2023 Undergraduate Student Conference on the Study of Religion

Welcoming Remarks

• Professor Sarah Gallant, Conference Committee
• Professor Bob Gibbs, Acting Chair and Graduate Chair, Department for the Study of Religion

Religion and Technology

• Arist Bravo, Double Major in Religion and Computer Science: Better Software for Religious Stakeholders - Insights from Wittgenstein to Benedict

• Hammad Syed, Major in History of Religions, Minor in French Studies and South Asian Humanities: Twitter Darbār: in the Presence of HadithGPT

Religion and Diaspora

• Julia Gould, Double Major in Political Science and Diaspora & Transnational Studies: Tropey Wife: Constructing the Jewish American Princess and the Shiksa

• Samuel Weinstein, Double Major in Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations (Ancient) and Philosophy: The Holy Seed: Diasporic Unease, National Identity, and the Formation of  the Other in Ezra-Nehemiah

• Alexander Lawson, Double Major in History and Peace, Conflict and Justice, Minor in Religion: The Price of Belief: Applying Costly Signaling Theory to the Spread of Ancient Cults

Religion in the Public Sphere: Popular Culture and Media

• Trent Atkinson, Double Major in Religion and Diaspora & Transnational Studies: It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's a Golem: On Reproduction of the Golem in American Superhero Comics

• Julia Shokeir, Double Major in Anthropology (General) and Religion, Minor in Medical Anthropology: Museumification and its Dangers: The "Enlightenment" of Korean Buddhism

• Swamini Sagar, Double Major in Religion and Philosophy, Minor in Writing & Rhetoric: Reinstating Spiritual Meaning: Museum Legacies of Colonialism and Religious Artifacts

Religion in the Public Sphere: Global Case Studies

• Ashvini Giridaran, Double Major in Religion and American Studies: Behind Bill 21: Laïcité and the Preservation of Power

• Eleanor Park, Double Major in Religion and English: Religious Freedom: Assessing South Korea's New Religious Movements and the State's Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Ahlam Haouach, Major in Economics and Society: Religious Freedom and Legal Pluralism: An Analysis of the Intersection of Human Rights and Sharia Law in Europe through the Molla Sali v. Greece Case

Religion in the Public Sphere: Philosophy

• Rayan Magon, Double Major in Psychology and Philosophy: The Gestalt Glue of Personal Identity: Reflections on Hindu Transcendental Egoism as a Reply to Parfit

• Odessa Hewitt-Bernhard, Double Major in Philosophy and Ethics, Society, and Law: Love Thy Neighbour as a Challenge to Political Theology: Understanding the Neighbour as an Ethical Position through the Work of Emmanuel Levinas and Simone Weil

Closing Remarks

• Professor Laura Beth Bugg, Acting Associate Chair, Department for the Study of Religion

• Owen Huisman, RUSA President