Student Research

Interested in doing your own religious studies (RS) research project or internship?

You do not have to be a RS minor or major to connect your research to the study of religion. Of course, taking RS courses, especially Thinking About Religion: Theory and Methods (RS 110W), will better prepare you to dive in. Wherever you're at, students from all disciplines and schools are welcome to apply religious studies' methods and skills through an independent study, honors thesis, or other project! Contact any of our RS affiliates below for information, mentorship, or getting pointed in the right direction.

Don’t see your area of interest? Reach out to RS Director Professor Brianne Donaldson to get connected.

Area studies specific to particular regions

A Franco-Flemish manuscript (circa 1270 CE) depicts a Salamander

South Asia: Alka Patel, Anneeth Kaur Hundle, Vinayak Chaturvedi
Western Asia/Mediterranean: Carlo Cereti
Premodern/medieval Europe: Nancy McLoughlin, Elizabeth Allen, Rebecca Davis
Africa: Cecelia Lynch, Sherine Hamdy (Egypt), Bojan Petrovic (North Africa)
Middle East/Central Asia: Mark Le Vine, Bojan Petrovic, Ian Straughn
China: Emily Baum
Mesoamerica: David Colmenares
Native American/Indigenous Studies: John Gamber, David Colmenares
19-20^th c. Japan: Christina Ghandbarpour

Community-specific study

Jain Studies: Brianne Donaldson
Sikh Studies: Anneeth Kaur Hundle
Zoroastrian Studies: Carlo Cereti
Black Studies: Jay Carter, Julius Bailey,
Buddhist Studies: Jon Pitt, Christina Ghandbarpour
Western Christianity: Elizabeth Allen, Nancy McLoughlin
Indigenous Christianity/Jesuits: David Colmenares
Islamic Studies: Rasul Miller (Black Muslims), Bojan Petrovic (Arab/Middle East Islam, Muslims in Western democracies), Ian Straughn
Jewish Studies: Jeffrey Kopstein, Mark Le Vine, Daniel Levine
Eastern Christianity, Biblical Studies: Maria Pantelia
Interfaith studies: Ian Straughn, Brianne Donaldson, Cecelia Lynch, Julia Lupton

Religion, Science, Ecology

JB Manchak (Science & Religion)
Jon Pitt (Plant Ethics)
Brianne Donaldson (Animal Ethics & Religions, Environment, Critical Animal Studies)
Julia Lupton (Climate)
Jay Carter (Race and Environment)

Literature and Religion

Comparative Literature
Julia Lupton (Shakespeare)
Anneeth Kaur Hundle (Sikh Studies)
Rebecca Davis (Medieval/women’s)
David Colmenares (Spain, Latin America)
John Gamber (Indigenous narrative and American Science Fiction)
Maria Pantelia (Greek Literature, Biblical Studies)

Religion, Politics, Law

Sikhs preparing meals for seniors and the disabled at their Pacoima gurdwara

Religion and refuge, sanctuary, immigration, political asylum, humanitarianism, decolonial religion, public policy, global uprisings; Click on each name below to see their approach to these themes
Elizabeth Allen
Cecelia Lynch
Bojan Petrovic
Sherine Hamdy
Susan Coutin

Religion and Medicine

Emily Baum (Chinese medicine, illness, alternative medicine, and popular beliefs and superstitions)
Brianne Donaldson (Cross-Cultural medical ethics, feminist bioethics, ancient/modern vegetarianism, animal ethics, Indian medicine, global accounts of consciousness)
James Lee (Disability Studies, health humanities)
Sherine Hamdy (Graphic Medicine, Islamic bioethics)

Religion and Philosophy

Vinayak Chaturvedi (South Asia, non/violence)
Brianne Donaldson (South Asia, Critical Animal Studies, non/violence, process philosophies, multispecies epistemologies, ecofeminist philosophy, Critical Animal Studies)
Joseph McKenna (Religious skepticism, freethough movements, secularism, gospel scholarship)
Jay Carter (Black Critical Theory)
David Colmenares (mysticism, evangelization, devotio moderna)

Religion, Art, Culture

Vinayak Chaturvedi (pop culture)
Sherine Hamdy (comics/narrative medicine)
Alka Patel (Art and Architecture of South Asia, Iran, Central Asia, and Spain)
Mark Le Vine (cultural production through music)
Sanjoy Mazumdar (urban planning and space)