Chip Callahan
@chipcallahan.bsky.social
Religious Studies prof. Folklorist.
Author, Work and Faith in the Kentucky Coal Fields: Subject to Dust. Co-Editor, The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Religion and Popular Culture.
Currently: religious history of oceanic resource extraction (whaling)
Author, Work and Faith in the Kentucky Coal Fields: Subject to Dust. Co-Editor, The Bloomsbury Reader in the Study of Religion and Popular Culture.
Currently: religious history of oceanic resource extraction (whaling)
Pinned
Chip Callahan
@chipcallahan.bsky.social
· Nov 12
Between Whale Teeth and the Moral Uses of the Sea: Considering Religion in the US Whaling Industry’s Extractive Zone
This article argues that the nineteenth century US whaling industry provides an oceanic perspective on extractive zones that illuminates their multi-sited, multiscalar nature where the local and globa...
www.mdpi.com
I'll introduce what I've been working on lately with this link to my most recent publication, a short piece on thinking religion through the planetary connections of the 19th century whaling industry: www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15...
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
Something I wrote on the occasion of the retirement of Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America for the past 30 years.
From the pulpit to the picket line: For many miners, religion and labor rights have long been connected in coal country
The retirement of United Mine Workers of America’s longtime president is a reminder that labor and religion have always been entangled in coal country.
theconversation.com
October 7, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Something I wrote on the occasion of the retirement of Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America for the past 30 years.
If you're using this article in any of your classes this term I'd be happy to Zoom into your class to discuss it.
I'll introduce what I've been working on lately with this link to my most recent publication, a short piece on thinking religion through the planetary connections of the 19th century whaling industry: www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15...
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
Between Whale Teeth and the Moral Uses of the Sea: Considering Religion in the US Whaling Industry’s Extractive Zone
This article argues that the nineteenth century US whaling industry provides an oceanic perspective on extractive zones that illuminates their multi-sited, multiscalar nature where the local and globa...
www.mdpi.com
August 19, 2025 at 6:57 PM
If you're using this article in any of your classes this term I'd be happy to Zoom into your class to discuss it.
Had a great time a couple of weeks ago with this amazing gang, plus Oren Lyons and Jake Edwards.
June 30, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Had a great time a couple of weeks ago with this amazing gang, plus Oren Lyons and Jake Edwards.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
the least tangle or kink in the coiling would, in running out, infallibly take somebody’s arm, leg, or entire body off
June 30, 2025 at 8:47 PM
the least tangle or kink in the coiling would, in running out, infallibly take somebody’s arm, leg, or entire body off
Reposted by Chip Callahan
a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed
April 3, 2025 at 2:47 PM
a sullen white surf beat against its steep sides; then all collapsed
Reposted by Chip Callahan
Nothing says "viewpoint diversity" like (*checks notes*) restricting curricula to a mandated viewpoint.
March 31, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Nothing says "viewpoint diversity" like (*checks notes*) restricting curricula to a mandated viewpoint.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
166 faith leaders in Texas & 193 faith leaders in Missouri urge state lawmakers to oppose bills mandating posting of Ten Commandments in public schools (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/nearly-200...). These hundreds of faith leaders prove such bills aren't about Christianity but #ChristianNationalism
Nearly 200 Missouri Faith Leaders Urge Lawmakers to Promote Religious Liberty, Not Ten Commandments
As members of the Missouri Education Committee consider legislation that would mandate the posting of an edited version of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, 193 clergy and other faith ...
publicwitness.wordandway.org
March 31, 2025 at 5:07 PM
166 faith leaders in Texas & 193 faith leaders in Missouri urge state lawmakers to oppose bills mandating posting of Ten Commandments in public schools (publicwitness.wordandway.org/p/nearly-200...). These hundreds of faith leaders prove such bills aren't about Christianity but #ChristianNationalism
Thought I'd throw this out there just because I was thinking about it again this morning.
Wobbly Religion: Tactical Formations of Religious Idioms and Space in the Industrial Capitalist City
Abstract. This article presents an approach to studying religion, class, and labor that does not focus on workers’ religiosity or religious affiliation. Ra
academic.oup.com
March 19, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Thought I'd throw this out there just because I was thinking about it again this morning.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
Since Trump is busy unilaterally renaming bodies of water down south, thought we’d get started up in New England.
