Yale Religion

YDS Professor Braxton Shelley discusses the origins and history of gospel music, the struggle at the heart of creativity and the risks AI poses to it, and bringing gospel legend Kirk Franklin to Yale for a masterclass.

Yale Divinity School alum and cinema scholar Richard Lindsay discusses the history of biblical films in Hollywood – from the influence of the Cold War and American culture on iconic biblical epics to the surprising ways camp and queer style shaped how these stories were told.

Yale Divinity School alum and hospice chaplain Reverend Aaron Klink discusses how spiritual care complements modern medicine, a near-death experience that transformed his understanding of mortality, and the enduring question of God’s presence in suffering. https://divinity.yale.edu/news/2025-05-06-where-is-god-in-suffering-spiritual-care-mortality-and-meaning-with-hospice

Professor of American Religious History Tisa Wenger discusses how the early US government used Christianity to justify indigenous land theft, the limits of religious freedom in America, and the importance of Yale’s new certificate in Native American and Indigenous studies. A transcript of this episode can be found here: https://divinity.yale.edu/news/2026-04-06-religion-power-and-indigenous-lands-a-quadcast-interview-with-tisa-wenger

Socio-cultural anthropologist Todne Thomas, Associate Professor of Divinity and Religious Studies at Yale Divinity School, discusses researching a 2015 arson of a predominantly Black church in Tennessee, what it says about humanity, and why in-depth study of American religious life is critically important. https://divinity.yale.edu/news/2025-12-12-what-a-2015-church-burning-reveals-about-race-religion-and-life-in-america-with

Yale University Professor of History and Religious Studies Carlos Eire discusses evolving Protestant and Catholic views on miracles, the history of near-death experiences, and ‘hot button issues’ including the celibacy rule for Catholic priests. https://divinity.yale.edu/news/2025-10-15-the-history-of-miracles-and-near-death-experiences-quadcast-interview-with-carlos