Why Study Religion? is a video series in which the CSR asks its faculty, students, staff, and guests what is important to them about the academic study of religion and why more folks should consider pursuing it. Find out more about the Center and its initiatives HERE. To learn more about OSU’s Religious Studies Major, visit our website at THIS LINK.
Why does Dr. Solimar Otero of Indiana University’s Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology think it’s important to study religion? Watch the video below to find out!
Transcript: “That’s an excellent question! I’m actually a folklorist, and my work deals with everyday expressive culture. And religion is so much more than what people usually think of in terms of, say, formal rituals or formal texts. Religion is something that involves our everyday lives and our everyday expressions. Religions influence the way we eat, the way we think, the way we dream, the way that we understand ourselves, the way that we relate to other people. So religion’s embedded in cultural practices that many people don’t consider to be part of, say, official religious life. And so I think that we should study religions because it will allow us to learn more, not only about ourselves, but about other cultures and other people.”
Interested in sharing with us what brought you to the academic study of religion? Send us an email at religion@osu.edu!