News
Visiting Scholar – Call for Applications
The Center for the Study of Religion at The Ohio State University is pleased to announce the continuation of our short-term visiting…
Megan Nutzman, Assistant Professor in the Department of Classics, has been named the new Associate Director of the OSU Center for the Study of Religion for the 2026-2027 academic year. Nutzman…
Join us in congratulating Dr. Isaac Weiner, who was among this year's recipients for the Ronald and Deborah Ratner Distinguished Teaching Award.
The Ratner Distinguished Teachings Awards are…
Join us in celebrating this year’s award winners. The center received many impressive applications for our awards and grant applications this year. Congratulations to all our winners!
Read about Sister M. Xavier Schulze, a Comparative Studies-Religious Studies track alumni in the article "Called to Serve" by Todd Jones, published in the Ohio State Alumni Magazine.
Photo…
The Center for the Study of Religion (CSR) will continue its visiting scholar program this February, hosting Dr. James Dennis LoRusso, program director of religious studies in the Department of…
In November 2025, 100 undergraduate students enrolled in the "Introduction to Comparative Religions" course had the opportunity to visit four religious organizations throughout Central Ohio. The…
The 2026 Don and Barbara Davis Colloquium on Christianity was held on on Friday, October 24 in the OSU Thompson Library. This year’s topic, "Christianity and Healing," explored the relationship…
On November 21, 2025, CSR Director Isaac Weiner spoke at a pre-conference workshop for directors of centers of religion and public life at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Religion …
The American Academy of Arts & Sciences has announced the election of its new members for 2025, which includes David Brakke, Professor and Engle Chair in the History of…
At the April 22 end-of-year celebration, the Humanities Institute's center directors announced their award winners for the academic year. Undergraduate and graduate students were present to…
Visiting Scholar – Call for Applications
The Center for the Study of Religion at The Ohio State University is pleased to announce the continuation of our short-term visiting scholar program.
Congratulations to our 2025 Iles Award winner, Patrick Dunn. His project, We Are Not Alone: UFO Myth in the Anthropocene, explores the interplay of mythic and technoscientific forces in…
Congratulations to Justina Sung and Seth Conklin, who have been selected as co-recipients of the Center for the Study of Religion’s Savko Award for Best Undergraduate Paper. Justina and Seth were…
The CSR awards small grants in support of graduate student and faculty research activities, conference participation and other academically-oriented travel needs. Note that travel plans are not…
A recent episode of the "Now at Ohio State" podcast featured Center for Ethnic Studies affiliates Professor John Low, Professor Emeritus Lucy Murphy and Professor Emeritus Christine Ballengee Morris,…
Isaac Weiner, Director of the Center for the Study of Religion and professor in the Department of Comparative Studies, recently received a 2024 Simon Rockower Award from the…
The Center for the Study of Religion is excited to announce the upcoming events with the short-term visiting scholar for the autumn semester.
Meera Jo Kachroo (PhD, McGill…
CSR director Isaac Weiner spoke at the recent Religious Diversity Leadership Summit, a national conference on religious diversity in the workplace, sponsored by the Tanenbaum Center for…
At the April 16 end-of-year celebration, the Humanities Insitute's center directors announced their award winners for the academic year. Undergraduate and graduate students were present to receive…
Congratulations to our 2024 Iles Award winner, Matt Maynard! Matt is a PhD candidate in Classics. He is writing a dissertation on the god Pan and ancient Greek ideas about wilderness. Shurouq…
The Center for the Study of Religion has made some changes to their grant and award cycle for the 2024 calendar year. Savko Undergraduate Research Grants will now be provided during Spring terms…
The Center for the Study of Religion congratulates Robin Judd and Michael Swartz on multiple prestigious awards!
