Molly Bassett and Applied Religious Studies at Georgia State University
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.19191Keywords:
religious studies, applied religious studies, Georgia state university, religious literacyAbstract
With the current pandemic, the intersection of religion and health has garnered renewed attention as it potentially impacts not only what we study, but also how and where we do our work. In this edition of The Interview, Bulletin editor Richard Newton spoke with Molly Bassett, Chair of the Department of Religious Studies. Beyond her longstanding reseach interest in myth and bodies in Mesoamerican cultural history, Bassett’s department has pioneered an “Applied Religious Studies”approach to public health at the undergraduate and graduate level. Newton and Bassett discuss the story behind these efforts and the lessons they present for scholars in this moment.References
American Academy of Religion. 2015. “Teagle Study: The Religion Major and Liberal Education.” https://www.aarweb.org/AARMBR/Publications-and-News-/Data-and-Studies-/Teagle-Study.aspx.
Bassett, Molly H. 2015. The Fate of Earthly Things: Aztec Gods and God-Bodies. Austin: University of Texas Press.
De la Cadena, Marisol. 2015. Earth Beings: Ecologies of Practice Across Andean Worlds. Duke University Press. https://www.dukeupress.edu/earth-beings.
Townsend, Camilla. 2003. ”Burying the White Gods: New Perspectives on the Conquest of Mexico." American Historical Review 108 (3) 659–87. https://doi.org/10.1086/529592.
Webster, Jane S., James J. Buckley, Tim Jensen, and Stacey Floyd-Thomas. 2011. “Responses to the AAR-Teagle White Paper: ‘The Religious Studies Major in a Post-9-11 World.’” Teaching Theology & Religion 14 (1) 34–71. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9647.2010.00673.x.
