• Princeton University
  • OIT Help Desk
  • Blackboard
  • Emergency Contacts
  • Facebook
Department of Religion
Department of Religion
Navigate
  • Courses
    • Current Courses
      • Graduate Courses Fall 2022
      • Undergraduate Courses Fall 2022
      • Graduate Courses Spring 2022
      • Undergraduate Courses Spring 2022
    • Graduate Courses
      • Graduate Courses Fall 2022
      • Graduate Courses Spring 2022
      • Graduate Courses Fall 2021
      • Graduate Courses Spring 2021
      • Graduate Course Archive
    • Undergraduate Courses
      • Undergraduate Courses Fall 2022
      • Undergraduate Courses Spring 2022
      • Undergraduate Courses Fall 2021
      • Undergraduate Courses Spring 2021
      • Undergraduate Course Archive
  • Graduate
    • Academic Fields
      • Asian Religions
      • Islam
      • Religions of Mediterranean Antiquity
      • Philosophy and Religion
      • Religion, Ethics, and Politics
      • Religion in America
    • Graduate Program
      • Prospective Graduate Students
      • Degree Requirements
      • Language Requirements
      • Teaching Requirements
      • Graduate Student Handbook
      • Forms and Guidelines
      • Placement Record
      • Pre-Doctoral Fellowship Initiative
      • Ad Hoc Joint Ph.D. in Religion and Philosophy
    • Admission Information
      • Applicants
      • Graduate FAQs
      • Finance and Fellowship
      • Housing
      • Overview
  • Undergraduate
    • Independent Work
      • Independent Work Guidelines
      • Preparing To Submit Independent Work
      • Format For Junior Papers
      • Format For Senior Theses
      • Citations
      • Junior Title Page Sample
      • Senior Title Page Sample
      • Authorization Page Sample
      • Table of Contents Sample
      • Protection of Human Subjects
    • Undergraduate Program
      • Major Requirements
      • Junior Year Major Requirements
      • Senior Year Major Requirements
      • Studying Abroad
      • Religion And Special Programs
      • Class of 2024
      • Deadlines Juniors
      • Deadlines Seniors
      • Career Paths
      • Undergraduate Forms
    • Information & Resources
      • Undergraduate FAQs
      • More Information
      • Undergraduate Announcement
  • Events & News
    • News
    • Upcoming Events
    • Past Events
  • Projects
    • The Crossroads Project
    • Princeton Project in Philosophy and Religion
  • Diversity
    • Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
    • Resources
  • People
    • Faculty
      • Core Faculty
      • Emeriti Faculty
      • Associated Faculty
      • Visiting Faculty
      • Lecturers
    • Students
      • Graduate Students
      • Undergraduate Students
      • Job Market Candidates
    • Academic Visitors
      • Postdoctoral Fellows
      • Research Associates
    • Staff
      • Religion Staff
  • Department of Religion Facebook
  • Zoom: Video Conferencing – Get Started
  • Emergency Contacts – Princeton University
Home»People»Faculty»Core Faculty»Judith Weisenfeld

Judith Weisenfeld

Agate Brown and George L. Collord Professor of Religion. Chair, Department of Religion.

Position: Core Faculty

234 - 1879 Hall

(609) 258-8409

jweisenf@Princeton.edu

Field: Religion in America

Courses

Webpage

Judith Weisenfeld joined the Princeton faculty in 2007. Her research and teaching focus on African American religious history, religion and race, and religion in modern American culture. She is the author of Hollywood Be Thy Name: African American Religion in American Film, 1929-1949 and African American Women and Christian Activism: New York’s Black YWCA, 1905-1945. Her most recent book, New World A-Coming: Black Religion and Racial Identity during the Great Migration, was awarded the 2017 Albert J. Raboteau Prize for the Best Book in Africana Religions. Her current research examines the intersections of psychiatry, race, and African American religion in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. She is also the Co-Director of The Crossroads Project: Black Religious Histories, Cultures, and Communities, which is funded by the Henry Luce Foundation.

In addition to her appointment in Religion, she is affiliated with the Department of African American Studies and the Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies and serves on the Executive Committees of the Program in American Studies and the Center for the Study of Religion.  Professor Weisenfeld currently serves as Chair of the Department of Religion.


Courses – Spring 2022

REL 271: Cult’ Controversies in America
(HA) Graded A-F, P/D/F, Audit Total Course Enrollment 70
Professor(s): Judith Weisenfeld
11:00am – 11:50am MW Lecture/Precept
Traditions Stream Requirement: Religion in America
In this course we examine a variety of new religious movements that tested the boundaries of acceptable religion at various moments in American history. We pay particular attention to government and media constructions of the religious mainstream and margin, to the politics of labels such as “cult” and “sect,” to race, gender, and sexuality within new religions, and to the role of American law in constructing categories and shaping religious expressions. We also consider what draws people to new religions and examine the distinctive beliefs, practices, and social organizations of groups labeled by outsiders as “cults.”

 

  • Faculty

    • Core Faculty
    • Emeriti Faculty
    • Associated Faculty
    • Visiting Faculty
    • Lecturers
  • Job Market Candidates

    • View All Candidates
  • Students

    • Graduate Students
    • Undergraduate Students
  • Academic Visitors

    • Postdoctoral Fellows
    • Research Associates
  • Administrative

    • Religion Staff
    • Religion Librarian
  • Mailing Address

    Department of Religion
    1879 Hall Washington Road
    Princeton, NJ 08544

© 2020 The Trustees of Princeton University | Department of Religion | Accessibility | Privacy Notice