McMaster Religious Studies
mcmasterreligion.bsky.social
McMaster Religious Studies
@mcmasterreligion.bsky.social
The Department of Religious Studies at McMaster University, the oldest graduate program in religious studies in Canada.
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...
February 10, 2026 at 2:02 PM
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...
February 9, 2026 at 2:02 PM
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...
February 6, 2026 at 12:44 PM
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.
February 5, 2026 at 1:30 PM
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...
February 4, 2026 at 12:09 PM
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...
February 3, 2026 at 12:33 PM
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.
February 2, 2026 at 12:07 PM
McMaster University's Graduate Program in Religious Studies will celebrate its 60th anniversary on Saturday, May 23, 2026. All former and current graduate students, faculty, and staff are invited to attend, so please mark your calendars for this special occasion.
January 30, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Recently, Dr. Hanna Tervanotko co-edited with Dr. Elisa Uusimäki a special issue of Dead Sea Discoveries entitled *Intersectional Investigations into the Complexity of Social Life in Early Judaism*. Check it out here:

brill.com/view/journal...
brill.com
January 30, 2026 at 2:10 PM
Congratulations to Dr. Shayne Clarke on the recent publication of *Minding the Buddha’s Business: Essays in Honor of Gregory Schopen*, coedited with Daniel Boucher (Wisdom Publications, 2025)!

wisdomexperience.org/product/mind...
January 29, 2026 at 3:01 PM
Congratulations to Dr. Ellen Amster, whose book, Medicine and the Saints: Science, Islam, and the Colonial Encounter in Morocco 1877-1956, was recently translated and published in Arabic!

utpress.utexas.edu/9780292762114/
January 28, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Congratulations to Dr. James Benn (@jamesabenn.bsky.social) on the recent publication of *Inner Worlds: Individuals and Interiority in Chinese Religious Life* (Brill, 2025), co-edited with Benjamin Brose.

@degruyterbrill.bsky.social

brill.com/edcollbook/t...
January 26, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Save the date!

Next Monday, the Department of Religious Studies will host former MPP of Brampton East, Gurratan Singh, for a discussion of the value of the social sciences and the humanities for a life of public service.

@mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social
January 19, 2026 at 12:10 PM
Save the Date: Tuesday, January 27th, 2pm EST

Prof. Adele Reinhartz (McMaster PhD, 1983), "Chanele's Diary: Tracing the Lives of Two Teenagers in - and after - the Lodz Ghetto."

@uottawa.ca @britedivinity.bsky.social
January 15, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Dr. Travis Kroeker retired in 2025. In his almost 40 years in the Department, he supervised over 20 MA theses and 20 PhD dissertations.

Recently, his former students edited a volume in his honour: *Messianic Imagination: Politics, Theology, and Literature.*

wipfandstock.com/978166676132...
Messianic Imagination- Wipf and Stock Publishers
Messianic Imagination: Politics, Theology, and Literature explores the intersections of political theology, apocalyptic vision, and literary engagement. Insp...
wipfandstock.com
January 14, 2026 at 12:52 PM
Dr. Liyakat Takim recently published an essay entitled “An Analysis and Comparison of Shi’i Akhbari Exegesis in the Medieval Period,” in *I of the Heart: Texts and Studies in Honor of Seyyed Hossein Nasr.* @degruyterbrill.bsky.social
January 13, 2026 at 1:48 PM