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 Nikoo Karimi, a graduate student in Comparative Studies, study religion? Shurouq Ibrahim, CSR’s Graduate Research Associate, interviewed Nikoo to find out. Watch the video below for her response!
Shurouq: How would you answer the question: Why study religion?
Transcript:
Nikoo Karimi:
So, religion is one of the most powerful forces that shapes human experiences. I personally enjoy studying digital media, social media, and movements like activism in these social medias, and also studying people’s affects and emotions in these mediums. So, I think religion in these areas intersects with many of my interests. It intersects with storytelling, narrative, affect and also social movements. Religion is not just about history; it engages with the contemporary world, and it’s tied to people’s lives and emotions. It kind of provides a language for emotions like shame, grief, hope, and it helps people; it informs how people experience injustice, belonging, and also resistance. Another part of my interests is studying about diasporic communities and identities, and I think religion plays a crucial role in these communities to form their identities. For example, displaced communities–they use religion to maintain a sense of home with rituals and storytelling. And also in digital spaces, we see that religious discourses spread rapidly and they shape how people are becoming politically active and even the emotions that people express in online medias. I think by studying religion academically, we can move beyond just understanding of religion as a pure private thing, and we can see how central it is to the way people make meaning of their lives and the world around them.
Nikoo Karimi is a graduate student in Comparative Studies at Ohio State University, with a background in Persian literature and literary criticism. Her research interests include children’s literature, diaspora studies, and science and technology studies.