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Constructing the Religious Studies Department:
The Brubaker Years (1949-1980)
Lauren Brubaker |
Don Jones |
Hal French |
Kevin Lewis |
Carl Evans |
James Cutsinger |
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New Approach to the Study of Religion
The study of religion at USC began as courses in Old and New Testaments and a branch of Christian theology known as apologetics. There was no significant change throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. Before mid-20th century, however, a new approach to the study of religion at Carolina was introduced; in 1949 Professor Lauren E. Brubaker, Jr., with a Th.D. from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, brought the critical study of the Bible and Christian theology to our campus.
Although he was a Presbyterian minister and served as University Chaplain, Brubaker’s work in the classroom was informed by historical-critical methods of inquiry and methods of theological reflection that took culture seriously. In addition to Bible and Christian Theology courses, a course in Art, Theology, and Politics became a mainstay of the curriculum.
Academic Critical Study Established
During Brubaker’s 30-plus years as Chair of the Department, the Department changed dramatically. In 1967 Donald L. Jones was hired to teach Biblical courses using historical-critical methods of inquiry. Recognizing that a department with Bible in its name was defined too narrowly, the Department’s name was changed from the Department of Bible and Religion to the Department of Religion. That conceptual change prepared the way for the hiring of Hal W. French in 1972 to teach Comparative Religion with a focus on South and East Asian religions. Kevin Lewis was hired in 1973 to teach courses in Religion and Culture.
Donald Jones’s historical-critical approach to a variety of Biblical courses attracted such large numbers of students that Carl D. Evans was hired in 1974 to teach courses in Old Testament, making it possible for Jones to concentrate on the New Testament. The Department’s name was changed to the Department of Religious Studies to emphasize that the critical study of religion – not sectarian indoctrination – was at the heart of the Department’s enterprise.
Study of Religions as Interdisciplinary Scholarship
The Brubaker years firmly established that at Carolina religion would be studied as an interdisciplinary enterprise using, as appropriate, historical, comparative, philosophical, and cultural analyses of religious phenomena. The faculty increased from one to six and the scope of the Department’s curriculum expanded to include Eastern as well as Western religions.
Brubaker retired in 1980 but continued to teach on a part-time basis for the department and maintained a close relationship with the faculty and students until he moved out of the area in 1990. James Cutsinger was hired to fill his position in 1980 teaching courses in theology and religious thought.
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