The Religious Studies Lecture and workshop, inaugurated in 2012, is one of two annual lecture series hosted by the department. The Religious Studies Lecture presents a spectrum of academic discourse, bringing speakers to campus whose areas of research and scholarship broaden the scope of dialogue in the field.

The lectures and workshops, while focused for students and faculty, are open to the general public and attract interest from the larger community.

Past lectures include:

• 2016: Misha Tadd ,  Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Advance Humanistic Studies of Peking University, I. "Demonic and Medical Possession in China" and II: Workshop on the Daodejing  event summary [pdf]

• 2015: Reza Shah-Kazemi, Research Fellow with the Department of Academic Research and Publications at The Institute of Ismaili Studies and Managing Editor of Encyclopaedia Islamica, I: “From Tolerance to Reverence: Spirituality and Universality in Islam” and II: "Muslim Reflections on the Crucifixion"   event summary [pdf]

• 2014: Omid Safi, Professor of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I: "Islam in America post- 9/11" and II: "Debates on Islamic Reform"   event summary [pdf]

• 2013: Evyatar Marienberg, Assistant Professor and E.J. and Sara Evans Fellow of Jewish History and Culture, Department of Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I: "And They Shall Become One Flesh: The History of Traditional Jewish Sexual Guidance" and II: "I voted! Canon Law and the Current Process of Electing a Pope"   event summary [pdf]

• 2012 — William V. Harris, William R. Shepherd Professor of History, Columbia University, "Greek and Roman Hallucinations Between Religion and Literature"   event summary [pdf]