Kathleen Riddell
Kathleen completed her PhD in 2023. Her dissertation concerned how dead celebrities create meaning and purpose in the lives of fans, particularly in an area of scholarship known as fandom-as-religion. Her two case studies were John Lennon and Johnny Cash. She attended fan events in New York City (Lennon) and Nashville, Tennessee (Cash), where she did participant observation and met fans to interview. Kathleen found that fan experience with Lennon or Cash is not unlike that of adherents of traditional religious figures, and that fan identity develops in relation to the celebrity, as an extension of the self. She has published her work in the Journal of Fandom Studies, the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, and the Journal of Contemporary Religion. Kathleen has also appeared in various news media outlets including CBC News, CTV News, the Toronto Star, The National Post, and The Globe and Mail.
Since 2019, Kathleen has worked as a researcher and policy analyst with the Department of Justice Canada. Her work has touched on criminal and Indigenous justice and involves policy surrounding Federal-Provincial-Territorial initiatives. She resides in Ottawa, Ontario.
Megan Shore
My passion for Religious Studies was sparked in my first year at the University of Waterloo. The flexibility of the program and the range of perspectives in religious studies enabled me to pursue my interest in conflict, the environment, gender, justice and international issues. At uWaterloo I was able to explore the role religion plays in conflict and international relations by majoring in Religious Studies and minoring in Peace and Conflict Studies. Because both the Religious Studies and Peace And Conflict Studies at uWaterloo provide service-learning experiences, I had the opportunity to apply my theory and course work to practical experience in Guatemala, Northern Ireland, and throughout Ontario during my undergraduate years.
After graduating from St. Jerome’s University at the University of Waterloo, I studied for my Master of Arts degree in International Development Studies at Dalhousie University in Halifax. Although Religious Studies was not the focus of the discipline at Dalhousie, I could continue to work on issues related to religion, writing my thesis on the role religion might play in the resolution of the Palestinian/ Israeli conflict.
Missing the multi-disciplinary nature of Religious Studies, I returned to that discipline for my PhD, at the University of Leeds, in England. There, I am currently completing my dissertation with focus on the role Christianity played in South Africa’s post Apartheid Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
As a student of Religious Studies, I have had the opportunity to travel the world from Central American to the Middle East to South Africa and to live and work with people of different religious traditions. I have been exposed to many belief systems and cultures; I have witnessed the prominent role of religion in the lives of many, and I have seen the varied and changing role of religion in people’s lives. I believe that not only does religion have the power to fuel conflict and injustice, it also has a potential for liberation and tolerance.
The study of religion has provided me with a cultural awareness that will undoubtedly help me in the work I hope to do in mediation and policy writing. At this time, my studies have brought me back to the University Waterloo, where I’m teaching a Christian Ethics course at St. Jerome’s University, and where I can share my interest and passion for Religious Studies, and hopefully spark this interest in others!