Department of Religion, Princeton University

Reinventing the Study of Chinese Religions
A Conference in Honor of Stephen F. Teiser
June 9th and 10th
Register Here: https://religion.princeton.edu/form/form-reinventing-the-study-of-ch

Congratulations to our own Melissa Yorio, who is among the recipients of a Princeton University Graduate School 2026 Graduate Teaching Awards for her work as head preceptor in Professor AnneMarie Luijendijk's course, "Jesus: How Christianity Began."

Congratulations to Princeton Religion graduate alum William Stell on the publication of *Born Again Q***r: A History of Evangelical Gay Activism and the Making of Antigay Christianity.*

A groundbreaking history of evangelicalism and homosexuality in the United States.

Born Again Q***r by William Stell is now available (14 July UK pub).

Learn more: https://hubs.ly/Q04fYZ-p0

Evangelicals claim that their opposition to homosexuality is an inherent feature of their faith, rooted in their unchanging beliefs about the Bible. Most scholars, journalists, and observers have accepted this account; in Born Again Q***r, William Stell upends it. Arguing that the antigay majority in evangelicalism has been less dominant and more vulnerable than previously thought, Stell describes a network of authors, ministers, and professors—all veterans of major evangelical institutions—who worked in the 1970s and 1980s to persuade Christians that their churches should affirm the relationships and ministries of gay and le***an members. By the late 1970s, some even thought that these activists might shape the future of evangelicalism.

Of course, that speculation proved mistaken, and the antigay evangelical majority eventually overpowered the gay-affirming minority. Stell’s history of the rise and fall of evangelical gay activism shines a light on this largely forgotten chapter in American evangelicalism. Drawing on extensive archival research and interviews, Stell documents the work of four prominent activists: the founder of a predominantly LGBTQ+ denomination called the Metropolitan Community Churches, the leader of a gay advocacy organization called Evangelicals Concerned, and the evangelical feminist coauthors of the influential book Is the Homosexual My Neighbor? By recovering the successes of evangelical gay activists and the struggles of their opponents, Stell’s account transforms how we think about evangelicalism, how we talk about the culture wars, and how we approach both religion in q***r movements and q***r activism in religious movements.

Professor AnneMarie Luijendijk Awarded Humanities Council Magic Grant for her Textuality, Materiality and Reading Practices Workshop.

https://humanities.princeton.edu/2026/05/05/council-awards-2026-27-grants-for-humanities-innovation-and-collaboration/

Religion, War, and Revolution: What are we getting right and/or wrong about religion in Early United States?
with Kathleen Sands, Seth Perry, and Philippa Koch.
May 6th at 2:00pm. Open to the public with registration.

Religion, War, and Revolution | Religion and America at 250 #4 – AAR "Religion, War, and Revolution: What are we getting right and/or wrong about religion in Early United States?" with Kathleen Sands and Seth Perry This is the fourth of our "Religion and America at 250" webinAAR series that will engage central questions around the meaning of religion, the meaning of....

Grad students in Professor Lowe’s REL 534 examine two 18th-century Japanese Buddhist maps in Princeton’s special collections

This Q&A series highlights the work of the Humanities Council’s current Old Dominion Research Professors. The professorship provides additional research time for Princeton faculty members and seeks to enhance the University humanities community more broadly.

As a 2025-26 Old Dominion Research Professor in the Humanities Council, Eric Gregory (Religion), he is focusing on an in-process book titled “The In-Gathering of Strangers: Global Justice and Political Theology,” which examines secular and religious perspectives on what human beings owe one another in a global age.

Old Dominion Research Professor Spotlight: Eric Gregory — We seek to foster creative scholarship, transformative teaching, and intellectual collaboration by bringing humanities departments and programs into dialogue with arts and sciences.

Princeton Holds Third Annual Native American and Indigenous Studies Film Screening and Conversation with “So Surreal: Behind the Masks”

Princeton Holds Third Annual Native American and Indigenous Studies Film Screening and Conversation with "So Surreal: Behind the Masks" On Wednesday, March 25, 2026, Princeton welcomed documentary filmmakers Neil Diamond (Cree) and Joanne Robertson to The Princeton Garden Theater for a special screening of their film, So Surreal: Behind the Masks. Organized, hosted and moderated by interdisciplinary Princeton faculty whose research....