McMaster University Department of Religious Studies

10/14/2026

Congratulations to Josh Ereshefsky on successfully defending his dissertation, “The Mount Sumeru Cosmos: Japanese Buddhist Apologetics in Bukkoku rekishōhen!,” written under the supervision of James Benn. Well done, Dr. Ereshefsky!

10/08/2026

On October 13th, Ellen Amster will give the keynote address entitled “What about Tuskegee? Reckoning with Histories of Race and Colonialism in Public Health and Medicine" for the Public Health Speaker Series here at McMaster University. See attached poster for how to attend!

10/07/2026

Check out Miriam DeCock's (Ph.D. 2019) latest article (co-written with Katarina Pålsson), "Exegesis and Ascesis: Origen and Jerome on the Ideal Scriptural Exegete," out in Vigiliae Christianae!

Abstract In early Christianity, scriptural exegesis was central to the life of the church, and from the second to the sixth century, we find the interest in exegesis expressed in numerous interpretive handbooks as well as commentaries on the biblical books. Since the scriptural message was often far...

10/06/2026

Online Book Launch of Eileen Schuller and Carol Newsom's The Thanksgiving Scroll, the newest volume of The Oxford Commentary on the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Register for the 1-hour event, which will take place over Zoom on 13 October, 2026, 11am EDT/4pm BST/6pm IDT. The event will include an introduction by series co-editor Timothy H. Lim (University of Edinburgh), a presentation by the authors, Carol A. Newsom (Emory University) and Eileen M. Schuller (McMaster University), and responses from Joseph L. Angel (Yeshiva University) and John J. Collins (Yale University).

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdDqBel_ASu1e-jbzetiedbkZJL2frs4Joz3B9BQMI86tYF1A/viewform

10/05/2026

Congratulations to Catherine Sweet (MA 2005) on the publication of her article, “Considerations of equity and ethics in telerehabilitation for speech and language pathology: A rapid review” in Digital Health!

Background/Objectives Speech and language pathologists (SLPs) may use telerehabilitation (TR) to assess, diagnose, and treat disorders of speech, language, and ...

10/02/2026

Yesterday, grad students, staff, and faculty enjoyed the inaugural Bread Break, enjoying good conversation, along with some local bread, cheese, and jam!

10/01/2026

Yesterday, Hanna Tervanotko and Jeremy Cohen led a group of students and faculty on a field trip to Martyrs’ Shrine in Midland, Ontario. There they toured the Church of St. Joseph, saw the relics of the Canadian Martyrs, including the skull of St. Jean de Brébeuf, and visited Our Lady Undoer of Knots Grotto.

09/30/2026

Congratulations to Katharine Fitzgerald (PhD 2023) on the publication of her book, Women in Greco-Roman Jewish Novels (300 BCE–100 CE)!

https://sheffieldphoenix.com/product/women-in-greco-roman-jewish-novels-300-bce-100-ce/

09/28/2026

Adele Reinhartz (PhD 1983), Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Ottawa, recently published an article entitled “Shared Scriptures, Shared Questions: Jewish Readings of the Christian Testament” in the Irish Theological Quarterly.

This article experiments with an empathetic reading strategy that focuses on the emotions, motivations, and concerns of the characters, including Jesus, within ...

09/25/2026

Check out Janine Nicol’s very positive review of Stephanie Balkwill’s (PhD 2015) 2024 book, The Women Who Ruled China: Buddhism, Multiculturalism, and Governance in the Sixth Century!

https://journal.equinoxpub.com/BSR/article/view/36295/34966