Congratulations to Dr. Michael Amoruso, whose book Moved by the Dead: Haunting and Devotion in São Paulo, Brazil was published by The University of North Carolina Press. Dr. Amoruso is a graduate of our program and is now Associate Professor of Religion at Occidental College. tinyurl.com/4sjrc6ts

New Book by RS Alumnus Michael Amoruso!

Congratulations to Dr. Michael Amoruso, whose book Moved by the Dead: Haunting and Devotion in São Paulo, Brazil was published by The University of North Carolina Press in their Where Religion Lives s...

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Be sure to check out the below Times Literary Supplement review on Prof. Matthew Larsen’s co-authored book, Ancient Mediterranean Incarceration. www.the-tls.com/classics/rom...

Congratulations to Dr. Megan Case on publishing her book, Productive and Disordered Bodies: Judges 19-21 as a Somatic Society, with Sheffield Phoenix Press! Dr. Case was one of our first PhD graduates and is now Assistant Professor of Religion at Bethany College. tinyurl.com/5hafjtxb

The Department of Religious Studies is delighted to announce another new addition to its faculty, Dr. Phillip Lieberman! Along with joining our faculty cohort, Dr. Lieberman is also the next Director of the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies. Read more about him at the link. tinyurl.com/5xnk9pry

The Department of Religious Studies is pleased to announce a new addition to its faculty, Dr. Matthew Larsen! We're excited to have him join our outstanding faculty cohort as an Associate Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Read more about him at the link. tinyurl.com/2s3bs2yp

Check out this important RNS/Texas Tribune news piece published today! It’s co-authored by Chloe Landen, UT Religious Studies PhD student, who has an ACLS summer internship with RNS. religionnews.com/2026/06/25/r...

As some praise Texas’ proposed ‘Judeo-Christian’ curriculum, rabbis say it dismisses Judaism

AUSTIN, Texas (RNS) — The phrase ‘Judeo-Christian’ was frequently heard this week in support of Texas’ revised public school curriculum, even as many Jewish testifiers distanced themselves from the te...

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The Department of Religious Studies heartily congratulates its four students who were awarded PhDs and participated in the ceremonial hooding at the 2026 Graduate School commencement: Dr. Quan Gan, Dr. Hannah Lents, Dr. Sarah Summers, Dr. Gary Wallin tinyurl.com/ya2nxdw2

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our spring colloquium with Dr. Sarah Rollens, discussing her recent work, “An Unknown Stranger: The Representation of Jesus in W.E.B. Du Bois’s ‘Jesus Christ in Texas.’” tinyurl.com/2t468tyt

Congratulations to Katarina Jakimier, who just graduated with a double honors in Psychology and Religious Studies. Her thesis, supervised by Dr. Jason Roberts, is called "What Never Leaves: The Persistence and Scaffolding of Religious Magical Belief in Late Childhood.” tinyurl.com/yzcxwtea

A Longhorn on Pointe

Senior Katarina Jakimier does it all on the Forty Acres — and gracefully.

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Visit the Religiology blog to read about our recent event with the Caribbeanist Labs on Religion, as Dr. Maya Berry spoke about her award-winning monograph, Defending Rumba in Havana: The Sacred and Black Corporeal Undercommons. tinyurl.com/2zkpz2vr

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our recent colloquium with Dr. Jerome Copulsky about his book American Heretics: Religious Adversaries of Liberal Order. tinyurl.com/4hx82362

Visit the Religiology blog to read about Dr. Mallory Matsumoto and her event from February discussing her recently published book, The Maya Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors. tinyurl.com/4cnjrwtu

Vist the Life and Letters online magazine to read an interview with Dr. Brent Landau about his love of the cosmos and his popular UGS course "Religion and Outer Space." lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2026/03/figu...

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our colloquium last month with Dr. Ahmad Greene-Hayes, centering on his recent book, Underworld Work: Black Atlantic Religion-Making in Jim Crow New Orleans. tinyurl.com/ybtbnj3h

Kudos to our Department Manager, Michelle Harris, whose debut novel, A Latte Like Love, was published today by Berkley, a Penguin Random House imprint! Read more about Michelle, the book, and where to buy it at tinyurl.com/3dhymza3

Join us in congratulating Dr. Christian Blake Pye, who was recently elected as a Junior Fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows! Read more about his studies and the appointment at tinyurl.com/4yjm3bjs

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our recent colloquium with Dr. Nicholas Harkness, discussing the sonic worlds of Korean Pentecostals and reflecting on the relationship between sound and religion. tinyurl.com/483yn2fb

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our recent departmental colloquium with Dr. Toni Alimi from Princeton on his recent book, Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics. tinyurl.com/y8v7ptkc

Visit the COLA newsletter Extra Credit to read an interview with Dr. Chad Seales about the relationship and interconnected history of religion and AI. utaustinliberalarts.substack.com/p/deus-ex-ma...

Join us Friday, Nov. 7, for our colloquium with Dr. Nicholas Harkness from Harvard, discussing his recently published chapter, "Sound," in Critical Terms for Religious Studies (2nd Ed.). 11:30am-1:30pm in BME 3.204. Please email religiousstudies@austin.utexas.edu to RSVP and receive the materials.

Check out the link below to read COLA's Life & Letters article about Religious Studies professor Dr. Jason Roberts’s research and teaching on shamanism: lifeandletters.la.utexas.edu/2025/09/tuva...

The Department of Religious Studies is seeking to appoint a one-year postdoctoral fellow with a specialization in Religion and Health. Please visit tinyurl.com/3tf6cftf for the job posting and more information. Review of applications will begin Dec. 1, 2025.

Congratulations to Assistant Professor Mallory Matsumoto on her new book, The Maya Myths: A Guide to the Gods, Heroes, and Ancestors, published by Thames & Hudson on September 30, 2025. This is sure to become the standard introduction to Mayan myths for years to come! tinyurl.com/5ftyrwf3

The Department of Religious Studies is seeking to appoint a two-year postdoctoral fellow with a specialization in Religion, Healing, and Magic in Late Antiquity. Please visit tinyurl.com/2k8bmyz5 for the job posting and more information. Review of applications will begin Oct. 31, 2025.

On Monday, Oct. 20, we will host Dr. Toni Alimi from Princeton for our departmental colloquium, discussing excerpts from his recent book, Slaves of God: Augustine and Other Romans on Religion and Politics. Please email religiousstudies@austin.utexas.edu to RSVP and receive materials if interested.

Congratulations to Dr. Chad Seales on the publication of his new edited volume, The Routledge Handbook of Religion and American Culture. This volume represents the cutting-edge of scholarship on religion in the U.S. and an indispensable resource for students and scholars. tinyurl.com/yc4b29j5

We're excited to announce our newest faculty member, Dr. Katherine Taronas. An art historian who focuses on the art and architecture of the Late Antique Mediterranean and Byzantine Empire, Dr. Taronas starts this Fall as Assistant Professor of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. tinyurl.com/33by4kwb

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our recent conference from earlier this month, "Neighborhood Religion in Roman Antiquity." tinyurl.com/yue9bsyy

Visit the Religiology blog to read about our conference from April, Imagining the Dazzling Body. tinyurl.com/mx9yp2se

This year we were able to offer several of our students Field Research Grants to pursue their studies in places outside of UT. Visit the Religiology blog to read about their travels. sites.utexas.edu/religiology/