Center for the Humanities and the Public Sphere

Dr. Leah Sarat (Arizona State University) will give this keynote lecture as part of the 4TH Annual Religion Graduate Student Association Conference: “Protest, Power and Prayer: Intersection of Activism, Culture, and Religion,” February 21 and 22. This conference will explore the intersections of religion and/or spirituality and activism seeking to highlight instances of religious resistance, dynamics of power, and instances of socio-cultural change. Historically, religious individuals and communities have engaged with political and social activism in cultural movements, including those focused on civil rights, ecological justice, social reform, gender equity, LGBTQ+ rights, partisan politics, and self-determination, among others.

Leah Sarat’s work explores the intersection of religion and migration in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, with special attention to ways in which people draw upon religion to formulate notions of belonging and confront the physical, emotional, and psychological challenges of the migration experience. Sarat received her doctorate in religion in the Americas from the University of Florida and joined the religious studies faculty at Arizona State University in 2010. Her book, Fire in the Canyon: Religion, Migration, and the Mexican Dream (New York University Press, 2013) centers on the relationship between migration, Pentecostalism, and tourism in an indigenous community in central Mexico that has created an innovative U.S.-Mexico border crossing simulation for tourists.