Visiting Associate Professor of Religious Studies Brent Plate recently helped establish two new book series; he will serve as a co-editor of each.
The “Bloomsbury Studies in Material Religion” series, published by Bloomsbury Academic, stems from the journal Material Religion, co-founded by Plate and for which he continues to serve as managing editor.
According to the publisher, the series “engages and advances theories in ‘sensuous’ and ‘experiential’ religion, as well as informing museum practices and influencing wider cultural understandings with relation to religious objects and performances.”
Initial books planned in the series include a study of museum displays of world religions, an edited collection on the material dimensions of Christianity and a history of fashion in U.S. religions.
Plate will be an associate editor of “Brill Research Perspectives in Religion and the Arts,” a hybrid between a journal and book series. The project represents one of the new directions occurring in scholarly publishing.
Four “issues” will published a year and libraries can subscribe as they would other journals. Each issue will be a short monograph on a topic, similar to the Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press.
Initial themes include a general introduction to religion and art, followed by issues on outsider art, Islamic architecture and Protestant art.
