Elon seniors and one faculty member presented at the American Academy of Religion held at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.
Building on a strong trajectory of undergraduate research in religious studies, five Elon seniors delivered professional papers at the southeast regional conference of the American Academy of Religion, which was held at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina from Feb. 27 to March 1, 2026. One Elon faculty member, Dr. Andrew Monteith, also presented his innovative research at Furman University.
This year’s conference centered around the theme of “Shifting Identities and Fractured Communities.” Student paper topics ranged from the theocratic turn in US anti-abortion politics to a sentiment analysis of religious texts. Their international research took them to the south of Spain; their rigorous methods included ethnographic interviews and visual analysis of the Billy Graham Library; and their conclusions contributed to important conversations about Judeo-Christian nationalism in US higher education and the ramifications of abortion abolitionist legislation.
The American Academy of Religion is the largest scholarly organization in the world dedicated to the professional study of religion. Roughly three hundred scholars working at colleges and universities in this region regularly participate in the annual meeting. The regional meeting also offers limited spots for undergraduate students to present their academic research and engage with professional scholars from across the region.
Four sessions were held to showcase undergraduate research, and Elon students garnered five of the 16 highly competitive undergraduate slots. One of the five students was also an Elon College Fellow and a member of Elon’s Multifaith Scholars program, led by Director Amy Allocco. Two students were presenting research for the Honors and Lumen programs, and two students took the initiative to craft their own credit-bearing undergraduate research project for ELR. All five students were closely mentored in their discipline by an Elon faculty member who helped to guide their research and prepare their presentations over the course of their junior and senior years. The papers will also be delivered before Elon audiences at the Spring Undergraduate Research Forum, Tuesday, April 28, 2026.
Support for travel was provided by the Center for the Study of Religion, Culture, and Society, the Department of Religious Studies and the Office of Undergraduate Research. The funding also supported a small student group of conference observers as well as group co-organizer Amy Allocco, professor and distinguished scholar of religious studies.
Undergraduate Research Presentations
Alyssa Carney (MFS, ECF), “Echoes of Al-Andalus: Islamophobia and Migration in Spain” (Sandy Marshall, mentor)
Mallory Fahlender, “Abortion Abolition Extremism: The Theocratic Turn in US Anti-Abortion Politics (Toddie Peters, mentor)
Kelsey Golden, “New Crusaders, Old Problems: Crusade as Cognitive Domain in the Billy Graham Library” (Lynn Huber and Evan Gatti, mentors)
Bunny Ingram, “Faith and Feeling: A Sentiment Analysis of Religious Texts” (Heather Barker, mentor)
Ben Kalan, “Judeo-Christian Nationalism and Jewish Ethics in American Political Myth” (Andrew Monteith, mentor)
Elon Faculty Presentations
Andrew Monteith, “‘Hatred Is the Right Response to Evil’: Judeo-Christian Nationalism, The Heritage Foundation, and Donald Trump’s War Against Higher Education”