Robin Judd has won two National Jewish Book Awards for her recent book
The Center for the Study of Religion is excited to launch a new visiting scholar program for Spring 2024. This ongoing initiative aims to support contingent and independent scholars by bringing…
Congratulations to our 2023 Iles Award winner, Evan DeCarlo. Evan is a doctoral fellow in the interdisciplinary Folklore Program of The Ohio State University’s English Department. Shurouq Ibrahim,…
This October, the Center for the Study of Religion hosted a successful daylong workshop on religious accommodations in the workplace, co-organized by Spencer Dew, Charles McCrary, Liz Wilson and…
Spring courses for the Study of Religion are now posted online for your scheduling convenience. Find them all in one place on our website on our "Courses" page. Be sure to note the tabs at the top…
The Interfaith Association of Central Ohio, (IACO) is announcing the establishment of an Interfaith Coordinator as of August 15, 2023. This position, on an interim basis, will be…
The Center for the Study of Religion at The Ohio State University is pleased to announce a new short-term visiting scholar program.
Building on a successful pilot program in March 2023, we…
This spring, CSR awarded its first round of small grants in support of graduate student and faculty research activities, conference participation and other academically-oriented travel needs…
Announcing the new graduate student and faculty research and travel grants for Spring Semester, 2023.
The CSR is awarding small grants in support of graduate student and faculty research…
"Sounds of Religion," a new Smithsonian poster exhibition, is now on view in the Michigan State University museum. The exhibition, a collaboration between the Smithsonian Institution, The Ohio…
The Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth grants an annual award of up to $2000 to a graduate student in the Arts and Humanities who is working on myth,…
We are excited to announce the appointment for our new director for the 2022-2023 academic year, Dr. Isaac Weiner.
When asked to share a message for the upcoming year, Isaac reports:
…
At right: Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Timiket celebration in Columbus. Photo courtesy Lauren Pond.
Religion and sound are tied together in evocative ways.
Church bells…
Did you know that this past Sunday, Dec. 12th, our very own Associate Director Isaac Weiner and his colleague Amy DeRogatis were interviewed on a Canadian radio show about their incredible work on…
The CSR would like to share the details for an upcoming virtual conference that may be of interest hosted by Yale University, "Precarity of Death: A Mini-Conference Exploring the Porous Boundary…
On Saturday, Nov. 20th, the American Academy of Religion will be hosting a virtual panel celebrating the life and work of Dr. Lindsay Jones, former Professor Emeritus of Comparative Studies and…
The Center for the Study of Religion is seeking talented artists like YOU to help us design our new logo! We’re looking for designs that capture the spirit of the Center’s work on the academic…
The Center for the Study of Religion is now accepting applications for our two Savko Undergraduate Awards: one Undergraduate Research Grant and one for Best Undergraduate Paper. Please see the…
The Center for the Study of Religion is pleased to announce the results of its awards programs for the 2020-2021 academic year!
For the Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for…
Join us in celebrating the astounding work done by some of our religious studies faculty affiliates.
This list of recent publications reflects a commitment to integrating interdisciplinarity into…
Tarunjit Singh Butalia, faculty affiliate of the Center for the Study of Religion and research associate professor in the College of Engineering, has been selected for the 2020 Gwynne Guibord…
Dannu J. Hütwohl was this year's Iles Award for the Graduate Study of myth recipient. This award is furnished annually by an endowment in honor Robert L. and Phyllis Iles. Below, you can read how…
Please join us in congratulating Jordan Baggs & MacKenzie Wilcox on winning our annual Savko Awards for Undergraduate Research pertinent to the study of religion.
Jordan was awarded the…
Please join us in congratulating Dannu Hütwohl on winning the 2020 Iles Award for the Graduate Study of Myth. The Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth is overseen by the…
The American Religious Sounds Project is proud to announce the launch of its new-and-improved home page design. Based upon user feedback, we wanted to give visitors a chance to engage with the…
What does Religion Sound Like in the Age of COVID-19? Center for the Study of Religion associate director and American Religious Sounds Project co-PI Isaac Weiner (Comparative Studies)…
"Funding from Fulbright-Hays gave me the time and resources necessary to conduct long-term, ethnographic research with a small community in rural Qinghai," explains Kati Fitzgerald. A doctoral…
Religion sounds different during a pandemic.
