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Westminster College Religion Professor Guest Edits Recently Published Journal

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Posted on Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Dr. Bryan Rennie, professor of religion, was featured as a guest editor and article contributor in a recently published issue of the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture on Religion, Art, and Cognition.

Rennie’s article, “Religion and Art Behavior: A Theory and an Example: The Biblical Prophets as Postcolonial Street Theater,” is part of his ongoing research program on the ethological and cognitive study of art and religion. Articles in the guest edited volume stemmed from a session on the cognitive study of religion and art, which he organized at the Annual Conference of the American Academy of Religion in Baltimore in 2013.

His research has contributed to the development and structure of his current religion courses at Westminster College.

“My understanding is something that I can communicate to my students,” said Rennie, who has taught at Westminster since 1992. “This knowledge provides a clear forum for the understanding and the discussion of the origin, nature, and function of global religious behaviors.”

To continue his research, at this years’ Conference of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, Rennie will provide a paper in response to two new books on art and religion: "Envisioning Howard Finster: The Religion and Art of a Stranger from Another World" by Norman J. Girardot (Oakland: CA, University of California Press, 2015) and "A History of Religion in 5½ Objects: Bringing the Spiritual to its Senses" by S. Brent Plate (Boston: MA, Beacon Press, 2014).

For more information about religious studies at Westminster, contact Rennie at brennie@westminster.edu or visit here.