Research Statement
My research concentrates on diversity and identity in American religious history. I bring a multidisciplinary approach to understanding religion’s role in identity construction, focusing especially on the dynamics of how minority groups use religion to define a place for themselves in American life. My book, Ute Land Religion in the American West, 1879-2009, examines the development of religious identities within a landscape of American religious diversity. Drawing on archival research and oral histories, I trace 130 years of contact between Ute Indians and whites, starting with their shared history of violence and ending with current reconciliation projects. Through my research, I argue that a thoughtful self-reflection on the category religion needs to include situating knowledge within the geographical space that it occurs. The act of situating the production of religious knowledge within its geographical context is not limited to the American West. Thus, even though my research is focused on this region of the United States, it has impact in other research areas, namely in other instances in which race, land use, and religious practices are co-constitutive identities.
My research concentrates on diversity and identity in American religious history. I bring a multidisciplinary approach to understanding religion’s role in identity construction, focusing especially on the dynamics of how minority groups use religion to define a place for themselves in American life. My book, Ute Land Religion in the American West, 1879-2009, examines the development of religious identities within a landscape of American religious diversity. Drawing on archival research and oral histories, I trace 130 years of contact between Ute Indians and whites, starting with their shared history of violence and ending with current reconciliation projects. Through my research, I argue that a thoughtful self-reflection on the category religion needs to include situating knowledge within the geographical space that it occurs. The act of situating the production of religious knowledge within its geographical context is not limited to the American West. Thus, even though my research is focused on this region of the United States, it has impact in other research areas, namely in other instances in which race, land use, and religious practices are co-constitutive identities.