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This year, we have had another vibrant year in the department, offering courses on a wide range of topics from across time and space, including The History of the Devil; Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism; “Cults” and “Sects”: New Religious Movements in the Americas; Islam and Capitalism; Displaced People of the Mediterranean; and How to Live in the Midst of Dying: Religion and Climate Change.

In these courses, students have had dynamic opportunities to engage with LA’s diverse religious communities. For example, in the Fall of 2023, Prof. Kim Diaz’s class, Religion, Liberation, and Latin American Social Movements visited Olvera Street during the week of Dia de los Muertos. This is a time where local communities honor the dead through community altars, entertainment, and a daily procession. In the words of the Olvera Street Merchants Association Foundation, "Preserving our past to enlighten our future."  

Prof. Amy Holmes-Tagchungdarpa co-taught a course with colleagues in the History Department, Prof. Sasha Day and Prof. Jane Hong, that was entitled Transpacific Movements and Activisms: Asian and Asian American Activism across the Pacific. The course provided students with the opportunity to learn about Asian American histories in Los Angeles, and included visits to the and. The course culminated in the students researching and writing their own StoryMaps related to important neighborhoods in LA. 

Our courses also include original and engaging assessment opportunities. For example in the Fall semester, Prof. Kristi Upson-Saia’s course, “Displaced Peoples of the Mediterranean,” partnered with (MotM), an organization that documents the stories of people whose migration journeys include the dangerous crossing the Mediterranean Sea. , embedded for two weeks in the course to familiarize students with the organization, its aims and methodologies, and to expose them to the policies, practices, and humanitarian crises of contemporary migration in the Mediterranean region. For the next three weeks, students created resources for MotM: they conducted scholarly research on the impact of humanitarian storytelling, they turned scholarly insights into “Talking Points” that MotM staff can use in their advocacy efforts, and they created a set of visual resources for the MotM website, fundraising, and presentation materials.

Professor Sohaib Khan has been experimenting with the learning tool "Mentimeter" to facilitate equitable participation in his classes on Islam. Students are given a multiple-choice question prompt on the screen, which they can access on their phones by scanning a barcode. Their responses to the MCQ are collated in a graph and displayed on screen for further discussion. This activity facilitates an interactive and equitable class participation experience, especially in larger classes where international and non-native English-speaking students might find it challenging to have their voices heard.

Students in the department have the opportunity to learn from scholars engaged in the latest cutting edge research in their fields. For example, in Prof. Khan’s Spring course, Islam and Capitalism, students were visited by from the Department of History at the University of California Irvine. Professor Miller’s talk, titled “From Black Power to Palestinian Liberation: Combating Racial Capitalism through Global Solidarity,” discussed the overlooked history of black internationalist movements in the fight against colonial racial capitalism between the US and the Middle East. 

In Prof. Diaz’s Spring course "Indecent" Liberation in Latin America, from the Religious Studies Department at the University of Dayton guest lectured on chisme as an unconventional site of liberation theology. Occidental librarian Erin Sulla also visited the class twice throughout the semester, guiding students with the practical aspects of research as well as zine-making. During class at the end of week thirteen, students created their own zines that visually depicted their final research project. They presented their zines on the last few days of class. 

We are so proud of our graduating seniors this year, Jay Corrigan and Ava Wampold, who worked with Prof. Mike Amoruso in our senior seminar to complete comprehensive projects on important issues of the day, including psychedelic capitalism and religion and Jewish menstrual purity laws, respectively. 

We are thankful to our amazing visiting professors this year, and congratulate them on their successes. Prof. Nathan Fisher, who taught Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism in the Fall, completed his PhD from the University of California Santa Barbara. Prof. Kirsten Boles taught Queering Religion in the Spring, and will be moving to a new position as Prevention and Education Coordinator in the Title IX and Gender Equity Office at Cal State Fullerton. Good luck, Prof. Fisher and Prof. Boles!