How’s this?
How’s this?
February 8, 2025 at 4:10 PM
Since Trump is busy unilaterally renaming bodies of water down south, thought we’d get started up in New England.
How’s this?
How’s this?
Americans purport to take religion seriously, but so many Americans don't even know much about the religious traditions and institutions they identify with and claim as justification for their socio-political views.
Pope rebukes Trump over migrant deportations and refutes VP Vance's theology
In a strongly-worded letter to Catholic bishops in the United States, Pope Francis is taking to task the Trump Administration's stance on migrants, and that he's following what he calls a "major crisi...
www.npr.org
February 11, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Americans purport to take religion seriously, but so many Americans don't even know much about the religious traditions and institutions they identify with and claim as justification for their socio-political views.
Religion is complicated. Obviously. In the US over the past few decades the general public discourse seems to have reduced "religion" to "Christianity," and "Christianity" to a particular socio-political brand. But religion won't be so easily contained.
27 religious groups are suing the federal government in response to the Trump administration's policy giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at "sensitive locations" like churches.
27 religious groups sue administration over immigration enforcement policy
27 religious groups are suing the federal government in response to the Trump administration's policy giving immigration agents more leeway to make arrests at "sensitive locations" like churches.
www.npr.org
February 11, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Religion is complicated. Obviously. In the US over the past few decades the general public discourse seems to have reduced "religion" to "Christianity," and "Christianity" to a particular socio-political brand. But religion won't be so easily contained.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
MAJOR BREAKING: Pope Francis has written a letter to US Bishops saying he’s following “major crisis” of “mass deportations;” takes on Vance saying “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan”
February 11, 2025 at 11:53 AM
MAJOR BREAKING: Pope Francis has written a letter to US Bishops saying he’s following “major crisis” of “mass deportations;” takes on Vance saying “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan”
Reposted by Chip Callahan
Pope Francis’ letter to U.S. Bishops is incedibly powerful. This stands out to me especially. Every purported Christian faith leader who has endorsed or stood silent before Trump’s ugly immigration policies needs to be confronted with this statement.
www.vatican.va/content/fran...
www.vatican.va/content/fran...
February 11, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Pope Francis’ letter to U.S. Bishops is incedibly powerful. This stands out to me especially. Every purported Christian faith leader who has endorsed or stood silent before Trump’s ugly immigration policies needs to be confronted with this statement.
www.vatican.va/content/fran...
www.vatican.va/content/fran...
This is ridiculous.
NEH has posted updates to the funding restrictions for some grant programs.
February 11, 2025 at 3:44 PM
This is ridiculous.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
So when all was said and done, the only country that opened it's prisons and sent crazy murderous criminals to prey upon innocent American citizens, was us.
January 22, 2025 at 7:25 AM
So when all was said and done, the only country that opened it's prisons and sent crazy murderous criminals to prey upon innocent American citizens, was us.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
welcome back Don Quixote (1605)
January 15, 2025 at 7:44 PM
welcome back Don Quixote (1605)
I sometimes find myself reminded that there are many, many things going on every day that reveal that we live in multiple, different realities.
At the Texas Capitol, Christian worshippers are blessing the walls of a hearing room to protect lawmakers from spiritual forces and the “Jezebel” spirit.
“Pray for the fear of the Lord to come into this place,” says MercyCulture pastor Landon Schott.
“Pray for the fear of the Lord to come into this place,” says MercyCulture pastor Landon Schott.
January 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I sometimes find myself reminded that there are many, many things going on every day that reveal that we live in multiple, different realities.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
Banning trans kids from sports solves *none* of the problems that Americans are facing.
Let’s be real: Trans kids aren't the reason we can't afford groceries. Trans kids aren't the reason young people are giving up on ever owning a home.
Corporate greed is.
Let’s be real: Trans kids aren't the reason we can't afford groceries. Trans kids aren't the reason young people are giving up on ever owning a home.
Corporate greed is.
January 14, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Banning trans kids from sports solves *none* of the problems that Americans are facing.
Let’s be real: Trans kids aren't the reason we can't afford groceries. Trans kids aren't the reason young people are giving up on ever owning a home.
Corporate greed is.
