News
Professor Mona Hassan's book: Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History will receive award
Wednesday, October 11, 2017Congratulations to Professor Mona Hassan! We are delighted to announce that Longing for the Lost Caliphate: A Transregional History, has been selected to receive the AAR's (American Academy of Religion) Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in the Historical Studies category.
Position Announcement - Early Christianity
Monday, September 18, 2017Position Announcement Early Christianity The Department of Religious Studies within Trinity College of Arts & Sciences at Duke University invites applications and nominations for a position in the study of Early Christianity, at the rank of (tenure-track) Assistant or (tenured)... Read More »
In Memoriam: Kalman P. Bland (1942-2017)
Wednesday, July 26, 2017Kalman P. Bland (1942–2017), a longtime member of the American Academy of Religion, was professor emeritus of religious studies at Duke University, amateur violist, conversationalist extraordinaire, and embodiment of the Platonic ideal of thoughtfulness. Kalman received his BA in philosophy from... Read More »
Mourning the Loss of a Beloved Professor
Wednesday, July 19, 2017Kalman P. Bland, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Religious Studies, Duke University, died on July 15, 2017, in Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Derbyshire, UK. He became seriously ill while traveling with his partner, Annabel Wharton, in Italy and England; doctors... Read More »
A 3-D digital scan throws a Buddha statue's carvings into sharp relief
Thursday, June 22, 2017What makes this sixth-century Chinese object, the Cosmic Buddha, exceptional are the detailed narrative scenes that cover its surface, representing moments in the life of the historical Buddha as well as the Realms of Existence, a symbolic map of the Buddhist world. A laser passing over the... Read More »
B4NP Podcast Episode 13: "On Being a Jewish Biblical Scholar"
Monday, June 19, 2017This week’s episode explores how Judaism engages modern biblical scholarship which is often hostile to that tradition. Our guest is Marc Z. Brettler, Bernice and Morton Lerner Professor of Judaic Studies, Duke University. He is the author and editor of several important books including ... Read More »
Is the Old Testament dying?
Thursday, May 18, 2017But Marc Brettler, professor in Judaic studies at Duke University agreed there’s simply not enough solid data to prove that Bible knowledge is dying. The speculative dimension, he said, reminds him of Mark Twain’s famous phrase: “Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated... Read More »
Professor Marc Brettler assisting with fact-checking for new cookbook
Wednesday, April 5, 2017By Jill Warren Lucas - Correspondent As a renowned expert on the Old Testament, Duke professor Marc Brettler has been recruited many times to fact-check scholarly texts that cite the Bible. But there was something unexpected about a recent inquiry. Joan Nathan, a James Beard... Read More »
The Historical Jesus: Separating Fact from Fiction
Thursday, February 23, 2017https://today.duke.edu/2017/02/historical-jesus-separating-fact-fiction Mark Goodacre is something of a Biblical sleuth. A leading New Testament scholar, he is often tapped to sort out hoax from authentic evidence when someone announces a new “discovery” from the early Christian era. So when... Read More »
Professor caught up in travel ban returns
Monday, February 20, 2017A Duke professor affected by President Donald Trump’s travel ban has returned to his family in North Carolina. Mohsen Kadivar, a research professor of Islamic studies originally from Iran, had been living in Berlin as part of a fellowship program. Although he originally planned to stay... Read More »
Message from the Department:
The faculty of the Department of Religious Studies laments and strongly objects to the racist comments and symbols that have appeared on campus at Duke, repugnant expressions of White supremacy groups and others expressing racial and religious hatred that have no place whatsoever in our community or anywhere else. We sincerely hope that students, staff and faculty across the university will publicly convey their staunch rejection of such hatred in order to champion the values of tolerance and equality that are the true basis of our intellectual and ethical community.