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U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey

Is the pope Catholic? Is the Dalai Lama Buddhist? Pew Forum’s new “U.S. Religious Knowledge Survey” is causing quite a stir, not least for confirming Prof. Stephen Prothero’s argument in “Religious Literacy” (2007) that the United States is “a nation of religious illiterates.” See the survey (for which Prof. Prothero served as a consultant) here, […]

Big Questions Online

David Frankfurter answers the philosophical question, would we have a concept of evil without religion? Heather Wax: Science + Religion Today Thursday, September 30, 2010 David Frankfurter answers. Click here to read the full article.

BU Today:

“Violence, Magic, and Bibleman” CAS’s Frankfurter interested in religion’s practice, not theology By Rich Barlow September 22, 2010 The usual scholarly works of a religion professor on David Frankfurter’s bookshelf share space with some unexpected decorations: action figures ranging from St. Paul to Bibleman, the superhero of an evangelical Christian video series. Scholarship and pop […]

Newsweek Education: Religious Studies Revival

“In trying times, a once esoteric major has become increasingly vital.” by Lisa Miller September 12, 2010 With Johannah Cornblatt and Nayeli Rodriguez “You want to major in what?” Such is the anguished cry of parents, who, having scraped together their last dollar for college tuition learn that their child has decided to devote herself […]

The Daily Free Press:

“Profs: Mosque near Ground Zero full of misconceptions” By Candace Shelton Published: Monday, September 20, 2010 Debate over the proposed construction of an Islamic center two blocks from the Ground Zero site in Manhattan has heightened confusion about Islam in America, a panel of Boston University professors said Thursday. About 130 students and faculty members […]

BU Today:

BU Panel to Ponder Manhattan Mosque Debate Prejudice, 9/11’s unhealed wounds, or both? By Rich Barlow Months of arguing haven’t quelled the firestorm over a proposed Islamic cultural center and mosque  two blocks from Manhattan’s Ground Zero. The issue has dominated newspaper editorials, the networks’ Sunday morning shows, and water cooler conversations in offices around […]

The “Ground Zero Mosque” Controversy: What You Need to Know

Presented by the Department of Religion The recent debate over the “Ground Zero Mosque” has been dominated on both sides more by sound bites than by careful analysis. This hour-long forum exploresthe myths and misunderstandings about both Islam and American society that thiscontroversy has brought to the surface. Its aim is to allow all of […]

Professor Adam Seligman’s International Summer School for Religion and Public Life is highlighted in the New York Times article, Letter From Cyprus – In a Divided Land, Lessons in Living Together by Nick Thorpe.

Twenty eight participants from diverse backgrounds attended the eighth annual International Summer School for Religion and Public Life organized by Adam Seligman and Boston University’s Institute on Culture, Religion and World Affairs at Boston University.  This year’s theme being “divided cities” began in Nicosia, Cyprus and ended in Jaffe, Israel.  The purpose of the school […]

Boston University Department of Religion is pleased to announce our new William Aurelio Professor coming September 1st, David Frankfurter

David Frankfurter is the author of numerous articles on apocalypticism, magic, Christianization, demonology, and violence in antiquity, especially in Roman and late antique Egypt, and is the recipient of Guggenheim, N.E.H., Radcliffe Institute, and Institute for Advanced Study fellowships. His books include Elijah in Upper Egypt (Fortress Press, 1993), Religion in Roman Egypt: Assimilation and […]