Bookshelf

The Bible in Folklore Worldwide

The two-volume handbook edited by Eric Ziolkowski, Manson Professor of Bible, examines how the Bible is received in verbal folklore of different cultures around the globe. This first volume studies biblically derived characters, tales, motifs, and other elements in Jewish, Romance, German, Nordic/Scandinavian, British, Irish, Slavic, and Islamic folkloric traditions. The work contributes to the understanding of religious texts and to their interpretation and elaboration by folk commentators of different faiths. The book also illuminates the development, artistry, and migration of folktales; opens new areas for investigation in the reception history of the Bible; and offers insights into the popular dimensions of Jewish, Christian, and Muslim communities around the globe, especially regarding how the Holy scriptures have informed those communities’ popular imaginations.

The book was published by Walter de Gruyter GmbH in 2017.

The Healing Power of the Santuario de Chimayó America’s Miraculous Church

Brett Hendrickson, associate professor of religious studies, draws on extensive archival research and fieldwork to create a history of Santuario de Chimayó, a site important to Catholic pilgrims in America. The church, which attracts a half million visitors each year, is famous for its healing dirt. The book is the first comprehensive history
of the church, covering
origins of the site, the church’s construction, and its eventual transfer to the Catholic Archdiocese of Santa Fe. But the importance of Hendrickson’s story goes beyond the site itself. It examines the role southwestern Hispanics and Catholics played in American religious history and identity.

The book was published by New York University Press in 2017.

Entanglement: Carol Brown Goldberg’s Recent Art

Written by Robert S. Mattison, Metzgar Professor of Art, this 136-page catalog showcases artist Carol Brown Goldberg’s larger-than-life paintings and drawings for her Entanglement series at Katzen American University Museum College of Arts & Sciences.

Magental Moonlight, Carol Brown Goldberg. Click to enlarge.

The works of art embody the search for connected growth patterns in the organic world. The design emphasizes the intricacy of Goldberg’s work by including both the full view and a close-up of every piece in the exhibition. Close-ups of the pieces give the viewer a sense of the work’s scale.