News
Kirsten Macfarlane Awarded Selma V. Forkosch Prize
Kirsten Macfarlane, Associate Professor of Early Modern Religious and Intellectual History, has been awarded the Selma V. Forkosch Prize for the best article published in the Journal of the History of Ideas over the past year.The annual prize recogni...
May 6, 2026
Exploring the Worlds of the Religions
"The creation of the universe operates on the principle that Intellect (Reason) prevails over Necessity not by force, but by persuasion."—Plato, Timaeus My first encounter with Chicago as an adult came late at night, driving over the Skyway, up from ...
April 22, 2026
Prof. Doostdar Examines Media, Power, and the War on Iran
In a recent segment for Al Jazeera’s The Listening Post, Alireza Doostdar, Associate Professor of Islamic Studies and the Anthropology of Religion, contextualizes escalating tensions around the war on Iran within a broader geopolitical frame.Doostdar...
April 19, 2026
Schweiker Cited by CBS News on Catholic Response to AI Image Controversy
William Schweiker, Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Theological Ethics, was interviewed by CBS News in coverage of backlash among Chicago Catholics over an AI-generated image depicting President Donald Trump as a Jesus-li...
April 13, 2026
Choosing Swift Again and Again
The first time I came to Swift Hall, I was there to decide if it was the right place for me. It was early April 1998. Outside, a thin layer of gray slush coated the lawn. Inside, the now-familiar pattern of atonal clangs sounded its irregular rhythm ...
April 8, 2026
The Idea of the University of Chicago Divinity School
I am grateful for Dean Robinson’s invitation to reflect on the University of Chicago Divinity School at this historic marker. It has prompted me to return to some of my own earlier attempts in my years as dean of students and then as dean to exegete ...
March 25, 2026
Tough-Minded, Tender-Hearted
My first visit to the University of Chicago campus came in 1993 for my interview and job talk. At the time, I was teaching in Silicon Valley, and this was my first encounter with the Divinity School and Swift Hall. I already knew something about the ...
March 11, 2026
How Colorado Springs became an evangelical mecca
A mile above sea level, nestled at the base of Pikes Peak, sits the city of Colorado Springs. Among the dazzling rock formations are the United States Air Force Academy, a bustling high-tech industry and the headquarters of over 50 evangelical Christ...
March 5, 2026
Pop Religion | Outside of History: 'Marty Supreme' and the American Dream
Professor Sarah Hammerschlag on what Marty Supreme reveals about postwar American Judaism, the limits of meritocracy, and survival. What does ping-pong have to do with capitalism, fascism, and the American Dream? The Academy Award-nominated Marty Su...
March 3, 2026
Performance is What Makes Religion Matter
The discourse on the imbrication of religion and theatre/performance was built around the studies of ritual and drama. From the Passion Plays to Indian Sanskrit, Balinese Legong, Egyptian ritual drama, Greek tragedies, medieval morality plays, Japane...
January 28, 2026