The Department of Religious Studies has held the Annual E.P. Adler Awards Luncheon in the spring semester for over 50 years. On May 6th, we held our second in-person celebration since going virtual for the pandemic.
The E.P. Adler Awards Luncheon is held to honor the memory of E.P. Adler, one of the department's founders. This event was established and endowed through the generosity of the late Philip and Henrietta Adler, with ongoing support provided by the family of Lloyd and Betty Schermer.
We wish to thank Lloyd and Betty Schermer and all of our generous donors who give to the Department of Religious Studies. The department is honored to use some of these funds to award our bright and gifted students.
Congratulations to each one of our awardees, and we wish you all the best in your future endeavors!
2024 awardees
Michelene Pesantubbee Religion and Social Justice Scholarship
This award honors the memory of Dr. Pesantubbee (1954-2021), who was a professor of Native American Religious Traditions in the Department of Religious Studies. This award is for a student paper or community project that illuminates some aspect of the relationship between religion and social justice/injustice, especially as it relates to Native American rights and concerns.
Awardee
Brianna Bohling-Hall is a double major in Religious Studies and Journalism. The selection committee was impressed by her paper on tribal sovereignty and the difficulties that indigenous people have faced with respect to land, water, and other rights. In addition to writing this excellent research paper, she also created a poster for the undergraduate research conference. From her, the department gained important insights into the history of Zionism and Christian Zionism
E.P. Adler Award
Established by Betty and Lloyd Schermer to honor Betty’s grandfather, E.P. Adler, one of the department’s founders, and awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student in the Department of Religious Studies.
Awardee
Mark Hartsgrove-Mooers was nominated by Dr. Ahmed Souaiaia, who notes that with great forethought and insight, Mark has focused his study of religion and economics in historical and philosophical contexts to the work of Ibn Khaldun. To accomplish this, he has needed to learn Arabic quite proficiently. Through the years, he has become a wonderful heart for the community we have here, serving as the graduate representative to the faculty and finding wonderful ways to cultivate a spirit of camaraderie among the graduate students. We are especially pleased to congratulate Mark on earning his MA and on his acceptance to our PhD program next year!
E.P. Adler Award
Established by Betty and Lloyd Schermer to honor Betty’s grandfather, E.P. Adler, one of the department’s founders, and awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student in the Department of Religious Studies.
Awardee
John Sheridan, nominated by Dr. Kristy Nabhan-Warren, “John is one of the hardest working graduate students” who she has mentored. She commends his kindness, insight, and generosity as a community member and celebrates his notable ability to face challenges. His dissertation on a contemporary Anabaptist religious community reveals him to be a strong ethnographer. John has also organized both communal writing time and social time for our graduate students and has fostered a tremendous depth of community in the department.
E.P. Adler Undergraduate Award
Established by Betty and Lloyd Schermer to honor Betty’s grandfather, E.P. Adler, one of the department’s founders, and awarded to a graduate or undergraduate student in the Department of Religious Studies.
Awardee
Sophia Gardner is a Religious Studies Minor who has performed very well in our classes. She is part of the Pre-Physician Assistant Program and, in addition to her Religious Studies minor, is pursuing a B.S. in Biology.
Alice Marguerite Blough Award
Established in 1994 with a gift from the Estate of Alice Marguerite Blough in memory of her parents, Rev. Albert P. Blough and Estelle M. Blough, and awarded for the best graduate student research paper.
Awardee
Dr. Kaitlyn Lindgren Hansen is nominated by Dr. Diana Cates for “her excellent doctoral dissertation on 19th century U.S. spiritualism—a creative, multidisciplinary work engaging English Literature, Media Studies, History, and Gender, Women’s, and Race Studies, all under the umbrella of Religious Studies. She demonstrates how women writers of published diaries and other literary works made specific material contributions to the religion of spiritualism.” Kaity has maintained tremendous engagement in the department as both an MA and a PhD student, especially in being a mentor to other graduate students and an outstanding TA.
John P. Boyle Award in Catholic Studies
Established in 1998 in honor of John P. Boyle who served as a professor in the Department of Religious Studies from 1972-98, and director from 1979-89. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies, based on academic excellence and outstanding work in some area of Catholic Studies.
