We aim to rethink the philosophy of religion from the ground-up, with an entirely new set of categories and questions. This is no small task. On the one hand, scholars of religious ideas, reasons, and worldviews are typically trained and competent only in a particular cultural- historical subset of such ideas, reasons, and worldviews. On the other hand, no set of categories and questions drawn from any particular religious or scholarly tradition translates across all religious and scholarly traditions.
The project goals are to:
- Engage scholars and teachers who share an interest in philosophical studies of religion that are global in scope and self-reflexively critical.
- Publish a textbook with supporting scholarship that promotes our shared interest.
- Create opportunities to support scholars and teachers through meetings and workshops, be they online or in-person.
The project is graciously supported by grants from The Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Institutional support comes from Luther College, Drake University, and the University of Alabama’s Department of Religious Studies.
Co-organized by Tim Knepper, Gereon Kopf and Nathan Loewen, the project began with a seminar at the American Academy of Religion (2015-2019) where participating scholars joined the project support publication of a textbook, teacher’s handbook, and four volumes of accompanying scholarship.
The Wabash Foundation supports “Teaching Philosophy of Religion Inclusively to Diverse Students” in order to host a series of workshops with 19 scholars (2020-2021). The objective is to develop concrete pedagogical strategies that engage students with global approaches and critical methods in the philosophy of religion.
An NEH Collaborative Grant supports “Global Philosophy of Religion: Developing New Questions and Categories for Cross-Cultural Inquiry” in order to gather a collaborative team of 17 scholars at Drake University in October 2021. The central research question is this: What are the fundamental categories and questions by means of which philosophy of religion can be practiced in a globally inclusive and critical informed manner?
At the 2021 American Academy of Religion annual meeting there will be an exploratory session where participants will present progress on their research.
