Jolyon Thomas

@jolyonbt.bsky.social

7049 Followers 1681 Following

Assoc. Prof of Religious Studies. Author, Drawing on Tradition (2012), Faking Liberties (2019); co-editor, New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions (2025); co-author, Animating Action (coming Dec 2026). Web: jolyon.thomasresearch.org

Cover of Finbarr Curtis’s book Going Low depicts a dumpster fire.
Two turntables, with Side A of Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue on Deck 1. The album sleeve is displayed over the rotary mixer between the decks.
Sides B and C of Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun on L and R turntables. The album cover is displayed between the turntables above a mixer. A row of albums is visible below.
Paradoxes of Education: A Symposium on Without a Prayer An Author's Response by Leslie Ribovich The Enduring Question of Purpose by Stephanie Mota Thurston It's All Connected by Jolyon Thomas Disciplining Histories by Michael Graziano Editor's Introduction by Charles McCrary
Poster for US-JET Alumni Association Event depicts headshots of 3 men (Yuri Lowenthal, Roland Kelts, Jolyon Thomas) before a stylized image of a torii gate floating in the clouds. The main colors are pinks, lavenders, and purples.
A GIF of a camera panning around a man wearing a replica of the space shuttle Challenger on his back. The solid booster rockets on either side of his torso have glowing red lights at their bases. His reddish-brown clothing mimics the color of a shuttle’s External Tank.
Promotion flyer for US JET Alumni Association event, "The Religion of Anime," featuring headshots of 3 men (Yuri Lowenthal, Roland Kelts, and Jolyon Thomas) in bottom right. A torii gate stands before a rising sun amidst the clouds in the background in shades of pink and lavender. QR code on the flyer matches the link in the post. The event is on 12 November at 7:00 PM ET via Zoom.
Sides Delta and Gamma of Radiohead’s 2-LP version of Kid A on left and right turntables. Album art floating above the rotary mixer in the center.
A man stands next to a statue of Godzilla, matching the monster’s pose.
King Tubbys meets rockers uptown on the left turntable. Album art displayed above the mixer in the middle.
The “New York” and “London” sides of Universal Beings on Deck 1 and Deck 2, respectively.
King Sunny Ade’s “Bobby” on the left turntable.
Two turntables with sides A & C of Kruger & Dorfmeister’s “The K&D Sessions” cued up. The turntables are on either side of a rotary mixer on top of a wooden record cabinet.
Re-imagining the Midcentury: This roundtable discussion re-examines religion in the mid-twentieth century United States. Histories of this time period have traditionally emphasized a religious boom post-World War II, Cold War anxieties, suburbanization, and “tri-faith” consensus. Our conversation will begin the process of destabilizing these familiar historiographies. Each panelist brings new questions, characters and theoretical frameworks to bear on religion in the mid-twentieth century United States. Topics will include corporate media bureaucracy, Hasidic Jewish migration to the United States, theologies of family planning, disability politics, African decolonization, religion and law, and the Asian American religious left. We seek to add increased depth, detail and variety to histories of religion in the postwar period, while at the same time asking about the extent to which we still live in the Midcentury's world. With a willing and experimental presentism, panelists will think about how postwar formations persist and permutate in the 21st century. A24-123
First page of the introductory chapter titled “Why Japanese Religions?” From the New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, now out with University of Hawaii Press (copyright 2025).
New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions Book Launch: Come celebrate the launch of the New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, forthcoming from the Nanzan Library for Religion and Culture Series with University of Hawaii Press (December 2024). Reception is Friday, 11/22 from 7:00-8:30.
Photo from Mt. Rubidoux looking west shortly before sunset.
Flyer for 11/21 talk by Jolyon Thomas titled “Difficult Subjects: Religion and Education under the US-Japan Alliance.” The talk is in INTN 2043 at 11 AM.
Screenshot offering information about “reimagining the miscentury” roundtable.
Screenshot offering details about UPenn Reception happening at 7 PM on Saturday.
Poster with details about talk includes QR code. Scan for more!
Sides A and B of Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland on two turntables on either side of a rotary mixer. The album art is on a stand above the mixer.
A picture of the Roy Haynes Quartet album Out of the Afternoon.
Cover of the New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions, edited by Matthew D. McMullen and Jolyon Baraka Thomas, depicts a row of golden torii gates. Photo by Kaitlyn Ugoretz.
Man warring sunglasses under autumn leaves with an “I voted” sticker on the lapel of his suit jacket. He is wearing a blue shirt to indicate his support for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
Man’s head peers out of a small red doghouse. The man looks sad. He has a small bowl of liquid and a small bowl of food in front of him. The food is candy corn; the liquid is whiskey.
Two turntables with the album covers for Stanley Turrentine’s Cherry and Sonny Red’s Out of the Blue displayed above.
Two bullet points about addressing higher ed employee dissatisfaction. Gist as described in the post.
Cover of Stein, Alternate Currents: Reiki's Circulation in the Twentieth-Century North Pacific