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Dell De Chant
Office: CPR 468G Phone: 813/974-0576 Email: dechant (at) usf.edu
Religious Studies is a young and rapidly changing field of inquiry that is characterized by a multidisciplinary approach to the understanding of religion. At the center of my work has always been a rather simple question: What is religion? In wrestling with this question, I have found particular benefit in studying the manifestation of religion in contemporary American culture(s) and most specifically in the context of the subject areas of New Religious Movements and Religion in Popular Culture. My current interests are related to the sacred function of dynamic postmodern social institutions (e.g. sports, consumerism, politics) and the history of the New Thought movement. Five Classics I Recommend
Peter Berger, The Sacred Canopy Mircea Eliade, The Sacred and the Profane Bernard Lonergan, Method in Theology Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism Eric Voegelin, The New Science of Politics
Five Recent Books I Recommend
David Chidester, Authentic Fakes: Religion and American Popular Culture . (2005) David Cohen, Chasing the Red, White, and Blue . (2001) Bruce Forbes and Jeffrey H. Mahan, Religion and Popular Culture in American, 2nd ed. (2005) John Steele Gordon, An Empire of Wealth. (2004)
Leigh Eric Schmidt, Consumer Rites: The Buy and Selling of American Holidays. (1995)
M.A. in Religious Studies - University of South Florida Post-M.A. studies in Philosophy - University of South Florida