JDP student Joseph Foltz just had a new book review published today! The review is of Gender Violence in Late Antiquity by Jennifer Barry. Jennifer Barry was a Marsico Visiting Scholar at the University of Denver in 2024. Here is the link to the review: www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2026/10...

Gender Violence in Late Antiquity — ANCIENT JEW REVIEW

Jennifer Barry opens her new monograph, Gender Violence in Late Antiquity: Male Fantasies and the Christian Imagination , by invoking Sara Ahmed’s notion of the “Feminist Killjoy.”

ancientjewreview.com

JDP has a new doctor in the house! 🥳🎉 Dr. Dann Buchanan passed his dissertation defense today! It is titled, "Mysticism as Epistemic Procedure: The Path to Understanding in Eihei Dogen and Teresa of Avila." We cannot wait to see where you will go with your future work and wish you all the best!

Congratulations to Zane Johnson who passed his proposal defense yesterday!! 🥳 The title of his dissertation is: "The Christian Occult Revival?: A Critical Rereading of John Milbank, Michael Martin, and David Bentley Hart" This is an important step in any PhD student's life! Good luck writing!

Call for Proposals Rocky Mountain-Great Plains Region of the AAR and the Religion & Bible Society welcome full panel and individual paper proposals for the 2027 Regional Meeting, hosted by Creighton University from April 15-17 2027 300 word abstract due November 30 docs.google.com/document/d/1...

CFP 2027 - Rocky Mountain Regional AAR RBS Creighton

CALL FOR PROPOSALS The Rocky Mountain-Great Plains (RMGP) Region of the American Academy of Religion and the Religion and Bible Society welcome proposals for full panels and individual papers to be p...

docs.google.com

The JDP Community is invited to a virtual dissertation defense for Dann Buchanan! Title: "Mysticism as Epistemic Procedure: The Path to Understanding in Eihei Dogen and Teresa of Avila" Date & Time: October 26, 11am - 1pm Mountain Time Check your institutional email for Zoom link.

Last reminder for submitting any papers or creative projects to the 2026-2027 JOAA Volume! Deadline is in 10 days, on Saturday October 17th We cannot wait to review your contributions! Submit via Google Form here: forms.gle/QTunPh618RWG...

Send congratulations to Kimberly Melgoza for passing her Proposal Defense last week! 🥳 Title: "From Sixteenth Century Indigenous Mexico to Modern United States Mushroom Churches: A Historical and Critical Analysis of Hallucinogenic Mushroom Rituals"

Congratulations to Mana Tun for passing his Proposal Defense on September 21!! 🥳 Title: "Engaging Ludu's Revolution in Myanmar: A Christian Ethic of Liberative Peacebuilding" (P.S. sorry we took so long to post this, it got lost in the sauce!)

Join the GSA for a spooky good time on October 15th for a Denver Ghost Tour! Starting at the Colorado State Capitol at 7pm. Book tickets here ($26): usghostadventures.com/denver-ghost... Make sure to select the October 15th, "Gaslights, Graves, & Gold: Terrors of Denver Ghost Tour," at 7pm.

Join the CAHSS imp:ACT Institute for a talk by JDP alum Dr. Sho McClarence: “Looking Out, Looking In: The Panopticon & Your Role In It” Tues, Oct 6, 12-1pm – Chambers 190 Link to register: crimsonconnect.du.edu/CAHSS/rsvp_b....

Reminder, GSA's Journal of Auto-Academia is still accepting submissions until October 17th 🤩 Beyond written work, we also welcome: 1. Photography 2. Poetry 3. Video/film projects 4. Other mediums *We will have to publish any art in a digital/written format Submit: forms.gle/QVgCdAV3Poid...

Happening next Tuesday, September 22! JDP students, faculty, staff welcome Virtual Religious Studies Codenames! An exciting word association game where Red & Blue Teams face off by guessing their own hidden words before the other team does! RSVP for times/Zoom link: forms.gle/6hX9ms5HZghR...

The JDP Community is invited to a proposal defense for Kimberly Melgoza! Title: "From Sixteenth Century Indigenous Mexico to Modern United States Mushroom Churches: A Historical and Critical Analysis of Hallucinogenic Mushroom Rituals" Thur Sept 24, 10am MT Check institutional email for room/Zoom

The JDP Community is invited to a proposal defense for Mana Tun! Title: "Engaging Ludu's Revolution in Myanmar: A Christian Ethic of Liberative Peacebuilding" Date & Time: Monday, September 21, 2026, 2:00PM Mountain Time Check with Mana for Zoom/room info.

