University of Pennsylvania Department of Religious Studies

10/26/2026

There is NO RELS colloquium this week!

Our next RELS event will be our annual Emerging Scholar Colloquium with Dr. Connor Martini on Thurs., Nov. 5.

10/22/2026

Happening today!

Psychedelic Swedenborg
RELS Colloquium
Devin Zuber (Graduate Theological Union)
Oct 22, 2026 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204

The Scandinavian scientist-turned-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) occupies a largely unrecognized place in the history of psychedelic literature. This talk aims to sketch Swedenborg’s perhaps surprising influence on nineteenth- and twentieth-century traditions of altered states, Romantic poetics, and modern esotericism. It will begin with a reconsideration of Swedenborg as a precursor to the modern “psychonaut,” situating his eighteenth-century visionary writings within genealogies of later consciousness exploration, including Ernst Jünger (who first coined the term “psychonaut," in 1949). The second part explores a group of figures in mid-century Paris—including Charles Baudelaire and Louis-Alphonse Cahagnet—whose engagement with Swedenborgian theological concepts such as “correspondence” and “influx” was inextricable from their parallel experimentations with mind-altering substances, especially hashish. This Swedenborgian strand of occult psychedelia, I argue, extended a long line of countercultural poetics into the writings of later modern figures, including the phantasmagoric psychogeographies and profane illuminations of Walter Benjamin.

Dr. Devin Zuber is Associate Professor for American Studies, Religion, and Literature at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley. His last book, A Language of Things (UVA Press), received the Borsch-Rast Book Prize in 2020. He has published widely on environmental aesthetics and the relation between contemporary art and spirituality.

Supported by The Asplundh Foundation Fund for Swedenborg Studies

10/19/2026

Happening today! If you're interested in applying for the PhD program in Religious Studies at Penn this coming year, please join us for an information session taking place on Zoom this evening! Details available at this link.

All prospective applicants to the RELS doctoral program are warmly invited to join this information session hosted by graduate chair Prof. Donovan Schaefer!

10/19/2026

Psychedelic Swedenborg
RELS Colloquium
Devin Zuber (Graduate Theological Union)
Oct 22, 2026 at 3:30pm - 5:00pm | Cohen 204

The Scandinavian scientist-turned-mystic Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) occupies a largely unrecognized place in the history of psychedelic literature. This talk aims to sketch Swedenborg’s perhaps surprising influence on nineteenth- and twentieth-century traditions of altered states, Romantic poetics, and modern esotericism. It will begin with a reconsideration of Swedenborg as a precursor to the modern “psychonaut,” situating his eighteenth-century visionary writings within genealogies of later consciousness exploration, including Ernst Jünger (who first coined the term “psychonaut," in 1949). The second part explores a group of figures in mid-century Paris—including Charles Baudelaire and Louis-Alphonse Cahagnet—whose engagement with Swedenborgian theological concepts such as “correspondence” and “influx” was inextricable from their parallel experimentations with mind-altering substances, especially hashish. This Swedenborgian strand of occult psychedelia, I argue, extended a long line of countercultural poetics into the writings of later modern figures, including the phantasmagoric psychogeographies and profane illuminations of Walter Benjamin.

Dr. Devin Zuber is Associate Professor for American Studies, Religion, and Literature at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU), Berkeley. His last book, A Language of Things (UVA Press), received the Borsch-Rast Book Prize in 2020. He has published widely on environmental aesthetics and the relation between contemporary art and spirituality.

Supported by The Asplundh Foundation Fund for Swedenborg Studies

10/17/2026

Penn philosopher Daniele Lorenzini and religious studies professor Donovan Schaefer, who organized a recent symposium on the French philosopher, reflect on the influence of Foucault and his writings on power.

10/15/2026

As part of last month's Boardman symposium THE FOUCAULT CENTURY, a rarely seen 1978 Italian documentary was screened, with a translation by RELS PhD candidate Claire Elliot. Claire generously provided her translation to the owner of the documentary, and they have now released a subtitled version using her text.

Congratulations, Claire!

Michel Foucault: Historien de la vérité launch Regarde la vidéo play_circle_outline fast_rewind Retour aux Archives Description « Michel Foucault: Storico della verità » (1978) English subtitles by Claire Elliot © RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera di lingua italiana En savoir plus createMichel Fo...

10/15/2026

On the 100th anniversary of the birth of French philosopher Michel Foucault, Penn Today (Penn Arts & Sciences) has published this article about his influence on contemporary scholarship and our 2026-2027 Boardman Symposium "The Foucault Century"!

Penn philosopher Daniele Lorenzini and religious studies professor Donovan Schaefer, who organized a recent symposium on the French philosopher, reflect on the influence of Foucault and his writings on power.

10/14/2026

Calling all prospective applicants to our doctoral program! There will be an online information session with helpful details on the application process as well as a chance to ask questions on Monday, Oct. 19. No registration is required. Details on joining are available at this link!

All prospective applicants to the RELS doctoral program are warmly invited to join this information session hosted by graduate chair Prof. Donovan Schaefer!

10/14/2026

RELS PhD candidate Rushnae Kabir has just published a fascinating interview with Prof. Anand Vivek Taneja (Vanderbilt) about his new book The Gabriel of Madness: Islamic Poetry and Ethics in an Age of Hindu Nationalism.

You can read the full interview at the CaMP Anthropology blog, here:

Rushnae Kabir: Urdu poets – Hindu and Muslim, past and present – are the primary interlocutors in your book. You show how contemporary political subjectivities are formed through an engagement with…

10/06/2026

Interested in applying to the Department of Religious Studies at Penn? We're offering an online information session for prospective doctoral students from 5:00–6:00pm ET on Monday, Oct. 19!

Topics to be covered include basic eligibility requirements, English language proficiency scores, and other supporting documents in the application. We will also cover the basic components of the application, share the criteria the Graduate Group uses to select applicants, and offer some general pointers for how to approach the application process.

Further details and the Zoom link are available here!

All prospective applicants to the RELS doctoral program are warmly invited to join this information session hosted by graduate chair Prof. Donovan Schaefer!