Ph.D. in Religious Studies
University of California,

Santa Barbara

Email: vbiondo--@--csufresno.edu

(remove the dashes and include a specific subject line)

Statement:

In 1963 the Supreme Court of the United States in Abington v. Schempp recognized that understanding the world’s cultures and the role of religion in them is vital to national interests.  Justices Goldberg and Harlan clarified how this would occur when they wrote that there is a clear difference between teaching religion and teaching about religion.  As a professor of Western Religions at a public university I am committed to increasing knowledge and understanding about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam without indoctrinating students into a particular faith or ideology.  I do this using a History of Religions methodology that is comparative and multidisciplinary and examines how religious phenomena interact with their historical and political contexts.  Mircea Eliade popularized this approach in the United States and influenced a generation of scholars including my teacher at UCSB Richard D. Hecht.  Another important scholar in this field was Ninian Smart who argued that scholarship pursued with empathy and epoché, or bracketing one’s own judgment, makes it possible to apply the leading social scientific methods of the twentieth century to increasing our understanding and appreciation of religion and its role in the world.  At the undergraduate level, an exploration of the richness and complexities of the world’s religions effectively sharpens critical thinking and communication skills.

Recent Publications:

Co-editor, Religion in the Practice of Daily Life, 3 Volumes, Greenwood Press, expected 2009.

"Economics," "Eliade," and "Mosque," Encyclopedia of Global Religion, Mark Juergensmeyer and Wade Clark Roof, eds., Sage Publications, expected 2009.

“Los Angeles,” Encyclopedia of Muslim-American History, Edward E. Curtis, IV, ed., Facts on File, 2009.

“Between Tribalism and Pluralism in the U.S. and Britain,” The Muslim World, Hartford Seminary, Volume 98, Number 4, October 2008, pp. 475-484, from 2007 CIR Conference at Yale University.

“Islam in Los Angeles,” Encyclopedia of Islam in the United States, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University, Jocelyne Cesari, ed., Greenwood Press, 2007.

“The Architecture of Mosques in the U.S. and Britain,” Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs, Volume 26, Issue 3, December 2006, pp. 399-420, from 2005 UCSB dissertation "Islam and Public Space in the U.S. and Britain."

Courses Taught:

Philosophy 170 - Islam and Modernity, Philosophy 2 - Exploring Religious Meaning, Philosophy 132 - Religion and the Margin, Philosophy 165T - Western Religions, Philosophy 139 - Islam, Philosophy 158 - Judaism, Philosophy 10 - Religion and Society, Philosophy 192 - Religion in Public Life, Religion 1300 – World Religions, Religion 3936 – Islam in the U.S., Religious Studies 104 – Theory and Methods in the Study of Religion: Sacrifice

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Resources for CSU Fresno Students:

In Religious Literacy Stephen Prothero agrees with John Dewey that illiterate voters do not guarantee a successful democracy.  Take his Religious Literacy Quiz on page four of Bostonia (Spring 2007) to see where you stack up.

In two pages Russell McCutcheon addresses "What is Religious Studies?"  Similarly, The American Philosophical Association explains "What is Philosophy?"  Here are the requirements for a Fresno State degree in Religious Studies, Philosophy, or Prelaw from the Department of Philosophy.

Learn more about the new U.S. Department of Education minor program in Middle East Studies and our inaugural conference October 16-18, 2008, featuring a musical performance by the UCSB Middle East Ensemble.

Learn how to Study Abroad or apply for a Fulbright.

The UNC Writing Center explains thesis statements, Chicago-style footnotes, and how to write papers for Religious Studies classes.

Learn about graduate programs in Religious Studies and the general discipline from the American Academy of Religion.

When researching a topic online, Google and Wikipedia are convenient ways to find quality sources; however, their results can be manipulated for profit, so make sure you know how to tell the difference between an authentic and fraudulent source.  Here is a guide from Cal library on how to evaluate websites.

Books:

A bibliography can be found at the end of each entry in your library's Encyclopedia of Religion.

Due to library construction you currently need to request books online from the Henry Madden Library website.  They will usually be made available for pick-up at the circulation desk within 24 hours.  There is a new database called Link+ where you can search many California libraries at once and order the same way.  Oxford University Press is a leading publisher of textbooks in Religious Studies.

If you find an essential book in the University of California Library system or from Amazon then you can request it via Interlibrary Loan.

Journal Articles:

Academic Search Premier and JSTOR have the most religion-related full-text journal articles for free download in Adobe's .pdf format.  (You may need to be within the campus computer network.  Journals that are "peer-reviewed" are more likely to be academic.)

Newspapers:

The Los Angeles Times, New York Times, and Newsweek/Washington Post each have weekly religion sections.  The award-winning BBC Religion website has links to Religious news stories.

You can also search for religion-related news stories at The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life, PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, Religion Dispatches, and Trinity College Religion in the News.

From within the campus computer network you can search most of the nation's newspapers at LexisNexis.

Research Centers:

UC Santa Barbara Capps Center, Boston College Boisi Center, Harvard Pluralism Project, Carnegie Council, Social Science Research Council, Congressional Research Service

The First Amendment Center's Religious Liberty in Public Life page introduces issues of national concern.

David Smock leads the Religion and Peacemaking program at the United States Institute of Peace.

Other Resources:

British Library Sacred Texts, Gifford Lectures, Nobel Foundation, MacArthur Fellows, American Academy, British Academy

The Tony Blair Faith Foundation and Eboo Patel's Interfaith Youth Core are working together to eradicate malaria and save millions of children's lives.  Learn more about the UN Millennium Development Goals from Jeffrey Sachs' The Earth Institute.

For those confident in their faith, who want to strengthen local communities by solving common problems together, The World Conference of Religions for Peace and The Inter Faith Network for the UK have provided free online guidebooks with ideas for how to start a local interfaith organization.

Varun Soni leads the USC Office of Religious Life, which has a helpful interfaith calendar.