{"title":"Pandemic and Pandemonium","authors":"R. Newton","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.18121","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.18121","url":null,"abstract":"The Buzz captures the timely concerns, challenges, and reflections on the minds of scholars at work. For this issue, we reached out to colleagues in North America to fill us in on the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the field and how they are responding. In this edition we are joined by Leslie Dorrough Smith (associate professor of religious studies at Avila University), Dave McConeghy (managing co-editor and co-host of the Religious Studies Project), Jennifer Eyl (associate professor of religion at Tufts University), Natalie Avalos (assistant professor of ethnic studies, University of Colorado-Boulder), and Ekaputra Tupamahu (assistant professor of New Testament, George Fox University).","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121056272","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Christopher Cotter and David Robertson of The Religious Studies Project","authors":"R. Newton, C. Cotter, D. G. Robertson","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17710","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17710","url":null,"abstract":"The Religious Studies Project is now a well-known fixture in the field, but it was not always as well-known as it is today. In this interview, Dr. Richard Newton from the Bulletin sat down with Dr. Chris Cotter and Dr. David Robertson to discuss their journey in creating the religious studies podcast from simple pub talk in 2010 to its current collection of some 300 episodes. In relaying their strides and struggles in this venture, Cotter and Robertson answer many of the questions that prominently face scholars in digital work and help showcase the need for such methods to gain acceptance in an academic world whose needs are swiftly changing.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"33 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122649300","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How Do I Network?","authors":"Sage D’Vice","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17717","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17717","url":null,"abstract":"One of the more difficult aspects early career scholars have in navigating the field is developing a professional network. This essay, from the pseudonymous Sage D'Vice. outlines helpful tips for making connections to other scholars and advancing one's work.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"32 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133475023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"American Examples, or, How I Stopped Being an Americanist and Learned to Study Religion in America All Over Again","authors":"Michael J. Altman","doi":"10.1558/bsor.18122","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.18122","url":null,"abstract":"The Report brings you news on the latest projects, initiatives, and developments from around the field. Michael J. Altman of the University of Alabama relays his experience in moving from subfield expertise to field-critical theorizing and how he brought others along for the journey. American Examples provides intellectual space for early career scholars to reframe a particular interest in things American into provocative illustrations of identity and social formation. With support from Altman’s home institution and later the Henry Luce Foundation, participants workshop and enhance their teaching, research, and public humanities efforts.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"22 18","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"120937141","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts with Brad Anderson","authors":"Bradford A. Anderson","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17711","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17711","url":null,"abstract":"Editor Bradford Anderson introduces readers of the Bulletin to the journal Postscripts: The Journal of Sacred Texts, Cultural Histories, and Contemporary Contexts. Readers learn aobut the publication's history, issue highlights, and current direction.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"75 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132721241","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Academic Publishing for Graduate Students","authors":"E. Clark","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17719","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17719","url":null,"abstract":"Finding work following a graduate degree is perhaps one of the more pressing concerns facing any graduate student in the humanities. Not only have academic job openings decreased while job candidates have increased, but the competitive nature of these pursuits have significantly increased over the years, requiring more and more work from graduate students. In this article Dr. Emily Clark, who led a workshop at the 2019 meeting of the AAR in San Diego, discusses some highlights from her talk and offers helpful advice for pursuing publications as a graduate student, which she sees as an excellent way to gain a competitive edge in the shifting job market.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"74 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121417491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Religious Studies and Race","authors":"K. Simmons","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17727","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17727","url":null,"abstract":"At the 2019 meeting of the AAR in San Diego, California, Richard Newton, Emily Crews, and Merinda Simmons led a workshop discussing the current state of race studies in academia, particularly in light of NAASR’s attempts to locate itself among other fields undergoing similar work. While highlighting work occurring outside our field, Simmons et. Al addressed the need for discussions in our field to become more proactive rather than reactive, urging scholars to move beyond debates that surround descriptive ethnographies and crypto-theologies and to instead use our skills to discuss more than the trouble spots we have located within our field.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123707587","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Preparing for Jobs Outside the Academy","authors":"Brad Stoddard","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17720","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17720","url":null,"abstract":"At the 2019 meeting of the AAR in San Diego, Dr. Brad Stoddard led a workshop that encouraged graduate students to look outside academia for potential jobs. As the academic job market tightens, many qualified people are left scrambling for careers in theirfield of study. As Stoddard suggests in his workshop, the answer may lie in pursuing work outside the field of academia. Following Kelly Baker’s example, Stoddard showcases how much work is available through a portfolio career, offering advice on reinventing oneself academically, obtaining freelance work, and finding employment in non-profits that likely will fulfill one’s intellectual hopes and dreams.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114376952","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Introducing Jeri Wieringa","authors":"C. Bell","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17715","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17715","url":null,"abstract":"Despite the rising popularity of digital scholarship in the humanities, there still exists a great deal of tension between this new scholarship and more traditional methods. Primarily the concern lies in how to measure the work done between the two, with many seeing the former as less taxing than traditional methods and requiring additional work out of those pursuing digital scholarship. In a recent meeting of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Jeri E. Wieringa spoke on a panel that showcased the digital work in the humanities so as to highlight the need for academia to better incorporate digital scholarship. Her talk, discussed prominently in this paper, highlighted her doctoral work and clearly expressed the similarities between traditional and digital methods of scholarly research.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"26 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133607185","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Developing Relationships with Alumni","authors":"R. M. Payne","doi":"10.1558/BSOR.17716","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1558/BSOR.17716","url":null,"abstract":"For a small departmentin the humanities, it can be difficult to maintain the numbers needed for graduating students each semester. Dr. Rodger M. Payne, Chair of the Religious Studies Department at the University of North Carolina—Asheville found a way to promote student involvement within his department that has proven beneficial well past the student’s’graduation. Despite beginning this work in 2009 following an economic recession, Payne set about increasing student engagement via social events which his department hosted, inviting both majors and minors to join these events. In so doing, he created an atmosphere where the students—who often had commitments to other majors—felt valued and formed a connection to the department that they would maintain even as alumni of UNC.","PeriodicalId":354875,"journal":{"name":"Bulletin for The Study of Religion","volume":"49 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130600475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}