American Examples Volume 1

Michael J. Altman is director of the American Examples working group and associate professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama. He is author of Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721–1893.

“Altman and his cohort of early-career scholars ask us to focus on the ‘religion’ in the study of American religion. Each author demonstrates how their research, as an ‘example,’ sheds light not on the particularities of the United States, but rather, the theorization of religion anytime, anywhere. The volume is commendable for its emphasis on process and conversation, as well the vigor with which it invites readers to join a ‘new conversation.’”- Jennifer Graber, author of The Gods of Indian Country: Religion and the Struggle for the American West;“It is rare that I can sit down with an edited volume and find each essay just as stimulating, interesting, and incisive as the one before it, but Altman and the contributors to American Examples have accomplished just that. This is not just a collection considering the many possible forms of the categories ‘American’ and ‘religion’; in a much larger sense, this volume is a guidebook for how scholars across the disciplines can begin to consider the wide-ranging significance of the politics of classification. Altman certainly has, as he puts it, started a ‘new conversation,’ and it is my sincere hope that this conversation will become a central voice in the future of the study of religion.”- Leslie Dorrough Smith, author of Compromising Positions: Sex Scandals, Politics, and American Christianity;“American Examples seeks nothing less than to shake the founding assumptions of American religious history. What happens, these contributors ask, if we approach our archives not with the question of how they fit into a broader historical narrative but ask instead: what does this tell us about ‘religion’ or ‘America’? What does the field look like if we foreground the religious studies focus of J. Z. Smith rather than the normative assumptions of narrative history? This volume offers a timely, provocative contribution to the field and will be sure to inspire debate!”- Anthony Petro, author of After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion