'Religion' in Theory and Practice

Russell T. McCutcheon is Professor and Chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. His major publications include Manufacturing Religion (Oxford University Press, 1997), The Guide to the Study of Religion (Bloomsbury, 2000), Critics not Caretakers: Redescribing the Public Study of Religion (State University of New York Press, 2001) and The Discipline of Religion: Structure, Meaning, Rhetoric (Routledge, 2003). His most recent book, co-authored with William Arnal, is The Sacred is the Profane: The Political Nature of 'Religion' (Oxford University Press, 2013).

• IntroductionIn Theory1. Feast and Famine in the Study of Religion2. Utility and Limits: On the World Religions Paradigm3. The Sociology of Religion or Social Theory of Religion?4. Redescribing Spirituality: The Strategic Use of the Solitary IdentifierIn Practice5. Making Experts Curious About Their Expertise in the Introductory Course6. A Baker's Dozen of Tough Choices7. There Are Advantages to Knowing Your Limits: On Making a Difference for Non-Tenure Track Colleagues8. Perhaps (Not) Love...9. So You're Not a Priest? Identifying the Scholar of Religion10. Why I Blog