BACKGROUND

Devin Burns is a PhD Candidate in American Religious History. She is a historian of American religions with a specific focus on the 19th Century American South, the Civil War, and the Lost Cause. In addition, she works to center the voices and experiences of marginalized people both in her own research and her teaching. She received her BA from Florida State University in History and Religion and her MA from Vanderbilt University in Religious Studies. 

Her dissertation, currently titled In Christian Bonds: The Confederate Episcopal Chruch and the Making of a Lost Cause History, 1850-1915, is under the supervision of John Corrigan. This project traces the history of the Confederate Episcopal Church and its subsequent historiographical treatment in order to show the influence of the Lost Cause on historical narratives of religion during the Civil War. In doing so, she hopes to explore new avenues for understanding the relationship between the Lost Cause, church history, and the production of history. In the future, she is planning on writing a history which investigates the experiences and lives of marginalized people, particularly enslaved people, in the 19th century Episcopal Church.

Devin also places a deep importance on undergraduate teaching. She has taught courses on Religion and Race, Religion in the United States, and Religion during the American Civil War. Her pedagogy takes guidance from the collaborative abolitionist practices of adrienne maree brown and the Black Space Collective. She has been nominated for multiple department and university teaching awards, most recently being awarded the Florida State University Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award in 2023.

In addition to her teaching and research, Devin served as the graduate student representative for the American Academy of Religion Southeast and as a member of the National American Academy of Religion Graduate Student Committee from 2021-2023. She has also served her department in various capacities and roles since coming to Florida State University in 2019.

RESEARCH AREAS

• Women in Religion
• The Episcopal Church
• 19th Century American South

COURSES TAUGHT

• REL2121: Religion in the United States

• REL3152: Religion, Race, and Ethnicity

• REL3128: Special Topics in American Religion (Religion in the American Civil War)