Let’s be real: Trans kids aren't the reason we can't afford groceries. Trans kids aren't the reason young people are giving up on ever owning a home.
Corporate greed is.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
Nobody wants a student essay as a product; we want students to learn to compose their thoughts in written form as a process. I mean, would you have a machine run your laps or play your scales for you? In which case we would not say you had run or played.
This is what's so baffling about so many suggestions for AI in the humanities classroom: they mistake the product for the point. Writing outlines and essays is important not because you need to make outlines and essays but because that's how you learn to think with/through complex ideas.
I'm sure many have said this before but I'm reading a student-facing document about how students might use AI in the classroom (if allowed) and one of the recs is: use AI to make an outline of your reading! But ISN'T MAKING THE OUTLINE how one actually learns?
December 13, 2024 at 8:01 PM
Nobody wants a student essay as a product; we want students to learn to compose their thoughts in written form as a process. I mean, would you have a machine run your laps or play your scales for you? In which case we would not say you had run or played.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
It’s funny that we are all acknowledging that private health care is an absolute bureaucratic nightmare designed to limit treatment at the expense of patients’ lives and lots of people still believe that trans kids are just walking into medical facilities and getting treatment without question.
December 6, 2024 at 7:00 PM
It’s funny that we are all acknowledging that private health care is an absolute bureaucratic nightmare designed to limit treatment at the expense of patients’ lives and lots of people still believe that trans kids are just walking into medical facilities and getting treatment without question.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
I'll introduce what I've been working on lately with this link to my most recent publication, a short piece on thinking religion through the planetary connections of the 19th century whaling industry: www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15...
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
Between Whale Teeth and the Moral Uses of the Sea: Considering Religion in the US Whaling Industry’s Extractive Zone
This article argues that the nineteenth century US whaling industry provides an oceanic perspective on extractive zones that illuminates their multi-sited, multiscalar nature where the local and globa...
www.mdpi.com
November 12, 2024 at 12:54 AM
I'll introduce what I've been working on lately with this link to my most recent publication, a short piece on thinking religion through the planetary connections of the 19th century whaling industry: www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/15...
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
The whole special issue on religion in extractive zones is great.
Reposted by Chip Callahan
amazing that packer wrote this about an election result in which no one got above 50% of the vote.
the thing you have to understand about the commentary class is that many of them are embarrassed elites who are overly credulous toward right-wing populist claims for reasons of self-loathing
the thing you have to understand about the commentary class is that many of them are embarrassed elites who are overly credulous toward right-wing populist claims for reasons of self-loathing
A bunch of billionaires just bought the American government and this is a takeaway, amazing
December 2, 2024 at 5:08 PM
amazing that packer wrote this about an election result in which no one got above 50% of the vote.
the thing you have to understand about the commentary class is that many of them are embarrassed elites who are overly credulous toward right-wing populist claims for reasons of self-loathing
the thing you have to understand about the commentary class is that many of them are embarrassed elites who are overly credulous toward right-wing populist claims for reasons of self-loathing
Reposted by Chip Callahan
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum response in a letter to Donald Trump's tariffs threat against Mexico for immigrants crossing into the United States.
We all know how much Trump fears and hates powerful women.
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
We all know how much Trump fears and hates powerful women.
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
November 27, 2024 at 12:09 AM
Mexico's President Claudia Sheinbaum response in a letter to Donald Trump's tariffs threat against Mexico for immigrants crossing into the United States.
We all know how much Trump fears and hates powerful women.
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
We all know how much Trump fears and hates powerful women.
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Reposted by Chip Callahan
If your government has $10 billion to invest in new nuclear power - the earliest that nuclear power will be available will be in 2034.
That $10 billion can build more than 10x the amount of solar + wind + batteries in under 12 months.
Opportunity Cost Lesson 101.
That $10 billion can build more than 10x the amount of solar + wind + batteries in under 12 months.
Opportunity Cost Lesson 101.
December 1, 2024 at 3:54 PM
If your government has $10 billion to invest in new nuclear power - the earliest that nuclear power will be available will be in 2034.
That $10 billion can build more than 10x the amount of solar + wind + batteries in under 12 months.
Opportunity Cost Lesson 101.
That $10 billion can build more than 10x the amount of solar + wind + batteries in under 12 months.
Opportunity Cost Lesson 101.