Surfaces and the Study of Religion

Flesh. Bark. Wall. Glaze. Floor. Road. Membrane. Edge. Border. Tabletop. Screen. Paper. These are just some of the surfaces that construct and catalyze everyday life. Surfaces are sites of contact where bodies of all kinds interface, bind, mix, touch, permeate, interact, and react. Not all surfaces are stable. In fact, few are. They often only appear so because of their interactions with other surfaces. Surfaces frame, delineating an object of study, bringing it into and out of focus when multiple surfaces meet. Due to their affectivity and ubiquity, surfaces provide a means for thinking and theorizing sensory cultures across time and tradition. This roundtable brings together scholars working across religious traditions and chronological and geographic contexts to think aloud about how they have grappled with all kinds of surfaces in their work. Through a roundtable discussion with an extended Q&A, our presenters will tease out the methodological challenges and payoffs of attending to surfaces in the study of religion. Central to our discussion are the ways that the study of surfaces engages other critical interventions such as post-humanism, critical race theory, feminist and queer theory, new materialism, performance theory, and affect theory.