Catherine L. Albanese

Scholar of American religious history and U.S. historian of non-traditional religions. Known for pioneering work on nature, religion, and history of metaphysical religion. Republic of Spirit and Mind (2007) traced the history of an amorphous group of unconventional religious movements that emerged as a self-conscious and pervasive third force alongside mainstream denominationalism and evangelicalism during the latter part of the nineteenth century. Methodologically, known for successful efforts to replace a consensus approach to American religious history with a more interactive model that allowed her to recast the traditional Protestant dominated history of religion in the U.S. in terms of a wide array of encounters and exchanges between diverse traditions. Influence felt through her long career as co-editor of the Religion in North America series at Indiana University Press and role in founding and leading the North American Religions Section at the American Academy of Religion in the 1970s. Leadership was recognized in her election as President of the American Academy of Religion in 1994.