Rita Lester, Ph.D.
You can find me in my office on the third floor of Old Main every weekday, including 12-1 pm. 聽If my office door is closed, email me at rlester [at] nebrwesleyan.edu (rlester[at]nebrwesleyan[dot]edu).听
"...how you feel about religion is only the tiniest bit of why religion matters."
from Religion Is Not Done with You: Or, The Hidden Power of Religion on Race, Maps, Bodies, and Law by Megan Goodwin and Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst (Beacon Press, 2024).
PhD in Religion,
MTS in Theology & Ethics,
BA in Philosophy & Religion,
- First-Year Seminars
- Religious Diversity in the U.S.
- Apocalyptic Imagination in America
- Constructing Religious Identity
- Women and Religion
- Judaism, Christianity and Islam
- History of Christianity
- World Religions
- Contemporary Religious Studies
- Religion, Peace and Social Justice
- Medieval Women Writers
- Religion in Human Experience
- Literature and History of the New Testament
Publications
Recent book reviews published by The American Academy of Religion's Reading Religion:
- review (2024) of Religion for Realists: Why We All Need the Scientific Study of Religion by Samuel L. Perry
- (2024) of Sins of Christendom: Anti-Mormonism and the Making of Evangelicalism by Nathaniel Wiewora
- (2024) of Feh: A Memoir by Shalom Auslander
- (2024) of Relic by from the Series:
- response from author on my review of their book: "I was honored by Dr. Lester's kind and perceptive review, and will be sure to share it." Best, Ed S.
- (2024) of The Women's Mosque of America: Authority and Community in US Islam by
- (2024) of God's Monsters: Vengeful Spirits, Deadly Angels, Hybrid Creatures, and Divine Hitmen of the Bible by
- response from author on my review of their book: "Just a quick note before I go offline -- and as I sing the Shalom Aleichem going into Shabbat, wary of those angels -- thank you for your lovely review! I appreciate it very much!" All the best, Esther
- (2023) of Vodou En Vogue: Fashioning Black Divinities in Haiti and the United States by from the Series
Podcasts
Interviewed by Philosophy and Religion major Grace Wendel (fall 2024) on the nature of time in religious studies
Interviewed Sociology and Religious Studies focused major Jade Hansen (fall of 2024) about her research project on Asian Community Center
Contributions to Edited Books
"Religious Studies in the Built Environment of Higher Education in North America" in edited by Teema Taira, Equinox Press, expected 2025.
"Accommodations", "Curriculum", "High-Impact Practices", and "Senior Seminar", in , edited by Russell McCutcheon, Bloomsbury Academic, 2024.
, edited by Steven Ramey, Brill, 2022.
"Religious Freedom鈥 in鈥, edited by Brad Stoddard and Craig Martin, Bloomsbury Press, 2022.
"Teaching Religions of the World without World Religions",鈥, On the Subject of Religion: Charting the Fault Lines in a Field of Study, edited by Dennis LoRusso, Equinox Press, 2022.
鈥淭radition is an Argument Worth Having: Feminist Christianity and the Study of World Religions鈥,鈥痚dited by Emily Silverman, Dirk von der Horst and Whitney Bauman (Equinox Press, 2012), 59-69.
鈥淓mma Smith and Reorganized Latter Day Saints,鈥濃Encyclopedia of Women and Religion in North America,鈥痚dited by Rosemary Skinner and Rosemary Ruether, University of Indiana Press, 2006.
鈥淭he Nature of Nature:鈥 Ecofeminism and Environmental Racism in America,鈥濃, edited by Rosemary Radford Ruether, Minneapolis Fortress Press, 2002, 230-247.
University Service:
- Coordinator, Sex and Gender Thread
- Strategic Planning for Teaching and Learning
- Program Director Gender and Sexuality Studies
- Faculty President
- Chair of Philosophy and Religion
- Chair of Arts & Humanities Division
- Coordinator of Archway Curriculum Integrative Core Thread Chaos
- Fulbright and Critical Language Scholarship Advisor
- Academic Freedom and Academic Standards
- Student Conduct/Judiciary
2024 NWU Sabbatical, Fall semester
2023 NWU, Faculty Scholar Award
2022 Elected, Advisory Council, (3 year term)
2021 Virtual Global Engagement grant, with , Dir. Brian Carwana
2020 Nominated for American Academy of Religion Excellence in Teaching Award
2020 NWU Advisor of the Year Award
2020 NWU Diversity and Inclusion, Most Influential Woman Faculty
2019 NWU Student-Faculty Collaborative Grant, Teaching Religion without World Religions Paradigm (with students Jacob Barrett and Ciara Eichhorst)
2018 Nominated by the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences for the
2018 NWU Faculty Mentor Award
2014 NWU Sabbatical, , Toronto, Fall semester
2014 Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Distinguished Alum Award (spoke at graduation)
2012 , Carnegie Foundation for Advancement of Teaching & Council for Advancement and Support of Education
2011 NWU Margaret J. Prouty Teaching Award
2010 , 鈥淚slam and Middle Eastern Culture鈥, Jordan, Jan. 1-23 (article here)
2008 YWCA, Women Eliminating Racism Award, Lincoln, NE
2008 NWU Student-Faculty Collaborative Grant, 鈥淪ite Visits as Pedagogical Strategy" (with student Nicole Francavilla)
2007 NWU Sabbatical, Toronto, Spring semester
2007 Contributing author, Women and Religion in North America, , 2001-2006
2002 United Methodist Exemplary Teacher Award, NWU
2001 Research Affiliate