Awardee
Jessica Lelm is a second year student with a degree interest in Nursing. Dr. Brandon Dean, who teaches a course called Religion in America Today, says of Jessica that she did excellent ethnographic work at the Newman Canter last fall.
Pres. and Mrs. Eugene Gilmore Scholarship
Established in 1985 to support the study of culture, humanistic values, and the quest for new symbols in contemporary culture. This award was named for Eugene Gilmore, past president of the University of Iowa and supporter of the department. This award is given to a doctoral student in religious studies who has an interest in the relationship of religion and culture, especially the visual arts.
Awardee
Allison Isidore is nominated by Dr. Diana Cates, who recognizes Allison for her engagement of digital humanities in her ethnographic and archival research on Black and white Catholic women in the Civil Rights Movement and her development of diverse media through which she will share her research.
Helen Goldstein Undergraduate Research Paper/Project Award
This award was established in 2012 to honor Dr. Helen Goldstein, who specialized in medieval Jewish and Islamic philosophy, and is given to the best undergraduate student research paper or project.
Awardee
Julia Anderson is a political science major with a Religious Studies minor. She wrote an outstanding paper for a course that I teach, called Happiness in a Difficult World. It explored the tension within the heart and mind of a young Maya Angelou, who was led by a dominant culture to believe that God was white and male; at the same time, she was taught that this God was all-good and worthy of worship. Julia shows in her paper how Angelou was motivated to evolve in her understanding of the sacred ground of her life.
Alice Lampe Heidel and John B. Heidel Memorial Award
Established in memory of M. Willard Lampe, the founding director of the department and Mrs. Heidel's father; honors a graduate teaching assistant whose commitment to undergraduate teaching is evidenced by the outstanding performance of assigned teaching duties, and exceptional interest in and service to undergraduate students.
Awardee
Hasan Degerli, nominated by Dr. Diana Cates, is an excellent Teaching Assistant, especially in the large online course Hard Cases in Healthcare at the End of Life. He takes his work and the development of his teaching philosophy and skills very seriously. He is highly conscientious, responsive to student needs, and principled in his assessment of their work. He has been of great support to Professor Cates.
Karl Hoffman Award
This award goes to an outstanding junior religious studies major who exhibits academic excellence, the strength of character, and a broad and conscientious concern for ultimate and spiritual questions.
Awardee
Sawyer Sand is completing his third year as a religious studies major. Dr. Brandon Dean praises Sawyer’s genuine curiosity about the world’s religions, which have spurred wonderful exchanges between the two of them, before and after class.
M. Willard Lampe Scholarship Fund
Established in 2016 to honor the first Director of the School of Religion, this scholarship will fund a graduate student whose scholarship is likely to engage the public in ways that recognize and acknowledge diverse religious beliefs and foster religious tolerance.
Awardee
Ezekiel Yang is nominated by Dr. Ahmed Souaiaia, who notes that Ezekiel has developed a rigorous framing of the study of religion to understand local and global cultures. He not only researches key aspects of religious diversity in China but models appreciation of diversity in his teaching both in his area of expertise and beyond it.
Barbara W. and Rex Montgomery Award
Prof. Rex Montgomery was a long-time supporter of the department and past president of the Advisory Board. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies based on academic merit.
Awardee
Kefas Lamak, nominated by Dr. Paul Dilley, is currently writing his dissertation on the role of African missionaries in Christianizing the Middle Belt of Nigeria from 1841-1950, with particular interest in the neglected importance and agency of Africans, including formerly enslaved people, in missionary work under British colonialism. Paul writes that, “His innovative research promises to reshape the field” and he has been awarded a summer dissertation writing fellowship to support his research in Nigeria.
Barbara W. and Rex Montgomery Award
Prof. Rex Montgomery was a long-time supporter of the department and past president of the Advisory Board. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies based on academic merit.
