Faculty Directory
Dr. Brian P. Bennett
Professor & Chair of Religious Studies
- Email:
- bbennett@niagara.edu
- Phone:
- (716) 286-8454
Bio
Originally from 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 research combines elements of comparative religion and sociolinguistics. He has presented papers at conferences in Amsterdam, Bangkok, Berlin, Hong Kong, Limerick, Lisbon, London, Moscow, Murcia, and Vienna. His first book, Religion and Language in Post-Soviet Russia (Routledge 2011; paperback edition 2016), presents a multiperspectival account of the revival of the Church Slavonic language after Communism, from liturgy to typography to conspiracy theory. His second, Sacred Languages of the World: An Introduction (Wiley Blackwell 2017), is designed for students and the general reader. It offers a broad conspectual view of current beliefs, practices, teaching methods, artistic traditions, sectarian controversies, and technological innovations relating to ancient tongues like Latin, Pali, Avestan, Classical Arabic, Sanskrit, and Coptic.
Dr. Bennett's regular courses include:
- Introduction to Religion
- World Religions
- Comparative Religion
- Religion/Language/Music
He also does special topic courses such as:
- Cults
- Religion and Conspiracy Theory
- Religion and Revolution in Russia