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Rethinking Religion in America Through Contemporary Case and Conversation.

American Examples: New Conversations about Religion, Volume One is the first in a series of annual anthologies published in partnership with the Department of Religious Studies at The University of Alabama. The American Examples initiative gathers scholars from around the world for a series of workshops designed to generate big questions about the study of religion in America. Bypassing traditional white Protestant narratives in favor of new perspectives on belief, social formation, and identity, American Examples fellows offer dynamic perspectives on American faith that challenge our understandings of both America and religion as categories.

In the first volume of this exciting academic project, five topically and methodologically diverse scholars vividly reimagine the potential applications of religious history. The five chapters of this inaugural volume use case studies from America, broadly conceived, to ask larger theoretical questions that are of interest to scholars beyond the subfield of American religious history.

Prea Persaud’s chapter explores the place of Hinduism among the “creole religions” of the Caribbean, while Hannah Scheidt captures what atheist parents say to each other about value systems. Travis Warren Cooper explains how the modernist church architecture of Columbus, Indiana, became central to that city’s identity. Samah Choudhury dissects how Muslim American comedians navigate Western ideas of knowledge and self to make their jokes, and their own selves legible, and Emily D. Crews uses ethnographic fieldwork to read the female reproductive body among Nigerian Pentecostal congregations. Editor Michael J. Altman also provides a brief, rich introduction assessing the state of the discipline of religious history and how the American Examples project can lead the field forward.

Visit americanexamples.ua.edu for more information on the group and news about upcoming projects.
 

American Examples: New Conversations about Religion, Volume Three, is the third in a series of annual anthologies produced by the American Examples workshop hosted by the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. In the latest volume from this innovative academic project, ten topically and methodologically diverse scholars vividly reimagine the meaning and applications of American religious history. These ten chapters use case studies from America, broadly conceived, to ask trenchant theoretical questions that are of interest to scholars and students within and beyond the subfield of American religious history.

Visit americanexamples.ua.edu for more information on upcoming workshop dates and future projects.

Case studies that vividly reimagine the meaning and applications of American religious history 

American Examples: New Conversations about Religion, Volume Four, continues the annual anthology series produced by the American Examples workshop at the University of Alabama’s Department of Religious Studies. The goal of American Examples is to examine examples of “something someone called religious, somewhere someone called America” by asking theoretical questions that exceed the boundaries of American religion or American religious history. This volume features seven essays exploring examples ranging from American Muslim headwear to online pickup artists to the connections between Dutch immigrants and Japanese students. This collection offers valuable insights for scholars and students within and beyond the field of American religious history.

Visit americanexamples.ua.edu for more information on upcoming workshop dates and future projects

Redefines American religion through bold case studies and fresh theoretical approaches

American Examples: New Conversations about Religion, Volume 5 continues the groundbreaking series from the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. Edited by Rachel E. C. Beckley, Jacob Lassin, Andrew Klumpp, and Michael J. Altman, this volume features seven innovative essays that challenge conventional understandings of religion in America.

From the sacred choreography of HBCU majorette dance to the spiritual significance of Korean American supermarket chain H Mart, and from evangelical summer camps to metaphysical theories of energy and oil, these essays explore “something someone called religion, somewhere someone called America.” Drawing on interdisciplinary methods—Black studies, queer theory, performance studies, and more—this collection reimagines how religion is practiced, embodied, and theorized across diverse American contexts. Volume 5 not only expands the boundaries of American religious history but also highlights the work of emerging scholars pushing the field forward. Accessible and thought provoking, this anthology is essential reading for students and scholars of religion, race, gender, and American culture.
 

Redefines American religion through bold case studies and fresh theoretical approaches

American Examples: New Conversations about Religion, Volume 6, is the sixth and final annual anthology produced by the American Examples workshop hosted by the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. This volume features eight innovative essays that challenge traditional understandings of religion in America. From the conception and construction of America’s road systems to the ways in which religious pluralism developed at the turn of the twentieth century, and from pan-Indianism to megachurch discourse, these essays explore “something someone called religion, somewhere someone called America.” 

Drawing on interdisciplinary methods such as Indigenous studies, acculturation studies, and political theory, this collection explores how religion is practiced, embodied, and theorized across diverse American contexts. This anthology offers valuable insights for scholars and students within and beyond the field of American religious history, including studies in race, gender, and American culture.