The United States is an empire in decline, as well as a nation under enormous economic duress, and civil religion…
Taking exception to American exceptionalism
history
A trifecta of problems
Three of Insider Higher Ed's most recent dispatches focus on a trifecta of problems in the academic study of religion.
Jewish economic ambivalence
From Princeton University Press, historian Jerry Z. Muller has a new book on Capitalism and the Jews.
St. Francis, the sultan, and the promise of peace
On February 17th, with half the foreheads in the packed room marked by Ash Wednesday smears, Fordham University's Center on…
Explaining the plague
At the Times Literary Supplement, Lauro Martines reviews Cultures of Plague: Medical Thinking at the End of the Renaissance, a…
Maimonides, man of the Mediterranean
Better late than never: last year, Princeton University Press published Sarah Stroumsa's Maimonides in His World. It is a strictly…
How the Bible Belt came to be
At Science and Religion Today, historian Randall Stephens attempts to explain the distinct and enduring religiosity of the American south.
The history of Tony Judt
In a moving portrait of the eminent historian, Evan R. Goldstein traces the trajectory of Tony Judt's career from his…
Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age
Varieties of Secularism in a Secular Age will be published this spring by Harvard University Press. Edited by Michael Warner,…
Religion and the historical profession
Religion, reported Inside Higher Ed last week, is now the most popular theme of historical study in America, according to…