There's a new doctor in the house!! Dr. Matthew Konerth passed their dissertation defense yesterday and is pictured with most of their committee here. The JDP is proud of everything you contributed to the program and your unique approach to interdisciplinary scholarship. We wish you all the best!

Matthew Konerth's Dissertation Defense happening THIS Friday, July 24th, at 10am MT Title: "Eating Othered Minds: From Fetishization to Abjection in the Modern Horror Film" Location: AAC 340 Check institutional email for Zoom link.

Only 15 days left to submit a paper for the Fall Volume of the Journal of Auto-Academia! Anyone whether inside or outside academia can submit a paper for our theme "From Blueprints to Praxis: Practical Disruptions in Academia and Beyond." We are looking forward to seeing how you cause disruption!

Congratulations to Kev Grane who passed his proposal defense on Tuesday!! 🎉 It is titled: "Experiencing God Through the Nation: Ritual, Experience, and the Phenomenology of American Christian Nationalism" The JDP is looking forward to the completion of your dissertation research!

The JDP is invited to Kev Grane’s Proposal Defense TOMORROW, Tuesday, July 7th at 12:30pm MT. Title: "Experiencing God Through the Nation: Ritual, Experience, and the Phenomenology of American Christian Nationalism" Location: Iliff 201 Check your institutional email for Zoom link

Congratulations to Wake Gerbi who passed his dissertation proposal defense on Wednesday (06/23)! We can't wait to see where your scholarship goes🤩 Title: "Decolonizng Democracy: Rationality in the Oromo Gadaa System and the Critique of Kantian Racialized Politics" (sorry we lost the photo of you!)

Congratulations to Jessica Patterson for passing her proposal defense today! This is a big accomplishment and we can't wait to see where you go for the rest of your PhD journey! Title: "Diffracting Āsana: Reconfiguring and Re-membering the Matter(ing) of Bodies in Practice and Pedagogy"

Announcing Jessica Patterson's proposal defense! Title: "Diffracting Āsana: Reconfiguring and Re-membering the Matter(ing) of Bodies in Practice and Pedagogy" Date: Wednesday, June 10, 2026 Time: 10:30am-12:30pm Location: ONLINE ONLY Check your institutional email for the Zoom link.

Deadline for submission is August 1st, 2026. Please email joaa@iliff.edu with the subject heading “Submission for JOAA Fall2026” We do not standardize citation styles but ask you to use either MLA, APA, or Chicago consistently throughout your document Acceptances announced on September 15th

Send your congratulations to Robert Monson who passed their proposal defense yesterday! 🥳 Title: Black (Disabled) Lives Mattering: A Theoethical Construction of New Futures Alongside Black Sacred Disabled Bodies

Please extend a big congratulations to Lex Dunbar who passed their proposal defense today! 🥳 Title: Trans*cendence in Subjugation: Trans*figuring Black Theology and Black Studies through Polydox Becoming and Black Transmasculine Narratives in the Afterlife of Slavery

Happening tomorrow May 19th, Lex Dunbar's Proposal Defense! Title: Trans*cendence in Subjugation: Trans*figuring Black Theology and Black Studies through Polydox Becoming and Black Transmasculine Narratives in the Afterlife of Slavery Time: 10am-12pm Location & Zoom link: check email from JDP

GSA Awards winners at the JDP Spring Fling, are as follows: Robert Monson - Outstanding Student Marisa Hulstine - Outstanding Leadership & Community Service Lex Dunar - Outstanding Publishing, Presenting & Research Joseph Foltz - Outstanding Junior Scholar Dr. April Mack - Outstanding Faculty Member

There's a new doctor in the house!! Congratulations to Dr. Taylor Muma who passed her dissertation defense today 🎉🥳 We are so proud of everything you accomplished in the JDP and look forward to seeing where you go from here!

Religious Studies at DU is "under review" putting faculty, programs, and the entire department at risk. The JDP is safe, but this impacts our beloved professors and classes. Show support for RLGS however you can, and read JDP student David Kemp's Clarion piece about it duclarion.com/2026/04/reli...

LTTE: Religious Studies is necessary for DU’s ‘The Denver Difference’

The University of Denver has many excellent departments, programs, faculty, staff, donors and initiatives that come together to create “The Denver Difference.” A funding campaign, but more import

duclarion.com

Next Monday, May 11th, please join us for food and fun at the annual JDP Spring Fling & GSA Awards! All JDP students, staff, and faculty are welcome to attend. We also have 5 exciting new recipients of the GSA Awards! Come out Monday, May 11, 3-5pm, to DU's Community Commons 4th Story Overlook