Lynn S. Neal earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She teaches courses in American religious history, religion and popular culture, and religious intolerance. She is the author of Romancing God: Evangelical Women and Inspirational Fiction (2006), and “Evangelical Love Stories: The Triumphs and Temptations of Romantic Fiction.” She is also the co-editor, with John Corrigan, of Religious Intolerance in America: A Documentary History (2010), and has published other works on this topic, including “Intolerance and American Religious History,” and “They’re Freaks!: The Cults Stereotype in Fictional TV Shows, 1958-2008.” Her current research examines the intersection of religion and fashion.
B.A. 1993 Houghton College, Houghton, New York
M.T.S. 1995 Duke Divinity School, Durham, North Carolina
M.A. 1997 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Ph.D. 2003 University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Spring 2014, National Endowment for the Humanities Visiting Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies, University of Richmond.
Spring 2014, Teaching Innovation Award Honoree, Wake Forest University, Teaching and Learning Center.
2010-2013, Z. Smith Reynolds Faculty Fellowship, Wake Forest University.
2009-2011, Young Scholars in American Religion Program, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, IUPUI.
Lynn S. Neal and John Corrigan, eds., Religious Intolerance in America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
Lynn S. Neal, Romancing God: Evangelical Women and Inspirational Fiction. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.
Peer-Reviewed Articles and Book Chapters
“OMG: Authenticity, Parody, and Evangelical Christian Fashion,” Fashion Theory
“The Ideal Democratic Apparel: T-shirts, Religious Intolerance, and the Clothing of Democracy,” Material Religion 10:2 (June 2014): 182-207.
“From Classroom to Controversy: Conflict in the Teaching of Religion,” Teaching Theology and Religion 16:1 (2013): 66-75.
“Evangelical Love Stories: The Triumphs and Temptations of Romantic Fiction,” in Evangelical Christians and Popular Culture,Robert H. Woods, Jr, ed. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2013.
“Alma White’s Bloodless Warfare: Women and Violence in U.S. Religious History,” in Religion, Violence, and America: From Jeremiad to Jihad, John Carlson and Jonathan Ebel, eds. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2012.
“They’re Freaks!: The Cult Stereotype in Fictional TV Shows, 1958-2008,” Nova Religio 14:3 (February 2011): 81-107.
“Intolerance and American Religious History,” Religion Compass 4:2 (February 2010): 114-123.
“Christianizing the Klan: Alma White, Branford Clarke, and the Art of Religious Intolerance,” Church History 78 (June 2009): 350-378.
Select Presentations
September 2014, “The Cathedral, Katy Perry, and the Catwalk,” Fashion 6: Exploring Critical Issues, Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom.
September 2013, “Swimsuit Contests,” Fashion 5: Exploring Critical Issues, Harris Manchester College, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Blogs
“Quiet Please: Making Space for Silence,” October 8, 2013. Available at: http://wabashcenter.typepad.com/12_surprises_when_lecturi/2013/10/quiet-please-making-space-for-silence.html
- REL 101: Introduction to Religion
- REL 266: Religious Sects and Cults
- REL 267: Religion and Popular Culture
- REL 342: Religious Intolerance in America
- REL 365: History of Religions in America
- FYS: Surprising Spirituality: Popular Culture and Contemporary Religious Life
- FYS: Religion and Television: Exploring the Sacred on the Small Screen