Most scholarly engagements with Orthodox Christianity rest in the fields of theology and history, with little ethnographic focus on the socio-political, everyday lives of Orthodox Christians today. Similarly, anthropology of Orthodoxy is often devoid of theological sensitivity. In an effort to make Orthodox Studies holistic and attuned to the experiences of believers, this panel brings together theologians and anthropologists of Orthodox Christianity to think through the social life of religious concepts and the future of the field. Orthodoxy is not a tradition of the past, but rather is forged by the challenges of the modern world and the debates of contemporary life.

This panel will be co-moderated by Dr. Candace Lukasik, 2020-2022 Postdoctoral Fellow, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis and 2020-2021 Religion, Spirituality, and Democratic Renewal Fellow, Social Science Research Council; and Dr. Sarah Riccardi-Swartz, 2020-2021 Recovering Truth Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, Arizona State University.