Instead of a choir singing in a Baptist church, congregants might listen to their pastor over Zoom. Instead of the soft sounds of mats unfurling…
Join us in congratulating Colleen Kron (Department of Classics), recipient of the 2019 Robert L. & Phyllis J. Iles Award for the graduate study of myth
The Center for the Study of Religion…
2019 Savko Award Winner: Amanda Dominique
Join us in congratulating undergraduate religious studies major Amanda Dominique, recipient of the 2019 Savko Award for undergraduate research.
The…
Join us in celebrating the astounding work done by some of our religious sudies faculty affiliates. This list of recent publications reflects a commitment to integrating interdisciplinarity into…
CSR 2017-2018 Awards
Join us in congratulating the following students on their outstanding achievements, leading them to receive one of the awards allocated through the CSR for the 2017-2018…
Congratulations to Marcus Ziemann, Recipient of the Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth
Marcus' reflection on how this Award assisted in…
The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded a three-year, $750,000 grant to The Ohio State University Foundation in support of the American Religious Sounds Project (ARSP), which is co-directed by …
Congratulations to Amanda Randhawa, who was awarded the Presidential Fellowship to complete her dissertation: Being Punjabi Sikh in Chennai: Women’s Everyday Religion in an Internal Indian…
Check out this latest feature on Lauren Pond's most recent book, Test of Faith: Signs, Serpents, Salvation!
Test of Faith provides a deeply nuanced, personal look at…
GLOBAL GALLERY The exhibit “Here I Stand: Life and Work of the German Reformer Martin Luther,” celebrates the 500th anniversary of the beginning of the…
Hugh Urban, current director of the Center for the Study of Religion, has been named a College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor of Comparative Studies. This honorific title serves to…
The Center for the Study of Religion is pleased to announce the recipients of its inaugural Savko Undergraduate Research Grant and Best Undergraduate Essay awards.
Michelle Sdao, a third…
For Her Color Series Test of Faith
Lauren Pond, a photographer based in Columbus, Ohio, was chosen by curator Peter Barberie to win the eighth biennial…
PLEASE NOTE: The Center for the Study of Religion's 10/21 symposium on "Religion and Sexuality Post-Obergefell" will actually begin at 2:30 p.m. instead of 2:00 as originally noted by some sources…
The Henry Luce Foundation has awarded a two-year, $200,000 grant to The Ohio State University Foundation for support of the American Religious Sounds Project, a collaborative,…
Congratulations to Professor Daniel Reff (Comparative Studies), whose work with the Honors Program was acknowledged as part of the College of Arts and Sciences annual awards ceremony on Monday,…
Please note the new location for Professor Jorati's lecture on March 9 at 7pm in 220 Sullivant Hall.
There is parking at street meters and in the Union South Garage at 1759 N. High Street,…
University Lecture Series 2015-2016
The Center for the Study of Religion at OSU has scheduled five talks for the 2015-2016 University Lecture series. Each scholar, prominent in a variety of fields…
Information about the 2015-2016 Community Lecture Series
The Center for the Study of Religion at OSU Community Lecture Series on "Religions of the World Past and Present" provides a non-academic…
Kati Fitzgerald of the Department of Comparative Studies has been chosen as a recipient of the 2015 Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth, which is administrated…
Thomas P. Kasulis, professor of Comparative Studies and director of the Center for the Study of Religion, has received a 2015 Distinguished Scholar Award from OSU's Office of Research.
In…
During the winter break, Tom Kasulis, Professor of Comparative Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Religion, participated in three Japanese university colloquia focusing on the…
Sarah Iles Johnston, Arts and Humanities Distinguished Professor of Religion and professor of classics, has been elected president of the American Society for the Study of Religion. Her term will…
Wenyuan Shao of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures has been chosen as the recipient of 2014 Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth, which is…
A new faculty member in the Comparative Studies Department, Isaac Weiner, has just published his first monograph. It's available for purchase at NYU Press, or through Amazon. Religion Out…
Erin Wagner of the Department of English has been chosen as the recipient of the second annual Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth, which is administrated by the Center…