American Religion

The prize jury found it to be scholarship of remarkable creativity and sophistication, marshaling a range of methods and critical approaches to consider in new—and entertaining—ways not just the what but the how and why of scholarly endeavor.

Rather than treating science and religion as exclusive frameworks for being in the world, this study argues that SETI practitioners engage in forms of religious work—mediating presence and absence, cultivating openness to transcendent figures, and managing radical uncertainty.”

In Martini’s own words, “The Evidence of Things Not Seen” "examines the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) as a site where scientific practice contributes to the enchantment of the universe through material and discursive processes that sustain openness to unknowable others.

Connor Martini earned his PhD from Columbia University’s Department of Religion, and he’s currently a Postdoctoral Research associate at Princeton’s Center for Culture, Society, and Religion.

We are thrilled to congratulate Dr. Connor Martini as the winner of American Religion’s fifth annual dissertation prize! Dr. Martini’s dissertation is titled, “The Evidence of Things Not Seen.”

From The Word in the World to More Words in a More Connected and Contested World — American Religion Candy Gunther Brown on Word in the World (2004)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: Candy Gunther Brown on The Word in the World (2004). Brown reflects on continuity in the practice of reading overtime and her recent, multidisciplinary research. Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/f...

The Growth of Bad Order — American Religion Jason C. Bivins on The Fracture of Good Order (2003)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: Jason C. Bivins on the Fracture of Good Order (2003).Bivins reflects on the political moment that shaped the book’s research questions and the applicability of its method for today’s politics. www.american-religion.org/back-pages/t....

We Have a Religion in Retrospect — American Religion Tisa Wenger on We Have a Religion (2009)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: Tisa Wenger on We Have a Religion (2009). Wenger reflects on the genesis of the book’s theoretical framing and new directions in Indigenous scholarship since publication. Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/w....

Back to the Puritans — American Religion Amanda Porterfield on Female Piety in Puritan New England (1992)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: Amanda Porterfield on her book Female Piety in Puritan New England (1992). Porterfield reflects on puritan rhetoric and the trial of Anne Hutchinson. Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/b...

Documenting the Emergence of a White Male Protestant Establishment — American Religion Thomas Tweed on American religious historiography

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: Thomas Tweed on American religious historiography. Tweed reflects on the place-centered focus of his scholarship and the importance of narrative complexity in US history. Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/d...

Redeeming My Own Work — American Religion Paul Harvey on Redeeming the South (1997)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: Paul Harvey on his book, “Redeeming the South” (1997). Harvey discusses the “cult of the archive,” salient questions in religious historiography, and recent work on biography.Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/r...

Going For It — American Religion Courtney Bender on Heaven's Kitchen (2003)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: Courtney Bender on her book Heaven’s Kitchen (2003). Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/g....

A Preface to Theology — American Religion W. Clark Gilpin on A Preface to Theology (1996)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: W. Clark Gilpin on his book, “A Preface to Theology” (1996). Gilpin reflects on his use of Lippmann and the book’s call for public theological dialogue. Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/a....

Against the Wind — American Religion McCutcheon on Manufacturing Religion (2003)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: Russell T. McCutcheon on his book, “Manufacturing Religion” (1997). Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/a...

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The Gentlemen Theologians — American Religion E. Brooks Holifield on the Gentlemen Theologians (1978)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: E Brooks Holifield on his book, “The Gentlemen Theologians” (1978). Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/t...

Religion, Emotion, and What Else? — American Religion John Corrigan on The Hidden Balance: Religion and the Social Theories of Charles Chauncy and Jonathan Mayhew (1987)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: John Corrigan on his book “The Hidden Balance: Religion and the Social Theories of Charles Chauncy and Jonathan Mayhew” (1987). Read further here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/c...

A Tale of Two First Books — American Religion Edward E. Curtis, IV, on his first two books

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: Edward E. Curtis IV on his first two books, “Islam in Black America” (2021) and “Black Muslim Religion in the Nation of Islam” (2006). www.american-religion.org/back-pages/a...

Religion and the American Revolution, Then and Now — American Religion Mark A. Noll on Christians in the American Revolution (1977)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: Mark A. Noll on his first book, “Christians in the American Revolution” (1977). Noll addresses the book’s early reception and reassesses Protestantism in American religious history. Read here: www.american-religion.org/back-pages/n...

Questions may be directed to Philippa Koch (philippakoch@missouristate.edu) or amrel@iu.edu.

Announcements — American Religion

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: Special Issue on Religion and Health (Pippa Koch, Guest Editor)
Please submit abstracts of no more than 250 words to amrel@iu.edu by December 1, 2025.

www.american-religion.org/announcements

Revisiting My Essay, “(The Problem with) Embraces” (1997) — American Religion Laura Levitt on “(The Problem with) Embraces” (1997)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: Laura Levitt on her book chapter about the dynamics of citation, “(The Problem with) Embraces” (1997). www.american-religion.org/back-pages/r...

Restructuring Revisited — American Religion Robert Wuthnow on The Restructuring of American Religion (1988)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: Robert Wuthnow on his book, “The Restructuring of American Religion: Society and Faith since World War II” (1988). www.american-religion.org/back-pages/w...

Second Thoughts on Edward W. Said — American Religion William David Hart on Edward Said and the Religious Effects of Culture (2000)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Thursday installment: William David Hart on “Edward Said and the Religious Effects of Culture” (Cambridge 2000). Read about Hart's methodological approach to Said and why Said continues to matter today. www.american-religion.org/back-pages/h...

Fundamentalism and American Culture, almost a half century later — American Religion George Marsden on Fundamentalism and American Culture (1980)

Back Pages is back again with your biweekly Tuesday installment: George Marsden on “Fundamentalism and American Culture” (1980). Read Marsden’s reflection about his methodological approach and his advice to scholars writing in today’s historical moment. www.american-religion.org/back-pages/m...

Like Bread on the Seder Plate — American Religion Rebecca Alpert on Like Bread on the Seder Plate (1998)

Back Pages is back with Rebecca Alpert on Like Bread on the Seder Plate: Jewish Lesbians and the Transformation of Tradition (1997). Read Alpert’s reflection on how the field of Jewish Studies has changed since and the conversations her book has opened. www.american-religion.org/back-pages/a...

Doing It Again — American Religion Jon Butler on Awash in a Sea of Faith (1990)

Check out the first installment in Back Pages below: Jon Butler on Awash in a Sea of Faith. Read Butler’s reflection on writing the book thirty-five years ago and what has changed in the field of religious studies since. www.american-religion.org/back-pages/b...

Reminder: Back Pages drops on Tuesday.

The first entry features Jon Butler on _Awash in a Sea of Faith_

Announcements — American Religion

REMINDER: Submissions for American Religion's dissertation prize are due in TEN DAYS on August 30, 2025! Please send submissions to amrel@iu.edu and include an abstract of the dissertation, the complete dissertation as a pdf file, and the author’s current CV. www.american-religion.org/announcements

12) Series One of “Back Pages” will begin on Tuesday, August 26, on the AR website, with new essays every Tuesday and Thursday, and future series already in the works. Keep an eye out here for announcements and links.