On April 3, five graduate students presented their work at the 2nd Pan-UC Religious Studies conference at UC Davis. Recent undergrad Marissa Gomez ('26) also joined.
Since 2022, director Brianne Donaldson has been meeting with other chairs/directors of Religious Studies (RS) programs across the UC system in search of collaborations and research opportunities to jointly strengthen the study of religion in a West Coast coalition. The Pan-UC conference is one outcome of that collectivity.
UCI Religious Studies does not have a graduate program, but since 2024, Donaldson began to reach out to students whose work overlaps the study of religion to learn about student needs. Through meetings and dialog with RS affiliate faculty, UCI RS is now offering a series of Mixed Methods trainings, offering financial support for grads presenting their research at the Pan-UC conference, and will have our first Mock Job Talk in late May (watch this space). Below is a list of presenting UCI graduate students and reflections from two of them on their experience.
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Roy Cherian (Critical Theory) "“An Anatomical Supper: The Secular Body of the Social Contract”
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Xinling Zhou (Sociology) “Managing Ritual Pollution, Deploying Taboo: The Funeral Industry in Contemporary China”
Athenas Guerra (Anthropology; co-presented with Eric Gu): “The Grammar of Conversion: Testimony and the Making of Political Subjects in American Populism and Beyond”
I had the pleasure of presenting a collaborative paper alongside a fellow anthropology graduate student at the Pan-UC Religious Studies Conference this year. The conference provided a platform for both early- and late-stage academics alike to share their work, receive feedback, and spark conversation.
As a scholar who is new to religious studies, and since this was my first conference as a presenter, I was not sure what to expect. I was pleased with the lighthearted nature of the conference and with how supportive everyone was of each other’s work. The most valuable part for me was the space curated for early-stage scholars, such as graduate students, to speak candidly with one another. We talked about being TAs, our fears with AI, and frustrations with the state of the world and the university. I made genuine connections at the conference and left with more ideas about how I might apply religious studies to my anthropological research.
Agnik Bhattacharya (Art History| Visual Studies): “They are Ours”: Buddhism and Construction of Cultural Identity in Modern Kashmir”
My paper examined the key factors that contributed to the formation of Kashmir’s contested cultural identity during the colonial period and analyzed how these dynamics have had lasting repercussions in the postcolonial era. By situating Buddhist pasts within broader political and cultural narratives, the research highlighted the complex intersections of archaeology, memory, and identity formation.
This marks the second time I have represented the Department of Religious Studies at UC Irvine at the Pan-UC Religious Studies Conference. Since its inception last year, the colloquium has provided a valuable platform for early-career scholars, senior researchers, and faculty to engage in meaningful academic exchange. In particular, the roundtable sessions—held toward the conclusion of the conference—have been especially productive, fostering dialogue between junior scholars and established academics. These discussions frequently generate new research ideas and collaborative opportunities.
