tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post378967295396281274..comments2024-03-01T11:17:49.152-07:00Comments on Religion in American History: What the Map of Urban Religious Histories Shows UsPaul Harveyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13881964303772343114noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-47109703239887678342015-10-20T16:11:08.523-06:002015-10-20T16:11:08.523-06:00Thanks for the comment, Jeff. Glad to see our gue...Thanks for the comment, Jeff. Glad to see our guesses confirmed by your experience.<br /><br />And thanks for the reminder about <i>Dixie Dharma</i>. I've added it to our list and will update the site.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130738672087808415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-84813772987668378352015-10-20T15:36:34.564-06:002015-10-20T15:36:34.564-06:00I'm really liking this series, not the least b...I'm really liking this series, not the least because the list includes some of my favorite books...<br /><br />My second book should probably be added to the database, as it is specifically about the context of practicing Buddhism in Richmond, Virginia: Jeff Wilson, "Dixie Dharma: Inside a Buddhist Temple in the American South" (University of North Carolina Press, 2012).<br /><br />In regards to Dusty's observation, I think proximity is often an important aspect of project selection. My first book ("Mourning the Unborn Dead") initially arose from observations of an unexpected ritual event I saw at a temple in Rochester, which I visited simply because that's where my in-laws were living. And it's no coincidence that the majority of the subsequent field sites I visited were in LA, where I was living by then. For Dixie Dharma, the initial fieldwork was done while I was a grad student in Chapel Hill, 2.5 hours from Richmond, and that was a factor, as was the ability to do further research years after graduation due to having family in-state in Virginia whom I could stay with. In other words, locations of grad programs/universities is an important piece of the puzzle, but also personal networks of individual researchers come into play. I have far more often researched a phenomenon that was reasonably close to a place I either lived or frequently visited already for other reasons, than chosen to research something that required time in a place where I had no connections whatsoever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-15210534684927580782015-10-20T11:58:36.006-06:002015-10-20T11:58:36.006-06:00Dusty: Yes, absolutely. I think it is about facult...Dusty: Yes, absolutely. I think it is about faculty and graduate students at particular institutions, but also about what particular presses are willing to publish. The city that stands out on the map to me is Indianapolis. It has three books: two written by faculty affiliated with IUPUI, and all published by Indiana University Press.<br /><br />I recall that one of my professors joked that global history used to mean that one got as far west from Boston as Worcester. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06130738672087808415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37589721331585843.post-80418471565995258122015-10-20T11:46:56.682-06:002015-10-20T11:46:56.682-06:00Lincoln and Paul, this is a great project and than...Lincoln and Paul, this is a great project and thank you for undertaking it!<br /><br />I am wondering about another possible observation about the map: Are most cities places where there are PhD programs in religious studies (or nearby) or else faculty in other departments who support research on religion? My hunch is that a lot of work done on city- or town-based religion is the product of relatively easy commuting accessibility for the authors (either where they did their graduate work or where they were hired). Thoughts?Dustyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05531474794030705389noreply@blogger.com