ReligionWise
ReligionWise features educators, researchers, and other professionals discussing their work and the place of religion in the public conversation. Host Chip Gruen, the Director of the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding of Muhlenberg College, facilitates conversations that aim to provide better understanding of varieties of religious expression and their impacts on the human experience. For more about the Institute for Religious and Cultural Understanding, visit www.religionandculture.com.
Episodes
39 episodes
Practice and Performance of Afro-Caribbean Religions - Lilianne Lugo Herrera
On this episode of ReligionWise, scholar Lilianne Lugo Herrera guides us through the vibrant world of Afro-Caribbean religious practice, with a special focus on Cuban traditions. From the intimate spaces of home altars to the dramatic possibili...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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46:24
Identity, Vocation, and Contemporary Christianity - Guy Erwin
Today's conversation features Dr. Guy Erwin, the President of the United Lutheran Seminary. As a lifelong educator both with roots on a Native American reservation and as an openly gay man, Dr. Erwin shares his perspective on some of the social...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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47:50
Religion and the Alt-Right - Damon Berry
Though the categories we use to describe them can be different, "the Alt-Right", "Christian Nationalists", "White Nationalists," there is no denying the ascendency of a powerful force on the right that has affected the political and religious l...
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Season 4
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Episode 1
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52:53
Politics, Polling, and Religious Identity - Chris Borick (Re-Release)
This episode of ReligionWise features Chris Borick the Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. In this conversation, we consider how pollsters try to understand religious identity and sentiment, the limitations of those ...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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51:26
Religion, Animals, and the Bible - Arthur Walker-Jones, Suzanna Millar
Religious stories and symbolism very often feature animals of all kinds. Over the last few decades, scholars have taken more notice of these non-human actors that often play an important role in religious belief and practice. Today's conversati...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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53:52
Hinduism in the Public Conversation - Abhishek Ghosh
Hindu traditions have been around for an incredibly long time. As with any religious or cultural system, however, the beliefs and practices of Hinduism have developed and adapted to new environments and contexts. In today's conversation, we tal...
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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1:01:57
The Shifting Landscape of American Funerary Practice - Dustin Grim
We all know the aphorism about the unavoidability of death and taxes. On this episode of ReligionWise, we consider the former with funeral director Dustin Grim. Among other topics, this conversation reflects on changes in religious affiliation ...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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53:11
Kids and Religious Literacy - Vicki Garlock
This episode of ReligionWise features Vicki Garlock, Ph.D., the founder of World Religions for Kids. Trained as a cognitive psychologist, Dr. Garlock's longtime interest in religion and religious diversity has inspired her to produce children's...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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55:02
Religion at the Opera - Jane Fitzpatrick
Today's conversation features Jane Fitzpatrick, a contributing writer to Religion Matters who covers the intersection of religion and the performing arts, with a particular emphasis on the opera. Conversations about religion in the pub...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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52:42
Muslim Leadership and Higher Education - Adeel Zeb
Religious diversity on college and university campuses can be a complicated subject. Varieties of traditions and worldviews have been present at institutions of higher education for a long time, yet recognizing and welcoming those various relig...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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59:45
Spirituality and Philosophy - Tad Robinson
This episode welcomes back Tad Robinson, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy at Muhlenberg College.In his recent work, Robinson has asked how reframing questions of religious activity as spiritual rather than religious might lead to different...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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52:43
Religion, Politics, and Vocation - Sarah Trone Garriott
Every four years Iowa takes its stage in the national spotlight as the United States presidential race starts to heat up. This first opportunity for voters to choose a candidate to run in the national election, the Iowa Caucuses have an outsize...
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Season 3
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Episode 4
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54:23
On Monsters and Medicine: What can spooky stories tell us about health and disease? - Lorenzo Servitje
This episode of ReligionWise features Dr. Lorenzo Servitje, Associate Professor Literature and the Director of the Health, Medicine and Society program at Lehigh University. Trained in both Victorian Literature and Public Health, he considers t...