Awardee
Carlos Ruiz Martinez is nominated by Dr. Jenna Supp-Montgomerie. Carlos is writing a perceptive and innovative dissertation on the ways that the recent 50 years of activity between state immigration agencies and religious communities has appeared to be one of conflict, in which religious houses of worship often serve as sanctuaries to defy ICE efforts at deportation, and yet careful examination reveals that at this point religion and state have an essentially cooperative relationship around migration to the U.S. Carlos’s exceptional research is only more impressive given his full-time work serving migrants in the St. Louis area.
Barbara W. and Rex Montgomery Award
Prof. Rex Montgomery was a long-time supporter of the department and past president of the Advisory Board. This award is given to a graduate or undergraduate student in religious studies based on academic merit.
Awardee
Jeimy Panduro Orellana is a first-year student pursuing a major in Philosophy. In her nomination of Jamie, Dr. Jenna Supp-Montgomerie wrote, “Jamie was an extraordinary student in my class Public Life in the US: Religion and Media. She was not only eminently prepared for discussion, but shared sophisticated insights about the readings and, most importantly, became a leader who modelled exceptional participation and invited her peers to deepen their own engagement with the text and each other. She is courageous about addressing the big questions while being attentive to nuance."
Rev. Louis P. Penningroth Scholarship
Established by Rev. Penningroth's wife to honor her husband, this award goes to a graduate student who demonstrates concern for fellow students through her or his teaching practices and skills as a mentor.
Awardee
Tucker Gregor is nominated by Dr. Diana Cates. Tucker receives this award in recognition of his leadership in establishing and coordinating a new graduate writing workshop called the GradShop, which is run by and for Religious Studies graduate students. This workshop meets two or three times per semester and provides students with a casual and friendly forum to share their work in progress and to provide and receive generative feedback. Tucker’s deep engagement with the intellectual and social life of the department has been inspiring to see, and the department is most grateful.
Sonia Sands Scholarship Award
This scholarship was established in 1982 from donations to honor Sonia Sands, housemother of the Phi Epsilon Pi Fraternity for over 20 years. The award recognizes talented students in the area of Jewish studies.
Awardee
Brynn Bowers received high praise from Dr. Jay Holstein, who wrote, “Brynn’s performance in Quest in the past fall semester was top of the line. I have never put forward a stronger nominee” for the Sonia Sands Award. Brynn is an Honors Student graduating this month with a BS in Human Physiology. She has already begun her studies at the UI Carver College of Medicine and hopes to become a pediatric physician.
Charles Schoen Interfaith Scholarship Award
This scholarship honors the late Charles Schoen, who served on the department’s Advisory Board for eleven years. The award is given to an undergraduate religious studies major, based on the student's academic record.
Awardee
Olivia Schuelka is a first year double major in religious studies and psychology. Dr. Diana Cates nominated her for this award. The faculty is very impressed that, as a first-year student, Olivia created and defended an excellent poster for a UI undergraduate research conference this spring. Diana states, "It was great hearing her share with such confidence her research into some of the psychological dynamics of the Branch Davidian conflict.
Robert and Mary Ann Small Stenger Religious Studies Scholarship
This scholarship was established in 2014 by a department alumna to provide support to a graduate student in religious studies.
Awardee
Andrea Scardina was nominated by Dr. Paul Dilley. Andrea has recently completed her dissertation prospectus, which promises to be a groundbreaking study of the early Christians of Antioch, a key city of the Roman Empire, from the perspectives of affect theory, material culture, and the digital humanities. She presented some of her early insights on this topic in the summer of 2023 at an international conference in Leeds.
Robert and Mary Ann Small Stenger Religious Studies Scholarship
This scholarship was established in 2014 by a department alumna to provide support to a graduate student in religious studies.
Awardee
Osamamen Oba Eduviere, whom you may have seen flying above us in the OVPR “Dare to Discover” banner campaign, was nominated by Dr. Kristy Nabhan Warren. Osamamen recently successfully completed and defended her Ph.D. comprehensive exams and will be conducting ethnographic fieldwork with Nigerian women in Chicago this summer as well as preparing her dissertation prospectus. We celebrate Osamamen’s intellectual ethic and commitment to publicly engaged scholarship.
Group photos
2024 Adler graduate awardees
2024 Adler undergraduate awardees
