Congratulations to the College of Humanities’ Outstanding Senior for Spring 2019, Chelsea Forer!

Forer graduates with honors, completing a double major in Religious Studies and Biological Anthropology and spent two years as a College of Humanities Student Ambassador. This summer, she will intern at the International Rescue Committee and has plans to continue her education in graduate school.

“More than I can express, the College of Humanities is where my community exists, where I find my home,” she told fellow graduates at the Spring 2019 Convocation.

“We are where we have been. My journey began on the Hopi Reservation, continued to the hillsides of Monticello, the Dragon Kingdom of Bhutan, and the linguistic treasures of Jordan, and promises to lead to unknown and beautiful places in the future,” Forer said. “No matter which department we are in, we are the countless ways in which we embody languages, literatures, and cultures. We seek to understand culture by traveling abroad and engaging with communities both local and global.”

Rae Dachille, Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, was Forer’s mentor and honors thesis advisor, and nominated her for the award.

“Chelsea is a rising star in her cohort. She has embraced the highest standard of religious studies scholarship expanding her efforts beyond the classroom to conduct study and research abroad in Bhutan and Jordan and to undertake intensive language study in Arabic,” Dachille said. “Chelsea’s incredible commitment to service to the College of Humanities as well as to the broader Tucson community while balancing a rigorous program of interdisciplinary research and study truly set her apart. Her intellectual promise, emotional maturity, willingness to collaborate, and deep respect for alternative ways of thinking about the world are exemplary.”

Forer said Humanities majors embody an interdisciplinary approach to education that will serve her and her fellow graduates well in any field they pursue.  

“Within our intellectual pursuits, in which we have demanded integrity, encouraged rigor, and inspired intellect, we have also cultivated empathy and competence, awareness and compassion,” she said. “As Humanist scholars, we are uniquely suited to address our communities’ most pressing issues. We are the present and future stewards and leaders of our globe.”

Religious Studies is thrilled to announce that Cecilia Cruz is the first-ever winner of the Fred and Barbara Borga Award. 

The Fred and Barbara Borga Award was established in memory of Fred and Barbara Borga through the generosity of their son Ross Schwartzberg. The award supports outstanding undergraduate students at the University of Arizona who are majoring in Religious Studies with a concentration in Religious Studies for Health Professionals.

Congratulations, Cecilia!!!

Read (in Cecilia's own words) how the Religious Studies major enriches the medical profession:

As a student in the College of Medicine I have spoken with many peers and mentors to emphasize the importance of humanities in the medical field. To be able to communicate with patients and their support system is as equally important as the actual practice of medicine. I first began taking Religious Studies courses because of multiple medical cases where the patients decided against the advised treatment based on their beliefs. It is important for health care professions to have religious literacy so they can give alternative methods or speak in the right terms with discussing treatments with their patients. 

Religious Studies is proud to announce 2019 winners of the Donna Swaim International Award for Religious Studies: Amelia Symm and Robert Lisak. 

The Donna Swaim International Award for Religious Studies enables academically-prepared Religious Studies majors to study the religions of the world in the context of their cultures, through study abroad opportunities. This fund was established in 2014, to honor Professor Donna Swaim’s 50 years of teaching and service at the University of Arizona. 

This award will support Amelia's participattion in a Directed Research Project studying archaeological methods and history at the Poggio del Molino field school in Populonia, Italy and Robert's opportunity to help create a cutting edge digital media collection as part of the Hangzhou Buddhist Culture project in Hangzhou, China.

Congratulations, Amelia and Robert!

Read (in their words) how traveling as part of their Religious Studies major will enrich their lives and studies:

Amelia Symm:

I personally want to study abroad so that I might not only gain more archaeological field experience, but that I might be able to better communicate as a citizen of a global society. The opportunity to study abroad is open to all students and should be seriously considered as a life-changing event that presents many differing avenues of learning, both within and outside of the classroom through cultural interaction.

Robert Lisak:

My fundamental reason for study is to find commonality in humanity and to be an active agent to bridge the gaps that seem to exist between so many people. I hope to continue to pave the road for a new level of cross-cultural understanding and share what I learn with anyone I meet.

Last week, Professor Andrea McComb Sanchez delivered lectures at a Barnard College/Columbia University and Yale University.