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Season 3
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Episode 3
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58:13
Alternative Visions for Understanding Religions - Jessica Cooperman
This episode of ReligionWise features a slightly different format. Instead of an interview, Jessica Cooperman, Associate Professor and Chair of Religion Studies and Director of Jewish Studies at Muhlenberg College, and host Chip Gruen have a co...
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Season 3
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Episode 2
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59:48
Religion and Public Education - Nicole McGalla
In this episode we talk with Nicole McGalla, Director of Communications and Community Engagement at the Parkland School District, in Eastern Pennsylvania. This conversation considers both the inclusion of the topic of religion into public schoo...
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Season 3
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Episode 1
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40:42
Religious Diversity, Ethics, and Healthcare - Bob Machamer
This episode of ReligionWise features Dr. Bob Machamer who teaches courses on Health Care Ethics at the Pennsylvania College of Health Sciences. In this conversation we consider both the historical context for considering healthcare ethics and ...
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Season 2
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Episode 12
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59:32
Belief, Conspiracy, and Identity - Dustin Nash (Re-Release)
Many current news, such as the overturning of Roe v Wade, the ongoing war in Ukraine, or recent investigations of unidentified aerial phenomenon, have increasingly become fodder for integration into fringe worldviews that we often refer to as c...
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Season 2
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Episode 11
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48:32
Varieties of African Religious Experience - Falres Ilomo
This episode of ReligionWise features Rev. Dr. Falres Ilomo, Chair of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Iringa, Tanzania. Dr. Ilomo's work considers the intersections of traditional African religious systems with Christianity in Afri...
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Season 2
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Episode 10
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54:45
Recognizing Caste Discrimination in the American Context - Sonja Thomas
In this episode of ReligionWise, we talk with Sonja Thomas, Associate Professor of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Colby College. In addition to her work on caste, class, and racial privilege in Kerala, India, Dr. Thomas has become a ...
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Season 2
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Episode 9
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1:01:58
Selling the Humanities - Michal Bar-Asher Siegal
In this episode of ReligionWise, we talk with Michal Bar-Asher Siegal, Professor of Rabbinic Judaism in the Goldstein-Goren Department of Jewish Thought at Ben-Gurion University in Israel. Though her research considers the intersections of Rabb...
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Season 2
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Episode 8
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52:31
Religion, Education, and the Courts - Dena Davis
In this episode of ReligionWise, we talk with Dena Davis, Presidential Endowed Chair in Health and Professor of Bioethics at Lehigh University. In addition to her work in healthcare ethics, Dr. Davis has written on a brewing controversy over a ...
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Season 2
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Episode 7
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52:58
Post Colonialism and Global Mission in the Contemporary World - Janelle Neubauer
This episode of ReligionWise features the Reverend Janelle Neubauer who currently serves as the College Chaplain and Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at Muhlenberg College. Prior to holding that post, Pastor Neubauer has had a number of...
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Season 2
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Episode 6
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52:40
Politics, Polling, and Religious Identity - Chris Borick
This episode of ReligionWise features Chris Borick the Director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion. In this conversation, we consider how pollsters try to understand religious identity and sentiment, the limitations of those ...
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Season 2
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Episode 5
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50:00
Religion, Interfaith, and Public Policy - Frederick Davie
This episode features Reverend Frederick Davie, who among other roles, serves as the Senior Advisor on Racial Equity for Interfaith America. In this far ranging discussion, we talk about the role of interfaith dialogue in wider public discourse...
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Season 2
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Episode 4
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51:17
Islam, Education, and Politics in Afghanistan - Rangina Hamidi
This episode features Rangina Hamidi, who, until the fall of the government in 2021, served as the Education Minister for Afghanistan. In this conversation, Hamidi talks about her life in public service and discusses the complicated relationshi...
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Season 2
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Episode 3
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1:27:01