The Department of Religious
Studies is beginning a new era with the promotion of its founding chair, Tim
Renick, to the provost’s office, and the move of Associate Professor Kathryn
McClymond into the chair’s seat.
McClymond said she was looking
forward to the challenge of building on Renick’s accomplishments. The
department, which was founded in 2005, was Renick’s brainchild, and the result
of years of his work building the field at Georgia State.
“This is a very healthy, growing
department,” McClymond said, “and it’s an exciting time to take over. It’s also
exciting to feel like we’re not at the beginning any more.”
In fact, Religious Studies has
expanded its faculty with three new permanent hires this year, and another
planned for next year. The department’s M.A. program has 16 incoming students,
a very healthy number for a program that is only in its third year.
“The word is really getting out
there,” McClymond said. “We’ve got fantastic scholars that are really committed
to teaching, and that gets students excited.”
The department is one of the few
of its kind at public universities – traditionally, religious studies has been
pursued at private universities with religious affiliations. In the coming
years, McClymond said, she wants to help the department continue to develop its
distinctive approach to the field: comparative, interdisciplinary and secularly
based.
Renick is still a faculty member
in the department, in addition to his new duties as the university’s assistant
provost for academic programs and chief enrollment office. Still, his main work
will lie elsewhere, and that will take some getting used to for everyone,
McClymond said.
“You just feel he should be
here,” she said.
