Charting the Playful & Proper Study of Religion

In this week’s episode Sam Gill joins RSP editor Andie Alexander to discuss his recent book The Proper Study of Religion: Building on Jonathan Z. Smith. They consider different methodological and theoretical questions in the academic study of religion, such as comparison, difference-making, play & movement, experience, and “storytracking”—a narrative technique and method for critical self-reflection and scholarly analysis. Gill outlines a playful and proper study of religion that builds on the work of the late J. Z. Smith and demonstrates how a critical scholar of religion might apply Smith’s methods in their own scholarship.