David Shefferman

Director of Urban Studies

Associate Professor, Religious Studies

Education

  • PHD, University of North Carolina
  • MA, University of North Carolina
  • BA, Princeton University

Courses Taught

RELS 110      The Nature and Experience of Religion
RELS 300      Religion and Spanish Identity
RELS 337      The American Religious Experience
RELS 359      Afro-Caribbean Religions
RELS 376      Religion and the Media
RELS 377      Religion and Environmentalism

  • Research

    Prof. Shefferman specializes in the history of religion in the Americas.  He focuses especially on popular discourses about Afro-Caribbean traditions during the twentieth century as well as intersections of religion and popular culture in North America.  Other interests include:  theory and method in the study of religion; Latin American literary and cultural production; religion and virtual culture; and religion and environmentalism.

  • Publications and Scholarly Activities

    The Bible and American Culture: A Sourcebook, with Claudia Setzer (London & NY: Routledge, 2011).

    "Santeria," in Shamanism:  An Encyclopedia of World Beliefs, Practices, and Cultures, Eva Fridman and Mariko Walter, eds. (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC Clio, 2004).

    Professor Shefferman is currently working on Fictions of Santeria,
    a study of popular representations about and within the Afro-Cuban traditions during a variety of historical and cultural contexts.