About Jacob Barrett

I am a PhD student in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the Religion and Culture track. My research interests are grounded in questions about religion and governance, law, and the state and explored through contemporary examples from American politics. More specifically, I look at issues of religious freedom in the United States and the Supreme Court, placing the discourse on “religion and politics” within a discussion of performativity and authority to see the discursive and rhetorical tools used to create, maintain, and (re)negotiate terms of power and control. I aim to use computational analysis and the digital humanities to capture broad patterns in the outcomes and rhetoric of court decisions across time to demonstrate the dynamic nature of “religious freedom.” In addition to my academic research and teaching, I work as the Media and Communications Coordinator for the North American Association for the Study of Religion (NAASR) and the Director of Marketing and Publicity for the American Academy of Religion – Southeastern Region.

Studying religion, theorizing about governance, and making use of computational analysis. @jakebarrett25 and https://thereluctantamericanis...

Jacob's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Jacob:

M. Cooper Minister and Sarah J. Bloesch, "Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion: An Introduction to Theories and Methods" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

April 13, 2024

Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion

M. Cooper Minister and Sarah J. Bloesch
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

Cultural Approaches to Studying Religion: An Introduction to Theories and Method (Bloomsbury, 2023) examines the analytic tools of scholars in religio…

Leslie Dorrough Smith and Steven Wesley Ramey, "Religions of the World: Questions, Challenges, and New Directions" (Equinox Publishing, 2024)

March 31, 2024

Religions of the World

Leslie Dorrough Smith and Steven Wesley Ramey
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

Religions of the World: Questions, Challenges, and New Directions (Equinox Publishing, 2024) is a world religions textbook that provides a critical in…

Jeffrey Scholes, "Christianity, Race, and Sport" (Routledge, 2021)

November 14, 2023

Christianity, Race, and Sport

Jeffrey Scholes
Hosted by Jacob Barrett
Listen:

This book provides a rigorously researched introduction to the relationship between Christianity, race, and sport in the United States. Christianity, …

Kathleen Mcphillips and Naomi Goldenberg, "The End of Religion: Feminist Reappraisals of the State" (Routledge, 2020)

November 8, 2023

The End of Religion

Kathleen Mcphillips and Naomi Goldenberg
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

Feminist theory has enhanced and expanded the agency, influence, status and contributions of women throughout the globe. However, feminist critical an…

Jason C. Bivins, "Embattled America: The Rise of Anti-Politics and America's Obsession with Religion" (Oxford UP, 2022)

October 21, 2023

Embattled America

Jason C. Bivins
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

Histories of political religion since the 1960s often center on the rise of the powerful conservative evangelical voting bloc since the 1970s. One of …

Brad Stoddard and Craig Martin, "Stereotyping Religion II: Critiquing Clichés" (Bloomsbury, 2023)

July 1, 2023

Stereotyping Religion II

Brad Stoddard and Craig Martin
Hosted by Jacob Barrett
Listen:

Building on the success of Stereotyping Religion: Critiquing Clichés, this follow up volume dismantles a further 10 widespread stereotypes and clichés…

Elizabeth S. Hurd and Winnifred F. Sullivan, "At Home and Abroad: The Politics of American Religion" (Columbia UP, 2021)

April 15, 2023

At Home and Abroad

Elizabeth Shakm Hurd and Winnifred Falle Sullivan
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

From right to left, notions of religion and religious freedom are fundamental to how many Americans have understood their country and themselves. Idea…

Tisa Wenger and Sylvester A. Johnson, "Religion and US Empire: Critical New Histories" (NYU Press, 2022)

March 15, 2023

Religion and US Empire

Tisa Wenger and Sylvester A. Johnson
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

The United States has been an empire since the time of its founding, and this empire is inextricably intertwined with American religion. Religion and …

Molly H. Bassett and Natalie Avalos, "Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes" (Equinox Publishing, 2022)

February 14, 2023

Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes

Molly H. Bassett and Natalie Avalos
Hosted by Jacob Barrett

Indigenous Religious Traditions in Five Minutes (Equinox Publishing, 2022) edited by Molly H. Bassett and Natalie Avalos aims to answer many of the qu…