News and Events

What is Diwali? California's Newest Holiday Explained

Known as the “Festival of Lights,” the holiday is celebrated by many religious communities in India and across the diasporas, including Hindus and Jains. Read More

Event (10/28) WIP-WAC Colloquium - What's the Matter with Matter? Rethinking the Spirituality of Things

Tuesday Oct 28
5:15 - 6:30
Sproul 912 Read More

Event (11/4): Note From the Field - Musical-Dramatic Adaptations of the Ramayana in Nineteenth-Century Calcutta

Tuesday, November 4
912 Sproul
12:00 - 1:00 PM Read More

UC Davis in Top 10 of Nation’s Public Universities for 5th Year

In addition to placing among the top 10 public universities in U.S. News Best Colleges rankings, the campus has been named among the most innovative universities. Read More

Event (10/7): Notes From The Field - Virūpa is Virūpākṣa: A Tale of Two Siddhas or Two Siddha Tales?

Tuesday
Oct 7, 12:00-1:00 pm
912 Sproul Read More

Event (10/16): A Great Riddle, A Sovereign Hope: Prison Imaginings of Gandhian Ahimsa

October 16
Davis International House
5:30 - Reception
6:00 - Talk Read More

2025-2026 Notes from the Field Speaker Series

A monthly speaker series featuring faculty and students whose research focuses on the study of religion. Read More

Westin Harris (Fall 2025, PhD) Accepts Position as Resident Scholar of Himalayan Art at the Rubin Museum, New York City

The Rubin Museum hosts one of the world's most well known collections of Himalayan Art. Read More

2026-2027 Fulbright Award Applications Open

Applications due October 7th, 5pm EST Read More

Medical Humanities Minor Enriches STEM Experience for UC Davis Students

L&S’s writes on the Medical Humanities Minor and Dr. O’Keefe’s leadership Read More

First Annual Pan-UC Religious Studies Council

First Annual Pan-UC Religious Studies Council

Read More

Event (05/06) Notes From The Field - The Wetlands Converted: Spiritual Geography in Early New England

Tuesday May 6
12:00-1:00pm
Sproul 912 Read More

Event (5/1) Collaging at RST Tea

Thursday May 1st, 3-4:45pm Read More

Event (05/20) Unmaking the Medicalized Body: Sallekhanā, Kinship, and the Limits of Bioethics

Tuesday, May 20, 2025
Reception | 5:30 pm
Presentation | 6:00 pm
The AGR, Alumni Center, UC Davis Read More

Notes From the Field: Ama Divers of Shima: Notes on Filming a Documentary in Japan

Tuesday, April 15
12:00 - 1:00pm
Sproul 912 Read More

Spring 25 Notes From the Field Talks

Michael Dylan Foster | Tuesday, April 15, 12:00-1:00 pm;
Ama Divers of Shima: Notes on Filming a Documentary in Japan

Michael Ziser | Tuesday, May 6, 12:00-1:00 pm
The Wetlands Converted: Spiritual Geography in Early New England Read More

RST Faculty Meaghan O'Keefe and Wendy Terry Receive Teaching Awards

Meaghan O’Keefe awarded Academic Senate 2025 Distinguished Teaching Award for Undergraduate Teaching.
Wendy Terry awarded Academic Federation 2025 Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching award Read More

Event (3/7) Between Doctrine and Domesticity: Gender, Ethics, and the Vow of Sallekhanā

We are happy to invite you to the next lecture in our “Emerging Scholars in Jain Studies” virtual series co-organized by the Departments of Religious Studies at UC Davis and UC Riverside. The lecture will be delivered by Dr. Miki Chase on Friday, March 7th, 2025, 9:00-10:20am PST. Read More

Event (2/25) Notes from the Field - Lauren Eastland: Homeschooling, Children’s Rights, and Religious Freedom: Differing Ideals for Muslims and Conservative Christians.

February 25
12:00-1:00pm
Sproul 912 Read More

Event (2/10) Jews, Muslims & the Challenges of Western Modernity

Date: February 10, 2025
Reception: 5:00 PM
Lecture: 5:30 PM
Location: Alpha Gamma Rho Room, UC Davis Alumni Center Read More

Event (2/11) Notes From the Field - Stephanie Milton: “I’ll Pray About It:” Black Patients' Expressed Beliefs and Agency In Critical Values-Based Health Decisions

Tuesday, February 11
12:00-1:00 pm
912 Sproul Read More

Notes From The Field - Prof. Sven-Erik Rose “Ethics in Collapse: The Warsaw Ghetto Writings of Yitskhok Bernshteyn”

Prof. Sven-Erik Rose
Departments of German & Russian and Comparative Literature
Affiliated Faculty, Graduate Program in the Study of Religion
“Ethics in Collapse: The Warsaw Ghetto Writings of Yitskhok Bernshteyn”
Tuesday, Jan 14, 12:00-1:00 pm
912 Sproul Read More

Event (12/3) Al-Fārābi and the Philosophy of Naming: Gaza and Genocide

Tuesday, December 3, 2024, 5:00 PM reception; lecture begins at 5:30 PM
Alpha Gamma Rho Room in the UC Davis Alumni Center Read More

Event (12/2) Jews and Muslims in Medieval Spain: Shared Spaces, Shared Histories - A Conversation Between Two Historians

Monday, December 2, 2024, 5:00 PM reception; discussion begins at 5:30 PM Read More

Notes From the Field - Sicily Lerner: The Death of the Messiah: Messianic and Temporal Impossibility in Franz Kafka’s Der Jäger Gracchus and Bruno Schulz’s Sanatorium Pod Klepsydrą

Tuesday, November 12 2024
12:00-1:00 pm || 912 Sproul
Read More

Notes From the Field - Sara Tillema: Deconversion, Deconstruction, & Ex-Vangelical Experience in the US

Tuesday, October 15, 2024
12:00-1:00pm || 912 Sproul
Read More

UC Davis Ranked No. 3 Public University for Setting Grads Up for Financial Success

The rankings, from The Wall Street Journal and its research partners College Pulse and Statista, consider how much a school improves students’ chances of graduating and their future earnings with results from student and alumni surveys on college life and diversity. Read More