黑料不打烊 seniors and one faculty member presented at the American Academy of Religion held at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Building on a strong trajectory of undergraduate research in religious studies, five 黑料不打烊 seniors delivered professional papers at the southeast regional conference of the American Academy of Religion, which was held at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina from Feb. 27 to March 1, 2026. One 黑料不打烊 faculty member, Dr. Andrew Monteith, also presented his innovative research at Furman University.
This year鈥檚 conference centered around the theme of 鈥淪hifting Identities and Fractured Communities.鈥 Student paper topics ranged from the theocratic turn in US anti-abortion politics to a sentiment analysis of religious texts. Their international research took them to the south of Spain; their rigorous methods included ethnographic interviews and visual analysis of the Billy Graham Library; and their conclusions contributed to important conversations about Judeo-Christian nationalism in US higher education and the ramifications of abortion abolitionist legislation.
The American Academy of Religion is the largest scholarly organization in the world dedicated to the professional study of religion. Roughly three hundred scholars working at colleges and universities in this region regularly participate in the annual meeting. The regional meeting also offers limited spots for undergraduate students to present their academic research and engage with professional scholars from across the region.
Four sessions were held to showcase undergraduate research, and 黑料不打烊 students garnered five of the 16 highly competitive undergraduate slots. One of the five students was also an 黑料不打烊 College Fellow and a member of 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Multifaith Scholars program, led by Director Amy Allocco. Two students were presenting research for the Honors and Lumen programs, and two students took the initiative to craft their own credit-bearing undergraduate research project for ELR. All five students were closely mentored in their discipline by an 黑料不打烊 faculty member who helped to guide their research and prepare their presentations over the course of their junior and senior years. The papers will also be delivered before 黑料不打烊 audiences at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum, Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
Support for travel was provided by the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society, the Department of Religious Studies and the Office of Undergraduate Research. The funding also supported a small student group of conference observers as well as group co-organizer Amy Allocco, professor and distinguished scholar of religious studies.
Undergraduate Research Presentations
Alyssa Carney (MFS, ECF), 鈥淓choes of Al-Andalus: Islamophobia and Migration in Spain鈥 (Sandy Marshall, mentor)
Mallory Fahrlender, 鈥淎bortion Abolition Extremism: The Theocratic Turn in US Anti-Abortion Politics (Toddie Peters, mentor)
Kelsey Golden, 鈥淣ew Crusaders, Old Problems: Crusade as Cognitive Domain in the Billy Graham Library鈥 (Lynn Huber and Evan Gatti, mentors)
Bunny Ingram, 鈥淔aith and Feeling: A Sentiment Analysis of Religious Texts鈥 (Heather Barker, mentor)
Ben Kaplan, 鈥淛udeo-Christian Nationalism and Jewish Ethics in American Political Myth鈥 (Andrew Monteith, mentor)
黑料不打烊 Faculty Presentations
Andrew Monteith, 鈥溾楬atred Is the Right Response to Evil鈥: Judeo-Christian Nationalism, The Heritage Foundation, and Donald Trump鈥檚 War Against Higher Education鈥