Associate Professor
Ph.D Harvard University (2011)
Cross-appointed with the School of Religious Studies
I specialize in the history and practice of Christianity in North America. Much of my work examines aspects of capitalism, consumption, and monetization, for example in tourism, heritage creation, or charitable corporations. I also have an abiding interest in how U.S. Christians foster real and imagined connections with symbolically resonant sites faraway, such as ‘the Holy Land’ or the ‘Global Church.’ I often explore these themes, and others, through the lens of material and sensory studies. Besides two monographs and an edited volume, I have published research articles in venues including American Anthropologist, American Historical Review, the Journal of the American Academy of Religion, and the Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. Currently,
I co-edit the Contemporary Anthropology of Religion book series with Palgrave Macmillan Press and hold appointments as a faculty fellow with the Material Economies of Religion in the Americas (MERA) project at Yale University and the Centre for Sensory Studies at Concordia University.
For updated publication and other information see www.hillarykaell.com and follow me @hillarykaell
Representative Publications:
Christian Globalism at Home: Child Sponsorship in the United States (Princeton University Press, 2020)
Editor, Everyday Sacred: Religion in Contemporary Quebec (McGill-Queens University Press, 2017)
Walking Where Jesus Walked: American Christians and Holy Land Pilgrimage (New York University Press, 2014)