This March, Religious Studies is delighted to co-sponsor a Material Culture Workshop hosting Dr. James S. Bielo, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Northwestern University. Bielo will present the talk “Volatile Presence: The Secondhand Materialities of Christian Nationalism.” This event is open to all interested students, faculty, and staff.
Description: This presentation responds to an onsite pop-up exhibit, a case filled by a collection of Christian nationalist materials sourced from thrift stores, antiques shops, and estate sales. What kind of presence do these materials have: as secondhand commodities, as vestiges of lived religion, as display objects, and as a curated assemblage? Through an exploration of circulation, materiality, and presence, I propose an approach for the study of Christian nationalism as a historically-rooted cultural pattern that underwrites any particular ideological or theo-political expression.
About Dr. Bielo: James S. Bielo is an anthropologist of religion, with an ethnographic focus on Christianity in the United States. His research interests center on materiality and language as lived resources in religious life, and the intimate relations of religion and power.
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 18, 2026, 12:30 – 2:00PM, RSVP is required. To RSVP, Faculty and graduate students should email Laura Sims Peck (laura.peck@wisc.edu) directly by March 13th. Undergraduates and the general public, please join us via Zoom at https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/99608358980
Location: Room 1199, Nancy Nicholas Hall and on Zoom.