Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture

The University of Arizona

The Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture (ISRC) is sponsored by, but not confined to, faculty making up the existing units of The Arizona Center for Judaic Studies, the Division for Late Medieval and Reformation Studies, and the Religious Studies Program. Its purpose, in an era when the high relevance of religious issues for the comprehension of world affairs confronts us daily, is to facilitate the interaction of faculty across campus at the University of Arizona and beyond, whose research engages them in this subject matter. The Institute for the Study of Religion and Culture further seeks to foster research and public outreach in the fields of religion and culture broadly conceived. The interdisciplinary connections promoted by the ISRC brings together scholars and the community in seminars, lectures and other fora.

The ISRC has collaborated closely with it original sponsoring units and others across campus, to bring numerous visiting scholars to campus, involving them in public lectures and graduate seminars. The ISRC also hosts its own public seminar series, which has in the last two years explored ‘Religion and the Secular’ and ‘Religion and Politics.’ We are planning a series on Religion and Medicine for the next academic year as well developing an outreach and scholarship program with the title “Towards an Abrahamic Family Reunion.”