and beyond for their students and we’re excited to be able to honor these excellent leaders.”
Scott Adler
Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs

Congratulations Professor Gayley!

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Aun Hasan Ali featured in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine

Alex Hartburg — Wed, 19 Mar 2025 14:48:47 +0000

Aun Hasan Ali featured in Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine Alex Hartburg Wed, 03/19/2025 - 08:48

We are excited to share that Professor Aun Hasan Ali was recently featured in the Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine in the article, "�鶹��Ѱ��Boulder Religious Studies Professor Says Twelver Shi’ism Is Open to Discourse," by Bradley Worrell. The article highlights his contributions to the study of Twelver Shi’ism and explores the origins and themes of his book, The School of Hillah and the Formation of Twelver Shi’i Islamic Tradition.

In the article, Professor Ali answers questions pertaining to the School of Hillah, shares insights directly from his book, and voices his hopes for how the book will continue to contribute to the field of Islamic studies.

To read the full article and view other great features, visit Colorado Arts and Sciences Magazine.

Full article here!

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Digital Humanities and the Intellectual History of al-Andalus with Covadonga Baratech

Alex Hartburg — Thu, 13 Mar 2025 19:24:18 +0000

Digital Humanities and the Intellectual History of al-Andalus with Covadonga Baratech Alex Hartburg Thu, 03/13/2025 - 13:24

Digital Humanities and the Intellectual History of al-Andalus
A talk by
Covadonga Baratech
(Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean and the Middle East (ILC - CSIC))

What was the life expectancy of Andalusi scholars? What were the ten most common activities Andalusi scholars were involved in? In which century do we have the largest number of scholarly families? Where were they located? To which places did Andalusi scholars travel the most? A couple of decades ago, answering these questions would have taken weeks, even months to answer. However, thanks to databases like Prosopografía de Ulemas de al-Andalus (PUA) and programming languages like R, they are just a couple of lines of code away.
For this talk Covadonga Baratech provides an introduction to Prosopografía de Ulemas de al-Andalus, the main database for scholars of Muslim Iberia.She will discuss its strengths as well as some areas for improvement and share some of the results obtained when combined with a programming language such as R. The goal is to encourage people to explore the possibilities of these tools and apply new methodologies in their research.
She also invites people to think about data in new ways. How representative is the data we work with? Does it apply to most of the population? For example, analyzing PUA’s data we discover that the life expectancy of Andalusi scholars was 70,93 lunar years. However, we only know the life span of 1998 people or 17% of the dataset. Can we apply these findings to the rest of the scholars in the database? And what about the non-scholars of al-Andalus? What strategies can we use to make this data more fiable?
This talk will be of interest to scholars of Middle East and Islamic Studies, medievalists, historians of all places and periods, and any Humanities and Social Sciences Scholars interested in working with digital databases.

Covadonga Baratech is a PhD student at the Institute of Languages and Cultures of the Mediterranean (CSIC). She is a member of the research project directed by M. Penelas and M. Fierro dealing with the migration of Andalusi and Maghribi scholars to other regions of the Islamic world (8th-15th centuries) and their intellectual and religious impact (PID2020-116680GB-I00). Her research focuses on the times of Saladin and the Ayyubids (1171-1260). She aims to study the intellectual exchanges between the Andalusi and Maghribi scholars and their Mashriqi colleagues. In particular, she intends to comprehend the spread of knowledge produced in the Maghrib into de Mashriq. Her main work areas are intellectual history, manuscript tradition and digital humanities.

Wednesday, 19 March • noon
HUMN 230

Open to faculty, students, staff and members of the community
Please register in advance here

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