Michael J Altman
Biographic Data
| ID | 3687769 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael J Altman |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael J |
| FAMILY NAME | Altman |
| SIGNATURE | ALTMAN M J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Alabama |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0620-8390 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 14 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 14 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2023 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Crossfit, SoulCycle, and Evangelical Christianity with Cody Musselman
The Interview brings you in-depth exchanges with scholars working to reframe how we carry out the academic study of religion. In this edition, Michael J. Altman at the University of Alabama sat with Cody Musselman (Postdoctoral Research Associate at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, PhD Yale 2022) to discuss SoulCycle, CrossFit, and evangelical Christianity in the United States. In so doin…
Evangelicals: Who They Have Been, Are Now, and Could Be
Eighty-one percent of white evangelicals voted for Donald J. Trump for president in 2016. This statistic has become a puzzle for many evangelical thinkers and many who make a living observing and researching evangelicals. Three leading evangelical historians put this volume together as an attempt to make sense of the 81 percent figure and what it means for the history and future of their movement. For readers who identify as evangelical or are in…
Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America by Brett Malcolm Grainger
Reviewed by: Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America by Brett Malcolm Grainger Michael J. Altman (bio) Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America. By Brett Malcolm Grainger. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2019. Pp. 280. Cloth, $45.00.) In her groundbreaking book A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion (2007), Catherine Albanese contends that three major forms of …
American Examples, or, How I Stopped Being an Americanist and Learned to Study Religion in America All Over Again
The Report brings you news on the latest projects, initiatives, and developments from around the field. Michael J. Altman of the University of Alabama relays his experience in moving from subfield expertise to field-critical theorizing and how he brought others along for the journey. American Examples provides intellectual space for early career scholars to reframe a particular interest in things American into provocative illustrations of identit…
Religion, Religions, Religious” in America: Toward a Smithian Account of “Evangelicalism”
Jonathan Z. Smith’s essay “Religion, Religions, Religious” is a foundational essay in the study of “religion” as a taxonomic category. The essay itself makes three interrelated arguments that situate religion in Western intellectual history and argue that “religion” is a term scholars define to suit their own intellectual purposes. Though the essay, and Smith’s work overall, have had a major influence in religious studies, that influence has not …
Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Americans did not write about Hinduism. They did write a lot about India, however. In their representations of India, American writers described “heathens,” “Hindoos,” and, eventually, “Hindus.” Before Americans wrote about “Hinduism,” they wrote about “heathenism,” “the religion of the Hindoos,” and “Brahmanism.” This book argues that Americans debated the nature of religion, sought alternatives to Ame…
Missionaries, Unitarians, and Raja Rammohun Roy
This chapter analyzes the way American Protestants used representations of “Hindoo religion” to further their own ends. First, it analyzes the representations of “heathenism” and “Hindoos” in the missionary reports of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). These missionaries represented Hindoo religion as noisy, chaotic, bloody, and ritual. Second, it examines how American Unitarians discovered and promoted the writings…
Putting the “Religions” in the World’s Parliament of Religions
This chapter narrates the various representations of religion in India that occurred at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions. Protestant speakers deployed many of the same representations found earlier in the century. Some described India as a land of heathenism while others found admirable qualities in Hindu religion. However, for the first time, Indian representatives were able to represent themselves. Most famously, Swami Vivekananda offer…
Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721-1893
American Apostles: When Evangelicals Entered the World of Islam
December 01 2017 American Apostles: When Evangelicals Entered the World of Islam American Apostles: When Evangelicals Entered the World of Islam. By Christine LeighHeyrman. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2015. Pp. 352. $30.00.) Michael J. Altman Michael J. Altman Michael J. Altman is assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721–1893 (2017) Sea…
Where Did This Box of Books Come From
