People

Rangar Cline is a historian of the later Roman Empire with research and teaching interests in Roman religions, epigraphy, and archaeology.  His research focuses on the relationship between Greek and Roman religions, early Christianity, and Judaism in the Roman world.  His book Ancient Angels, about angel veneration in the Roman Empire, was published with Brill Press (Leiden, March 2011) in the series “Religions in the Graeco-Roman World.”   His current book project examines the economics of pilgrimage. Click here for Prof. Cline's website.   

Religious Studies | rangar.cline@ou.edu | Office: ROBT 146 |

(405) 325-5041

Marie Dallam's expertise is in the area of American religion and culture. One of the recurrent themes in her work is marginalization; more specifically, she is interested in exploring groups that have become religious and cultural outsiders in the United States, whether by choice or default. Her books include Cowboy Christians (2018), Daddy Grace: A Celebrity Preacher and His House of Prayer (2007), and two co-edited anthologies: Religion, Attire, and Adornment in North America (2023) and Religion, Food, and Eating in North America (2014). She also serves as co-general editor of the journal Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. 

Dallam also teaches an Honors course through the Inside-Out Prison Exchange program, which brings together OU students and incarcerated individuals for college classes. 

Religious Studies | mwdallam@ou.edu | Office: Boren Hall 150

Geoffrey Goble joined the RELS faculty in the Fall of 2016, from Washington University in St. Louis, where he taught Buddhism and East Asian Religions.  In addition to his introduction to Buddhism, he has introduced courses on Daoism, Tibetan Buddhism, Chinese Religions, and East Asian Religions. Dr. Goble graduated from OU with a Letters degree, earned his M.A. at the University of Virginia, and his Ph.D. was completed at Indiana University.  For more information on Dr. Goble's research and teaching interests, see his website here.

Religious Studies | gcgoble@ou.edu | Office: ROBT 138 

Wendy Mallette is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies and a graduate certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies from Yale University after receiving a M.A.R. from Yale Divinity School and a B.A. from Valparaiso University. She is currently working on a book, Lesbian Feminist Killjoys: Sin, Pessimism, and Queer Histories (under contract with NYU Press), that draws on the archives of lesbian feminist public cultures of the 1960s through 1980s to intervene in conversations around negativity, sin, and affect in queer studies and religious studies. More broadly, her research brings critical theories of gender, sexuality, race, and animality to bear on questions of doctrine and method in religious studies and Christian theology. Her published work can be found in Women’s Studies Quarterly, the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Feminist Theology, and Religion Dispatches. She teaches courses, including Queer Religion, Introduction to Christianity, and Introduction to Religious Studies. During the 2024-2025 academic year, Dr. Mallette will be a Research Associate in the Women’s Studies in Religion Program at Harvard Divinity School.

Religious Studies | wendy.mallette@ou.edu | Office: ROBT 140

Deonnie Moodie is Chair of the Department of Religious Studies.  She earned her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Harvard University and M.Div. from Harvard Divinity School. She has a B. A. from Hope College, where she majored in International Studies. Dr. Moodie is an ethnographer and historian of religion specializing in South Asia and its global connections. She is especially interested in how religious ideas and practices entwine with political and economic discourse, re-shaping one another in distinctive ways in the modern world. At OU, Prof. Moodie teaches Introduction to Religious Studies; Approaches to the Study of Religion; Introduction to Hinduism; Religion and Nationalism in India; Money, Power, and God(s):  Religion and Economy East and West; and Capstone. For more information about her research, click here. 

Religious Studies | dmoodie@ou.edu | Office: ROBT 141 | (405) 325-5143

Andre Brooks-Key

Lecturer, Religions and Black Pop Music
Email: andre.e.brookskey-1@ou.edu

Emilie Casey

Lecturer, Introduction to Religious Studies
Email: emilie.casey@ou.edu

Nina Livesey

Lecturer, Biblical Literature
Email: nlivesey@ou.edu

Rebecca Potts

Lecturer, Queer Religion
Email: rebecca.l.potts-1@ou.edu

Tyson Putthoff

Lecturer, Jesus Interpreted
Email: tyson@ou.edu

Rebecca Hall-Davis serves the Department of Religious Studies as Administrative/Financial Coordinator.  She has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Management Information Systems, a Bachelor of Arts in History and a Master of Arts in History with a focus on early modern English religion.

Religious Studies | rebeccahd@ou.edu | Office: ROBT 120 | (405) 325-4594

Jennie Lazar in the Dodge Family College of Arts and Sciences is the advisor for Religious Studies.  You can find her information here.  

Jennie is located in Ellison Hall, Room 124, and Religious Studies majors and minors are encouraged to utilize her as a resource. You can reach Jennie at jlazar@ou.edu and you can schedule an appointment with her on iAdvise.