This past spring, seven of the department’s majors went above and beyond by presenting their research at the University of Iowa’s annual Spring Undergraduate Research Festival (SURF). SURF is a campus-wide showcase in which undergraduate students present their research in poster format and discuss their scholarly work with broad audiences, strengthening their communication skills while sharing outstanding work with the wider campus community. Our students did an exemplary job representing the field of religious studies—and the humanities more broadly—at a venue traditionally dominated by STEM disciplines.
  • Megan Andress presented first-hand field research on the Ark Encounter, a full-scale recreation of Noah’s Ark that functions as an evangelical tourist destination.
  • Misha DeBoef-Misyuk presented research on the community-building functions of queer apocalyptic tabletop role-playing games for LGBTQ+ players.
  • Lucy Dunning presented research on the psychological dimensions of Christian prayer and its positive effects on practitioners’ mental well-being.
  • Grace Lin explored the ongoing significance and enduring relevance of religious dystopia in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale.
  • Olivia Schuelka examined the history and significance of the Shroud of Turin.
  • Michael Schuster analyzed the Chinese government’s oppression of the Muslim minority group, the Uyghurs.
  • Elizabeth Von Loh presented research on the portrayal and central importance of Judas Iscariot in the musical Jesus Christ, Superstar.
Congratulations to all of our students on a job well done, and sincere thanks to faculty mentors Ahmed Souaiaia and Brandon Dean for their guidance and support of the students in preparing these projects for presentation.

Author

Dr. Brandon Dean

Brandon Dean

Assistant Professor of Instruction
brandon-dean@uiowa.edu
Brandon Dean is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Iowa. He teaches courses on a variety of topics, with a particular focus on religion in the United States. His work explores the intersection of American religions and 20th- and 21st-century popular culture.