Faculty Directory
Dr. Brian P. Bennett
Professor of Religious Studies
- Email:
- bbennett@niagara.edu
- Phone:
- (716) 286-8454
Bio
Originally from San José, California, Dr. Bennett earned his B.A. summa cum laude from Princeton and his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
He has been at NU since 2001, having previously taught at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dr. Bennett's training is in the comparative study of religion with a focus on Russia and the Soviet Union. His research concerns the religious significance of different languages/writing systems, including Church Slavonic, Latin, Esperanto, and Braille. He has presented at conferences in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Berlin, Hong Kong, Limerick, Lisbon, London, Moscow, Murcia, and Vienna, and has published two books:
- Religion and Language in Post-Soviet Russia (Routledge 2011; paperback edition 2016)
- Sacred Languages of the World: An Introduction (Wiley 2018)
Regular courses:
- Introduction to Religion
- World Religions
- Comparative Religion
- Religion/Language/Music
- Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism
Special topic courses:
- Cults
- Space-Age Religion
- Religion and Conspiracy Theory
- Religion and Revolution in Russia