Dr. Stephanie Balkwill (Associate Professor, University of California, Los Angeles; McMaster PhD 2015), paper on “Buddhist Utopianism in Luoyang: Political Hope and the Certainty of Collapse” for a panel on Visions of a Better Tomorrow: Utopian Dreams in Late Classical and Early Imperial China.
Dr. James Benn will chair a panel organized by Dr. Lan Li (McMaster PhD 2024) entitled *Making the Sacred Resonate: Interpreting Chinese Religious Art in International Classrooms, Galleries, and Museums.*
PhD student Xiaowen Zhou will give a paper entitled “Reframing Demons: The Daoist Adaptation of Buddhist Child-Protecting Spirits (Bāla-grahā) in Late Medieval China” for a panel on Contingency, Repositioning, and Ambiguous Relations in Chinese Religion.
Dr. James Benn will be a discussant for a panel entitled *Threshold Bodies: Care, Spectacle, and Witness in Chinese Buddhism.*
A number of students, alumnae, and faculty of McMaster’s Grad Program in Religious Studies will be busy this weekend attending and presenting at the annual meeting of the Association for Asian Studies in Vancouver! See details in thread.
Tonight at 7pm, Dr. Matthew Thiessen will deliver the Annual Jakob Jocz Lecture at Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. His lecture is entitled, "Jesus and the Jewish Law: The Purification Mission of Jesus." Dr. Michael Gabizon (McMaster PhD 2022) will respond.
Congratulations to Dr. Mark Scott, Associate Professor at Stonehill College and McMaster B.A. Honours in Religious Studies 2001, on the recent publication of his book, The Beauty of Souls: Aesthetic Encounters with Marilynne Robinson (Fortress Press, 2025)!
www.fortresspress.com/store/produc...
Congratulations to Sayed Mohaqqeq, a doctoral student in our program, on being awarded a Graduate Pedagogy Fellowship from Yale University's Life Worth Living Network!
More details on this fellowship can be found here: lifeworthliving.yale.edu/fellowship
Today at 4:30-6:00pm, Dr. Aya Oba will give a talk entitled "Building Connections in a New Land: Chinese Religious Communities and Support Around Funerals" in LRW 1003.
All are welcome to attend!
Dr. Lily Vuong (McMaster PhD 2010 and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Oregon) recently published a co-edited volume entitled *The World of the New Testament: Encountering Texts in Context* with Fortress Press.
www.fortresspress.com/store/produc...
REMINDER!
Any and all McMaster undergraduate students are invited to join us for the SCAR Winter Warm Up, which will take place TODAY from 2:30PM to 4:00PM in the foyer of University Hall. Come meet other undergrads interested in the study of religion, as well as our faculty and staff!
Tonight at 6pm: grad and undergrad students are invited to attend the Religious Studies Movie Talk Night!
Film: Children of Men, an all too timely film that explores a world ravaged by nationalism, xenophobia, and economic decline.
Presenter: Wayne Chandira
Room: LRW 1003
Bring your own snacks!
Save the Date!
Dr. Aya Oba, who was recently at McMaster on a postdoctoral fellowship, will give a talk entitled "Building Connections in a New Land: Chinese Religious Communities and Support Around Funerals" on March 5th, 4:30-6:00 in LRW 1003.
All are welcome to attend!
Congratulations to John Ottuh, a doctoral student in Judaism and Christianity in Antiquity, on the recent publication of his article, “Jesus’s Prayer Location in the Gospels and African Christianity,” in the Stellenbosch Theological Journal (2026).
ojs.reformedjournals.co.za/index.php/st...
Tonight, Professor Adele Reinhartz (McMaster PhD 1983) will deliver the Irish Theological Quarterly Lecture entitled "Shared Scriptures, Shared Questions: Jewish readings of the Christian Testament" at St. Patrick’s Pontifical University in Maynooth.
All grad and undergrad students are invited to attend the Religious Studies Movie Talk Night, Feb 27, 6pm!
Film: Children of Men, an all too timely film that explores a world ravaged by nationalism, xenophobia, and economic decline.
Presenter: Wayne Chandira
Room: LRW 1003
Bring your own snacks!
Any and all McMaster undergraduate students are invited to join us for the SCAR Winter Warm Up, which will take place on Monday, March 2nd from 2:30PM to 4:00PM in the foyer of University Hall. Come meet other undergrads interested in the study of religion, as well as our faculty and staff!
Recently, Dr. Liyakat Takim published an essay entitled “From Tradition to Reason: The Evolution and Development of Early Shiʿi Exegesis,” in A Luminous Intellect: Essays in Honor of Hamid Algar (Brill, 2025). De Gruyter Brill
brill.com/display/titl...
Check out Dr. Hanna Tervanotko’s “Why centuries-old astrology and tarot cards still appeal to us?” on The Conversation!
theconversation.com/why-centurie...
Dr. Matthew Thiessen recently published both introduction and critical notes to the book of Leviticus in the Anabaptist Community Bible (MennoMedia, 2025).
www.mennomedia.org/anabaptist-c...
Check out Dr. Shayne Clarke’s recent essay “A Preliminary Survey of Viśākha(deva)’s Bhikṣuvinayakārikākusumasraj,” published in Minding the Buddha’s Business: Essays in Honor of Gregory Schopen (Wisdom Publications, 2025).
wisdomexperience.org/product/mind...
In 2025, Dr. Ellen Amster was appointed the McMaster University Global Ambassador to Morocco on a mission organized by the Canadian embassy to Morocco. This meeting connected Canadian universities with over 35 Moroccan universities.
Read more here:
healthsci.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-glo...
Check out Dr. John Martens (McMaster PhD 1992) article, "Was There Universal Education of Girls and Boys in the Qumran Communities?" in the most recent issue of Dead Sea Discoveries!
brill.com/view/journal...
Recently, Dr. James Benn published an essay entitled “The Inner World of a Self-immolator?,” in Inner Worlds: Individuals and Interiority in Chinese Religious Life (De Gruyter Brill). Check it out here:
brill.com/edcollbook/t...
Check out Dr. Katharine Fitzgerald’s (McMaster PhD 2023) recent article, “Threatened bodies: Gender and trauma in the narratives of Judith and Susanna,” in the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha!
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Recently, Dr. Liyakat Takim published an essay on Muḥammad Muḥsin Fayḍ Kāshānī in *Qurʾānic Hermeneutics from the 13th to the 19th Century* (De Gruyter, 2025).
www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Today, Greek and Roman Studies hosts a lecture by Dr. Hanna Tervanotko (Department of Religious Studies), “Dice, Stars, and Names: Divinatory Techniques in Jewish Texts of the Greco-Roman Era.” There will be a reception at 4pm and then the lecture at 4:30 in the Great Hall in Alumni Memorial Hall.
Dr. Matthew Thiessen recently published an essay entitled “Paul among the Sons of God" in *Paul within Paganism* (eds. Paula Fredriksen, Alexi Chantziantoniou, and Stephen Young; Minneapolis: Fortress, 2025).
www.fortresspress.com/store/produc...
McMaster grad Dr. Jordan Ryan (PhD 2016) talked with fellow McMaster grad Dr. John Martens (PhD 1992) on the What Matters Most Podcast about his commentary on Acts for the New Testament in Color, and so much more.
Links below:
open.spotify.com/show/3R2CTf0...
podcasts.apple.com/.../what-mat...
Today, at 11am! Come join us to hear from McMaster Faculty of Social Sciences alum, Gurratan Singh (former MPP of Brampton East), who will speak about the value of social sciences and the humanities for a life of public service and leadership.
