A Religious History of the College of Charleston
Student: AJ Williamson and Allen Duggar
Major: Religious Studies
Mentors: Dr. Matthew Cressler and Mary Jo Fairchild
Department: Religious Studies; Special Collections
A Religious History of the College of Charleston
This summer two religious studies majors, Allen Duggar and AJ Williamson, have been engaged in original research in collaboration with myself (Matthew Cressler, assistant professor of religious studies) and Mary Jo Fairchild (manager of research services, Special Collections). They have been examining the institutional archives of the College of Charleston to offer their own narrative interpretation of the religious history of the College, as part of the wider commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the institution. The themes they are exploring include, but are not limited to: the intersection of Christian ministry and enslavement in the origins of the College; the complicated story of how the College became a "secular" institution and what that meant for its non-Protestant-Christian student body; and how the study of religion, itself, changed over the past 250 years.