Virginia Tech Dept. of Religion and Culture

On October 21st The Department of Religion and Culture welcomed Very Rev. Mitred Archpriest Dr. Mark Morozowich for his lecture “The Roman Catholic Church Today and Tomorrow: Pope Leo XIV’s Approach to Eastern Christians.”

Dr. Morozowich discussed the Pope’s mission of unity, the shared dignity of Eastern and Western Christian traditions, and the call to build bridges across faith communities—embodying Pope Leo’s motto, “In the one Christ, we are one.”

On October 7th in Dr. Christensen’s Folk Cultures in Appalachia class Aristotle Jones brought the spirit of Appalachian soul to campus, reminding us that the story of Appalachia is richer and more diverse than stereotypes suggest. Through music, memory, and storytelling, he celebrated the Black musicians and families who shaped the sound of the mountains and the heart of community life.

On September 18th Dr. Webb Keane joined the Department of Religion and Culture to explore how our conversations with AI reflect deeper questions about language, belief, and authority. From “talking tools” to “machines of the soul,” Dr. Keane challenged us to think critically about why technology so often feels alive, and what that says about us.

Make sure to keep updated with upcoming events and lectures!

The Department of Religion and Culture is happy to be back! We had a great time meeting students at the Major/Minor Fair in the Commonwealth Ballroom last week. Here’s to an exciting year ahead.
Go Hokies! 🧡🦃
Check out our pathway minors:
- Appalachian Cultures and Environments
- Religion and Journalism
These minors allow students to fulfill all their pathway requirements cohesively and expansively.
Check out more on our Virginia Tech Department of Religion and Culture website!

At the end of last semester faculty, and community members gathered in Newman Library for A Day of Dialogue, providing a space to reflect on and discuss the Palestinian, Israeli, Muslim, and Jewish experience at VT.
In three open sessions, attendees came together to listen, share, and engage across lines of difference with empathy and care. Here are some strategies for holding similar events in your own communities.”

On April 17th, Dr. Andrew Sharp presented Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and the Environment: Ecology as Fertile Ground for Dialogues in the Middle East, a lecture sponsored by the Departments of Religion & Culture, Political Science, and the Middle East Working Group.

His talk explored how climate change in the Middle East, where warming is occurring three times faster than the global average, demands not only political and scientific responses, but also spiritual ones. Drawing on Orthodox Christian and Islamic teachings, Dr. Sharp highlighted how ecological crises can serve as shared ground for interfaith collaboration, urging a paradigm shift that centers connection, stewardship, and collective action.

Join us in celebrating our amazing seniors!
Congratulations to Cailin Drain, Carson Blacksburn, and Louise Rohall on your graduation! Your curiosity, compassion, and commitment to exploring religion and culture have left a lasting impact on our community. Wishing you all the best on your next journey.
Once a Hokie, always a Hokie! 🧡

On April 8th, Dr. Willa Hammitt Brown joined us to explore how capitalism shapes memory—from forgotten forest fires to the flannel-clad myth of the American lumberjack. Drawing from her new book Gentlemen of the Woods, Brown revealed how tales like Paul Bunyan were crafted to sell clearcut land as untouched wilderness.

🌲 Missed it? Catch the highlights above!

📚 Gentlemen of the Woods out now via University of Minnesota Press.

It's the first day of Drop/Add Classes! Check out this new fully online & asynchronous course for Fall 2025:

👻 Do you believe in ghosts? Whether you’re a skeptic or a true believer, RLCL/HUM 1074: Ghosts is your chance to explore the supernatural through a scholarly lens.

Taught by Dr. Patel, this course delves into:
🕯️ Hauntings in history & culture
📖 Ghost stories tied to social issues
🏚️ Haunted places & material culture
💭 Ethics and beliefs about the supernatural
✅ Fulfills General Education requirements:
Area 2 (Critical Thinking in the Humanities)
Area 3 (Reasoning in the Social Sciences)

Get ready to uncover what ghosts can teach us about ourselves.

In response to the recent cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Center for Humanities would like to highlight some of the NEH-supported work happening at Virginia Tech.

Dr. Dale Winling, Associate Professor in the History Department at Virginia Tech shares a recent NEH-funded project: "'Connecting the Interstates' is a research project to tell the story of the development of the U.S. interstate highway system. The system has been described as the world’s largest public works project, crisscrossing 48,000 thousand miles across the country and costing the equivalent of 500 billion dollars. Its development also displaced as many as one million residents from their homes. This project was funded by an NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grant planning grant."

Dr. Winling is the author of the forthcoming Property Wrongs and of Building the Ivory Tower from Penn Press (2017), co-creator of Mapping Inequality, and director of the Chicago Covenants Project.

Commentary: What happens when we stop investing in the soul of our nation? The soul of a nation is its history, its literature, and its shared culture. The National Endowment for the Humanities has played an outsized role in fortifying these crucial areas