On April 8, Professor McComb Sanchez lectured on "Becoming a Tradition: Pueblo Indian Patron Saint Feast Days as Resistance and Adaptation" at an event cosponsored by the Barnard College Department of Religion, the Barnard College Department of Anthropology, the Barnard College Program in American Studies, the Columbia University Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life, and the Columbia University Department of Religion.

On April 10, Professor McComb Sanchez delivered a lecture titled "The Interconnection between Place, Narratives, and Ceremony in Pueblo Indian Patron Saint Feast Days" as part of the Yale University's Institute of Sacred Music 2018-2019 Colloquium. 

Congratulations, Professor McComb Sanchez!

Three Religious Studies majors presented papers at the American Academy of Religion/Western Region annual conference.

This was just the second year that undergraduate papers have been accepted and the University of Arizona is the only university to send undergraduate students both years.

Sophie Penn Barshay, majoring in Religious Studies and History, Chelsea Forer, majoring in Religious Studies and Anthropology, and Gamini Sethi, majoring in Religious Studies and Art History, each presented alongside faculty members and graduate students at the conference in Tempe. Blayne Roach, a 2018 graduate in Religious Studies, also presented.

Barshay’s presentation, “’Fatal’ Deviations From Tradition: How the Christian New Right Influenced American Conceptions of Family and Gender Roles as Exemplified in 80s and 90s Femme Fatale Movies,” drew on research for her Honors Thesis project.

“I was very grateful for the opportunity to present my research at the AARWR conference, as well as for the opportunity to learn about other interesting research projects in the field. It was also great to get feedback on my presentation from a wide variety of people,” she said.

Forer’s paper, “The Eye of the Scholar of Religion: A Lens of Resistance,” represented a case study, culminating in her senior Honors Thesis, that looks specifically at the modes and means of resistance in providing an undergraduate education in Religious Studies at a public, research-based university institution.

“Presenting alongside other scholars with similar interests showed me I am not alone, and instead am interested in pedagogical approaches that are cutting edge and currently researched by others,” Forer said. “I feel like part of the community of Religious Studies scholars after my experience.”

Sethi’s presentation, “Reimagining Religious Objects in the Postcolonial World” focused on the parallels between the historic plunder of art and illegal acquisitions of art by museums.

“The conference was a wonderful opportunity, and a true highlight of my time here at the UA. I was truly fascinated by the variety of research that fell under the larger ‘Religious Studies’ umbrella and really appreciated the opportunity to be able to discuss my research with individuals who had such varied academic backgrounds,” she said.

Brett Esaki recently published an article in CrossCurrents titled, “Japanese American Spiritual Ambiguity and Arts of Silence.” It describes the challenge of making political art that communicates an experience of ambiguity.

You can find the article in CrossCurrents Volume 67, Issue No. 4 (December 2017): 668-80. DOI: 10.1111/cros.12289

Religious Studies major Robert Lisak has been awarded the SILLC Global Award. This very competitive award will help fund Rob's participation in the Arizona in Hangzhou: Chinese Culture and Buddhism Study Abroad program.

Rob says "My college path has taken me in several different directions and I am taking every opportunity presented to me.  My reason for study is to find commonality in humanity and to be an active agent to bridge the gaps that seem to exist between so many people. My study, and my work, is a passion for me, and I hope to continue to pave the road for a new cross-cultural understanding for anyone I meet."  

 The SILLC Global Award accepts applications at the beginning of every spring semester from students majoring in one or more of the following SILLC disciplines: Africana Studies, Classics, East Asian Studies, French and Francophone Studies, German Studies, Italian Studies, Religious Studies, and Russian and Slavic Studies.

College of Humanities double major Rob Lisak is featured as the UA Honors College student of the week. 

Lisak majors in Religious Studies and East Asian Studies and talked with the Honors College about his experiences studying abroad in Hangzhou.  

By Peter Reese, UA Honors College Information Specialist

While no objector to Starbuck's coffee, Rob Lisak would rather explore a more ancient tradition in which liquid refreshment is but one of the outcomes. The creator of a short video reflecting his fascination with the meaning-rich Chinese tea ceremony, Lisak has put himself on a steep learning curve as an Honors College student. Nearly two decades removed from the traditional high school-to-college progression, he is pushing himself back even further into time as well as academic rigor. A Religious Studies and East Asian Studies double major, Lisak has joined Professor Albert Welter and others around the University of Arizona's Hangzhou Buddhist Culture Project.

