Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: New Books in Art
Episode: David Morgan, "The Thing about Religion: An Introduction to the Material Study of Religions" (UNC Press, 2021)
Description: Common views of religion typically focus on the beliefs and meanings derived from revealed scriptures, ideas, and doctrines. David Morgan has broadened that framework radically to encompass the understanding that religions are fundamentally embodied, material forms of practice. The Thing about Religion: An Introduction to the Material Study of Religions (UNC Press, 2021) shows readers how to study what has come to be termed material religion—the ways religious meaning is enacted in the material world.Material religion includes the things people wear, eat, sing, touch, look at, create, and avoid. It also encompasses the places where religion and...