Kenny Paul Smith
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Senior Instructor of Religious Studies 122 Coates Hall |
Since the early 2000s, Dr. Smith's research and teaching have focused upon the emergence and development of new religious movements and alternative spiritualities, popular and institutional religious trends in American and global contexts, theorizing fundamental comparative categories such as religion, magic, myth, ritual, experience, etc., and the analyzing ever-shifting boundaries linking religion (whatever we take that to be) and the larger cultures in which they are found.
Most recently, he has been investigating the Superhumanities, as coined by Jeff Kripal
of Rice University, with its insistence upon taking paranormal phenomena seriously
and acknowledging the metaphysical presuppositions which lie at the foundations of
the ways in which all professional scholars of religion think about their primary
data.
Before coming to LSU, Dr. Smith taught at Georgia State University, earned his doctorate
at Emory University, and served as associate editor for the online Bulletin for the Study of Religion.
Since 2021, he has been an Ogden Honors Fellow at LSU and teaches a variety of Honors courses in both Fall and Spring semesters. Presently, he is developing a new course for the Ogden Honors College, to be taught Spring 2026: HNRS 2030: The History and Practice of Western Astrology.
B.A. in English, Georgia State University (1994)
B.A. in Philosophy, Georgia State University (1996)
M.A. in Philosophy, Georgia State University (1999)
M.A. in Religious Studies, Georgia State University (2010)
Ph.D. in American Religious Cultures, Emory University (2018)
REL 1000: Religions of the World
REL 2112: Magic and Religion
REL 3033: Native American Religions
REL 3203: Religion and Parapsychology
REL 4200: Harry Potter, Magic, and Religion
REL 4200: New Religious Movements
HNRS 2020: Religion, Magic & American Culture
HNRS 2020: New Religious Movements
HNRS 2020: Religion and Other Worlds
HNRS 2020: How Religion Can Change the World
HNRS 2020: Harry Potter, Magic, and American Culture
HNRS 2023: The History and Practice of Western Astrology
Recipient of Tiger Athletic Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence, LSU (2018)
Recipient of Doctoral Fellowship, Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University (2010-2015)
Recipient of the Timothy Renick Award, Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University (2010)
Recipient of Graduate Studies Scholarship, Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University (2008-2010)
Nominated for Outstanding Honors Faculty Award, Department of Religious Studies, Georgia State University (2005)
Recipient of Graduate Studies Scholarship, Department of Philosophy, Georgia State University (1996-1999)
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles and Chapters
"You’ve Been Wonderful Neighbors: Key Factors in the Successful Integration of a Wiccan Coven into a Suburban Community in the Southeastern United States,” Nova Religio 12 (2008): 103-15