Fueled by a three-year grant from The Khyentse Foundation, the project has two ambitious goals. "Hangzhou is a global mecca for Buddhism that hasn't been explored as fully as sites in India, Tibet and elsewhere in China," offered Lisak. "This is the China of which Marco Polo spoke." Now embedded in the team, he's offering creative implementation both of the scholarly research as well as teaching resources being produced from the ambitious imitative begun in 2018.

States Dr. Welter, "Rob's participation is instrumental to the development of the second outcome (in particular), the creation of new courses and components utilizing state of the art virtual and audio-visual enhancements that will transform the ways students engage the sources and materials relating to East Asian Buddhism." While The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism center on suffering, Lisak is present to make the path smoother and less painful for faculty, graduate research assistants and student peers. After twenty-five years of living the rock and roll life followed by a move from Chicago, Lisak is finding a new rhythm as part of the Honors College. One that puts his inspired energy into legacy-building outcomes.

"Every interaction I've had with the Honors College has been full of encouragement and concern for me as a student. I really get the sense that they care about their students in the Honors College getting the absolute best experience at the UA. Not only that, they seem proud of all their students' accomplishments. It feels like being on a team,"observes Lisak. When this astronomy minor's destiny moved from a potential scholarship in India to landing in China, he pursued a new course that included producing video training materials on his own time. While clearly not a quote from the scroll-borne texts at the center of the project, Lisak's personal philosophy about the Honors College is more timeless and universal than his five well-chosen words of colloquial English might suggest.

"You're here. Make it happen."

A thought worth contemplating. Over a cup of carefully prepared Chinese tea.

A $50,000 commitment from Dr. Ross Schwartzberg will establish a new scholarship for UA students majoring in Religious Studies for Health Professionals, as well as an annual lecture series focusing on health and religion.

Dr. Schwartzberg, who earned his medical degree from the University of Arizona and studied with longtime Religious Studies Professor Bob Burns as an undergraduate, established the endowment in honor of his parents, Fred and Barbara Borga. Schwartzberg will contribute $10,000 per year for five years to this endowment.

Half the funds will support student scholarships through the Fred and Barbara Borga Award for Majors in Religious Studies for Health Professionals. The other half will go to the Fred and Barbara Borga Health & Religion Lecture Series, scheduled to begin next year.

"The endowment for me is an opportunity to connect some key passions in my life: my love and admiration of my Dad and Mom, and my love of the University of Arizona. I hope that the endowment will provide some value for others as they inquire into the meanings of being, faith, truth, beauty and goodness," Dr. Schwartzberg said. "Inquiry into how the world works, history and the intersection of faith and reason, studying comparative religions, have been essential part of my life, and have strongly informed my practice of medicine," Dr. Schwartzberg said.

The Department of Religious Studies and Classics established the Religious Studies for Health Professionals track to provide students with the opportunity to study diverse cultures and religious traditions they will encounter in their professional lives. Double majors in Religious Studies and pre-health majors have reported that this dual training has made them more competitive when applying for graduate and professional schools, and has better equipped them as health professionals to engage with their clients as whole people.

"We are deeply appreciative of Dr. Schwartzberg's generosity and his vision in supporting programing bringing the study of religion into conversation with the study of medicine and health," said Religious Studies and Classics Department Head Karen Seat. "Students in our program study how humans have engaged with issues of life and death in various historical and cultural contexts, and develop an understanding of the historically complex political and economic relationships of religion and health care in the United States and around the world. Their studies will better prepare them to knowledgably engage with the challenges facing health care systems in the 21^st century."  

Dr. Schwartzberg's donation for the scholarship and lecture series comes at a time when health humanities programs are on the rise and health professions are incorporating more humanistic approaches, both in education and in practice. At the UA, Kristy Slominski is a newly hired Assistant Professor of Religion, Science, and Health and core faculty member for the Religious Studies for Health Professionals track.

"In addition to the critical thinking and communication skills gained from the humanities, our program explores how diverse religious traditions have shaped understandings and experiences of sickness, healing, and healthcare," Slominski said. "This is an important moment for Religious Studies to show how a careful study of religions can help the health professions to become more self-reflective and culturally sensitive, and I am excited that the University of Arizona is leading the way with its robust program of Religious Studies for Health Professionals."