Religion and literature
The Department of English at the 番茄社区 has a long history of research into the relations between religion and literature. Historically strong in Medieval and Renaissance studies, the department continues to produce important work on Medieval and Renaissance religion, including work on visionary writing, iconography, Langland, devotional literature and post-reformation culture, Shakespeare and religion, anthropological approaches to renaissance drama, and other work that examines the ideological, aesthetic, and cultural intersections between religion and literature in the Medieval and Renaissance periods.
The department's strengths also lie in the relations between eighteenth-century literature and religion, including work on natural theology, Gothic literature, and religion and the Enlightenment. Work on historically removed periods is complemented by research into contemporary American religious culture, particularly the development of postmodern American fiction during the contemporary evangelical and fundamentalist resurgence.
Given these strengths in the study of religion and literature a broad range of graduate level seminars are offered regularly. The Religion and Literature Research Collective thus encourages graduate student applications in the above mentioned fields.