Dell De Chant
Dell De Chant
Instructor and Associate Chair
Contact
Office: CPR 304A
Phone: 813/974-0576
Email:
Links
Bio
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)
Education
M.A. in Religious Studies - University of South Florida
Post-M.A. studies in Philosophy - University of South Florida
Current Courses
Recent Publications
- "New Thought," in Encyclopedia of Religion, 2nd. ed., ed. Lindasy Jones. Macmillan, 2005.
- "The Economy as Religion: The Dynamics of Consumer Culture," The Civics Arts Review 16:2 (Fall 2003): 4-12.
- "Religions Made in the U.S.A. II: Christian Science and Theosophy," in World Religions in America, 3rd ed., ed. Jacob Neusner. Westminster/John Knox Press, 2003.
- "Easter" and "Christmas," in Encyclopedia of Religion and American Cultures, eds. Gary Laderman and Luis León. ABC-CLIO, 2003.
- "Religiosity and The Sacred in Postmodern America: Rethinking Ellul's Theory on The Role of Technology," The Ellul Forum no. 29 (Fall, 2002).
- The Sacred Santa: Religious Dimensions of Consumer Culture, The Pilgrim Press, 2002.
- Comparative Religious Ethics: A Narrative Approach, with Darrell Fasching, Blackwell, 2000.