The publication of The Norton Anthology of World Religions and the subsequent massive free exam copy mailing campaign by W. W. Norton requires an explanation. Why does the field of religious studies need such an anthology? What has led us to the place where such an anthology even makes sense? This essay examines the explanations General Editor Jack Miles gives for why The Norton Anthology of World Religions arrived in faculty mailboxes all over t…
Before Hinduism: Missionaries, Unitarians, and Hindoos in Nineteenth-Century America
American interest in and knowledge of religion in India began before Americans imagined Hinduism as a coherent world religion. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, Americans used a variety of terms to describe, represent, and imagine the religious culture of India: Gentoos, Hindoos, religion of the Hindoos, Hindoo religion, Brahmanism, heathenism, and paganism. Each term meant different things to different writers at different times. But the…
The Construction of Hinduism in America
Yet, there has never been a unified or singular Hinduism in America. Rather, the story of Hinduisms in America provides an important example for the ways a religious tradition is imagined in America. In the 18th and 19th century, Americans described religion in India as 'heathenism', 'Hindoo religion', 'Hindu religion', and 'Brahmanism'. By the end of the 19th century, figures like Swami Vivekanada brought the idea of 'Hinduism', a world religion…
Podcasting religious studies
In the past few years a handful of religious-studies scholars have turned to podcasting. This article offers an overview of these podcasts in the academic study of religion and explores the possibilities for scholarly communication and research opened up by podcasting. It also examines the institutional and administrative limits to podcasting due to tenure and promotion decisions and the evaluation of digital scholarship
Religion, Religions, Religious” in America: Toward a Smithian Account of “Evangelicalism”
Jonathan Z. Smith’s essay “Religion, Religions, Religious” is a foundational essay in the study of “religion” as a taxonomic category. The essay itself makes three interrelated arguments that situate religion in Western intellectual history and argue that “religion” is a term scholars define to suit their own intellectual purposes. Though the essay, and Smith’s work overall, have had a major influence in religious studies, that influence has not …
The Construction of Hinduism in America
Yet, there has never been a unified or singular Hinduism in America. Rather, the story of Hinduisms in America provides an important example for the ways a religious tradition is imagined in America. In the 18th and 19th century, Americans described religion in India as 'heathenism', 'Hindoo religion', 'Hindu religion', and 'Brahmanism'. By the end of the 19th century, figures like Swami Vivekanada brought the idea of 'Hinduism', a world religion…
Where Did This Box of Books Come From
The publication of The Norton Anthology of World Religions and the subsequent massive free exam copy mailing campaign by W. W. Norton requires an explanation. Why does the field of religious studies need such an anthology? What has led us to the place where such an anthology even makes sense? This essay examines the explanations General Editor Jack Miles gives for why The Norton Anthology of World Religions arrived in faculty mailboxes all over t…
Podcasting religious studies
In the past few years a handful of religious-studies scholars have turned to podcasting. This article offers an overview of these podcasts in the academic study of religion and explores the possibilities for scholarly communication and research opened up by podcasting. It also examines the institutional and administrative limits to podcasting due to tenure and promotion decisions and the evaluation of digital scholarship
Where Did This Box of Books Come From
The publication of The Norton Anthology of World Religions and the subsequent massive free exam copy mailing campaign by W. W. Norton requires an explanation. Why does the field of religious studies need such an anthology? What has led us to the place where such an anthology even makes sense? This essay examines the explanations General Editor Jack Miles gives for why The Norton Anthology of World Religions arrived in faculty mailboxes all over t…
Before Hinduism: Missionaries, Unitarians, and Hindoos in Nineteenth-Century America
American interest in and knowledge of religion in India began before Americans imagined Hinduism as a coherent world religion. In the eighteenth and nineteenth century, Americans used a variety of terms to describe, represent, and imagine the religious culture of India: Gentoos, Hindoos, religion of the Hindoos, Hindoo religion, Brahmanism, heathenism, and paganism. Each term meant different things to different writers at different times. But the…
The Construction of Hinduism in America
Yet, there has never been a unified or singular Hinduism in America. Rather, the story of Hinduisms in America provides an important example for the ways a religious tradition is imagined in America. In the 18th and 19th century, Americans described religion in India as 'heathenism', 'Hindoo religion', 'Hindu religion', and 'Brahmanism'. By the end of the 19th century, figures like Swami Vivekanada brought the idea of 'Hinduism', a world religion…
Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Americans did not write about Hinduism. They did write a lot about India, however. In their representations of India, American writers described “heathens,” “Hindoos,” and, eventually, “Hindus.” Before Americans wrote about “Hinduism,” they wrote about “heathenism,” “the religion of the Hindoos,” and “Brahmanism.” This book argues that Americans debated the nature of religion, sought alternatives to Ame…
Missionaries, Unitarians, and Raja Rammohun Roy
This chapter analyzes the way American Protestants used representations of “Hindoo religion” to further their own ends. First, it analyzes the representations of “heathenism” and “Hindoos” in the missionary reports of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM). These missionaries represented Hindoo religion as noisy, chaotic, bloody, and ritual. Second, it examines how American Unitarians discovered and promoted the writings…
Putting the “Religions” in the World’s Parliament of Religions
This chapter narrates the various representations of religion in India that occurred at the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions. Protestant speakers deployed many of the same representations found earlier in the century. Some described India as a land of heathenism while others found admirable qualities in Hindu religion. However, for the first time, Indian representatives were able to represent themselves. Most famously, Swami Vivekananda offer…
Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721-1893
American Apostles: When Evangelicals Entered the World of Islam
December 01 2017 American Apostles: When Evangelicals Entered the World of Islam American Apostles: When Evangelicals Entered the World of Islam. By Christine LeighHeyrman. (New York: Hill and Wang, 2015. Pp. 352. $30.00.) Michael J. Altman Michael J. Altman Michael J. Altman is assistant professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama. He is the author of Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721–1893 (2017) Sea…
Religion, Religions, Religious” in America: Toward a Smithian Account of “Evangelicalism”
Jonathan Z. Smith’s essay “Religion, Religions, Religious” is a foundational essay in the study of “religion” as a taxonomic category. The essay itself makes three interrelated arguments that situate religion in Western intellectual history and argue that “religion” is a term scholars define to suit their own intellectual purposes. Though the essay, and Smith’s work overall, have had a major influence in religious studies, that influence has not …
Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America by Brett Malcolm Grainger
Reviewed by: Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America by Brett Malcolm Grainger Michael J. Altman (bio) Church in the Wild: Evangelicals in Antebellum America. By Brett Malcolm Grainger. (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 2019. Pp. 280. Cloth, $45.00.) In her groundbreaking book A Republic of Mind and Spirit: A Cultural History of American Metaphysical Religion (2007), Catherine Albanese contends that three major forms of …
American Examples, or, How I Stopped Being an Americanist and Learned to Study Religion in America All Over Again
The Report brings you news on the latest projects, initiatives, and developments from around the field. Michael J. Altman of the University of Alabama relays his experience in moving from subfield expertise to field-critical theorizing and how he brought others along for the journey. American Examples provides intellectual space for early career scholars to reframe a particular interest in things American into provocative illustrations of identit…
Evangelicals: Who They Have Been, Are Now, and Could Be
Eighty-one percent of white evangelicals voted for Donald J. Trump for president in 2016. This statistic has become a puzzle for many evangelical thinkers and many who make a living observing and researching evangelicals. Three leading evangelical historians put this volume together as an attempt to make sense of the 81 percent figure and what it means for the history and future of their movement. For readers who identify as evangelical or are in…
Crossfit, SoulCycle, and Evangelical Christianity with Cody Musselman
The Interview brings you in-depth exchanges with scholars working to reframe how we carry out the academic study of religion. In this edition, Michael J. Altman at the University of Alabama sat with Cody Musselman (Postdoctoral Research Associate at the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis, PhD Yale 2022) to discuss SoulCycle, CrossFit, and evangelical Christianity in the United States. In so doin…
Philosophy (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Religious studies (11 works) · History (10 works) · Religion and Society Interactions (9 works) · Law (8 works) · Political science (8 works) · Hinduism (6 works) · American Constitutional Law and Politics (5 works) · Theology (5 works)