Graduate Student News

Three recent graduates in the ARH track have been honored by the American Academy of Religion (AAR) for their new books. Sincerely Held: American Secularism and Its Believers (University of Chicago Press, 2022) by Charles McCrary (Ph.D., 2018) has been recognized with a book award, the 2023 AAR Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion Descriptive Analytical Studies. Errand into the Wilderness of Mirrors: Religion and the History of the CIA (University of Chicago Press, 2021) by Michael Graziano (Ph.D., 2016) was designated a 2022 finalist for the Best First Book in the History of Religions. Spiritual Entrepreneurs: Florida's Faith-Based Prisons and the American Carceral State (University of North Carolina Press, 2021) by Brad Stoddard (Ph.D., 2015) was recognized as a 2022 finalist for the AAR Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion Descriptive Analytical Studies.

Current ARH student Jesse Lee (Ph.D. expected 2024) has been awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship for 2024-26 at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University.

Scott Bursey (PhD, HER) has been awarded the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Doctoral Fellowship, which supports high-caliber students engaged in doctoral programs in the humanities and social sciences. This is the largest and most competitive PhD fellowship award offered by the Canadian government.

The Department of Religion is pleased to announce that Arya Adityan has been awarded a Summer Fellowship from the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS). The Fellowship will fund Arya's archival and ethnographic research on the oral epic and narrative traditions in South India.

James Waters's paper, "Christian Animism and Religious Environmental Ethics: A New Discourse for the Field," won the AAR Prize for best paper by a graduate student at the Southeastern Regional AAR/SBL conference.

The Department of Religion is pleased to announce that Marah Litchford has been awarded a prestigious Fulbright-Nehru Student Research Fellowship. The Fellowship will fund Marah's research in Dharamsala, India beginning in March 2022. While there, Marah will be conducting an ethnographic and historical study of the role of Buddhism in Tibetan political protest. Click here for more information.

Religion graduate student, Sam McLoughlin, has been profiled in Spectrum: The Alumni Magazine of Florida State University's College of Arts And Sciences. Read more about McLoughlin's research exploring demographic and political elements shaping America’s modern religious landscape at Spectrum. 

The Graduate Students of the FSU Department of Religion invite you to a Roundtable Discussion on Journal Publications on Friday, May 7th at 3:00 pm via Zoom, with guests Phillip Goff (co-editor of Religion and American Culture), Andrea R. Jain (editor of Journal of the American Academy of Religion), Alex P. Jassen (editor of Journal of Ancient Judaism), and Urmila Mohan (founder and managing editor of The Jugaad Project). Registration is required. Please click here to register. Download the flyer here.

Questions may be directed to Taylor Dean (tdean@fsu.edu) or Amanda Conway (aep16d@fsu.edu).

James Waters, PhD student in Religion, Ethics, and Philosophy, has received a 2020-2021 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award sponsored by FSU's Program for Instructional Excellence (PIE). He is one of only two students this year in the College of Arts & Sciences, and seven total in the entire University, to have been awarded this outstanding honor. James will also be recognized at FSU's annual Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence.

Guanxiong Xi, MA student in History and Ethnography of Religions (Asia), has been selected as the First Place Winner for the 2021 Master's in Four (MI4) competition. Guanxiong's prize-winning video presentation on his research, How a Buddhist Monastery Became a Tourist Destination in 17th Century China, can be viewed here. Guanxiong will also be recognized at FSU's annual Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence.

Joshua Matson, PhD student in Religions of Western Antiquity, has won the 2021 Arts & Humanities Research & Creativity Award in recognition of his outstanding research, publication, and presentation record. Josh will also be recognized at FSU's annual Celebration of Graduate Student Excellence and will be featured in the spring 2021 GradConnection newsletter.