Stfx Religious Studies

10/15/2026

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Dr. Gerjan Altenburg, of the StFX University Religious Studies department, recently presented research at the ReSAC (Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada) 2026 Conference at Memorial University, Nfld.

Gerjan's paper: "On the Felling of Trees: Buddhist Monasticism and Law on Prince Edward Island."

Abstract: In August 2024, members of the Great Enlightenment Buddhist Institute Society (GEBIS) were clearing trees on Prince Edward Island (PEI). This community of Buddhist monks belongs to the Tibetan-inspired Bliss and Wisdom movement. Tragically, one monk was injured, and another died in hospital after a tree fell on a work crew. A representative for GEBIS subsequently pleaded guilty to three violations of PEI’s Occupational Health and Safety Act. GEBIS, a Buddhist monastic organization, is now legally recognized as a formal workplace in Canada. In this paper, I put this provincial court case into conversation with passages from the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya, the canonical monastic code for most schools of Tibetan Buddhism. I show that cutting down trees remains a consistent concern for monastic lawyers throughout the history of Buddhist monasticism. And, when it comes to felling trees, secular laws in Canada might not align with religious ones.

Department of Religion and Culture, Memorial University

10/14/2026

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Dr. Rebekka King, of the StFX University Religious Studies department, recently presented research at the ReSAC (Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada) 2026 Conference at Memorial University Nfld.

Rebekka's paper: "Countering the World Religions Paradigm with Contingency and Chance."

Abstract: As many scholars have shown, the discourse of “world religions” is a problematic constructed category, rooted in Western ethnocentrism and essentialism (Masuzawa, 2005; Nye 2019; Owen 2011). In this presentation, I describe my attempt to push back against the world religions paradigm by introducing chance into an introductory course. Rather than organizing the semester around a predetermined sequence of “major traditions,” the four religious traditions covered in each section are selected at random using a wheel populated with twelve options (one recent section of the course covered Buddhism, New Religious Movements, Zoroastrianism, and Christianity). Each section thus creates a novel configuration in which meaning emerges partly from sequence, proximity, and juxtaposition, rather than from a prescribed presentation of content. Along with describing the course structure and student feedback, I make the case for what I call a “pedagogy of happenstance” and point to its usefulness in our current political and technological moment.

10/13/2026

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Dr. Ken Penner and undergraduate honours student Demarquis Moss, of the StFX University Religious Studies department, recently presented their research at the Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada 2026 Conference at Memorial University, Nfld.

Ken and Demarquis' paper: "Digitizing Ancient Religious Texts in the Age of Artificial Intelligence."

Abstract: Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming how we access and interpret historical documents. However, commercial AI tools are prone to “hallucinations” when processing low-resource historical languages of religious scriptures such as ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. This paper presents the progress on an SSHRC-funded methodological investigation into validating generative AI for digital scholarly editions. I propose a “Human-in-the-Loop” (HITL) framework, where the text critic’s role transitions from manual transcriber to prompt engineer, evaluator, and curator. Drawing on case studies from the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint (specifically Codex Machalianus), I identify specific linguistic failure points and establish protocols to mitigate hallucinations. This project offers a reproducible methodological blueprint, providing professors with a practical strategy for integrating AI literacy into the classroom and ensuring that student engagement with the primary texts of foundational traditions remains historically rigorous in the digital age.

Department of Religion and Culture, Memorial University Stfx Faculty of Arts Communications

10/11/2026

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Wow! Big congratulations to Ace DeWolf and Sara Parks for their co-published Bible Odyssey piece, "Are Biblical Angels Monsters?"

Ace was awarded a Father Edo Gatto Mentorship over the summer to work with Dr. Parks on graduate-school readiness, and polishing an article for publication. They also worked together on this fun short piece on Monster Theory for the pedagogical resource Bible Odyssey. [Sara notes: Ace did most of the work!]

Abstract: According to monster theory, biblical angels are monsters -- figures whose position on the border between categories reveal human anxieties and moral concerns.

You can read the short article here: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/are-biblical-angels-monsters/

Ace has now arrived in Scotland, beginning his MA in Religion and Literature at the university of Edinburgh. We are incredibly proud!
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StFX University St. Francis Xavier University English Department Stfx Faculty of Arts Communications The University of Edinburgh Canadian Society of Biblical Studies

09/30/2026

09/29/2026

Can you spot the four conference presenters from StFX University in this group pic from ReSAC 2026 at Memorial U? (The Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada annual conference.)

09/27/2026

All's quiet in the StFX dept. of Religious Studies this weekend, as many of the gang are off to Newfoundland! This year's ReSAC (Religious Studies in Atlantic Canada) conference is at Memorial U. Demarquis Moss, Rebekka King, Gerjan Altenburg, and Ken Penner are all presenting their research!

09/25/2026

🍋 Happy Sukkot, to all who celebrate!

Learn more about Sukkot (the biblical Feast of Booths) from Dr. Mark Zvi Brettler at Bible Odyssey: https://www.bibleodyssey.org/articles/feast-of-booths-sukkot/