-
IT NEVER occurred to me that I would see a bomb threat for an academic, virtual conference. Nor did I imagine having to sift through a pile of violent threats when I agreed to coordinate the media response for a conference on Hindu nationalism, “Dismantling Global Hindutva: Multidisciplinary Perspectives” (DGH), which took place online September…
-
Dialogues on meaning, ethics, and spirituality “I grew up in a world where the deepest things shaping us were unspoken, and this galvanized me to seek to muster big enough questions and words for it all.” This is the motivation behind Krista Tippett’s award-winning radio show and podcast On Being which explores the religious, spiritual,…
-
A database charting global Pentecostal faith Pentecostalism is the fastest-growing Christian movement in the world. The Atlas of Pentecostalism is an online, multimedia repository that charts the development and evolution of this rapidly expanding faith tradition. Origins: The Azusa Street Revival (1906-1909) Pentecostalism is a branch of Protestant Christianity that emphasizes a direct and personal…
-
Research, poetry, and journalism on religion and current affairs On June 8 and June 9, 2019, the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting held its third annual “Beyond Religion” conference. Over 200 educators, policymakers, activists, and journalists assembled at the National Press Club in Washington, DC to discuss the latest ideas, projects, and developments in the…
-
A film on social media, nationalism, and the Indian diaspora India is home to the second-largest online user community globally. Its global diaspora adds to its expansive scope. Sahana Udupa’s film Nationalism 2.0 dives into the worlds of social media users in India and the diaspora in the United Kingdom and how they post, repost, joke, troll,…
-
An analysis of social media amid religious and political conflict in India India, one of the largest and most diverse democracies in the world, faces a turning point. The now-infamous 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) included a pathway to citizenship for migrants from neighboring countries—but specifically excluded Muslims from this pathway. This law combined with…
-
A film about one Somali youth’s search for belonging under the surveillance of the FBI Barkhad Abdi is most widely known for his portrayal of a Somali pirate in the 2013 film Captain Phillips by Paul Greengrass. Unfortunately, Captain Phillips continues a long cinematic history of movies that frame Black people from the developing world…
-
Two “God and Government” episodes on the rebirth of religion in China Patrick James’ 2011 book Religion, Identity, and Global Governance asks one of the most enduring questions about religion: the question of whether or not it contributes to political extremism. Karl Marx famously declared religion the “opium of the people,” and this line of…
-
A podcast episode on religion, nationalism, and anti-gay persecution in Russia In 2013 both houses of the Russian Federal Assembly passed the so-called “gay propaganda” law which was signed by President Vladimir Putin. Formally known as “for the Purpose of Protecting Children from Information Advocating a Denial of Traditional Family Values,” the legislation penalizes individuals,…
