Madison Tarleton
Adjunct Instructor
Madison Tarleton is originally from Greenville, South Carolina, and she is a proud graduate of the College of Charleston Honors College (’15) where she graduated with a B.A. in Religious Studies. Madison immediately moved to Denver to begin a M.A. in Religious Studies at the University of Denver (’17). After completing her M.A., Madison embarked on the final part of her academic journey: A Ph.D. with the University of Denver & Iliff School of Theology’s Joint Doctoral Program in the Study of Religion. Madison joins us virtually from Denver, Colorado where she hopes to finish her dissertation very soon. Madison’s dissertation is preliminarily titled: New Tools: An Exploration and Examination of Anti-Judaic and Antisemitic Spanish Medieval Material Art Objects in Culture.
In her own words:
My teaching philosophy is reflective of my commitment to care, empathy, and active and engaged learning. Teaching, coaching, and my experiences as a college athlete have been central to my formation as a student and an educator. As a university professor, I cherish the experiences that have shaped my ability to be malleable in different situations.
My approach to teaching religion and religious studies stems from my interest in history, people, and cultures. Religions are, as people are, innately different—driven by culture, geography, climate, food, language, and social hierarchies. As I move into this new role at the College of Charleston, a place that shaped the student, researcher, and professor I have grown to be, I hope to leave my students with excitement, curiosity, and a new outlook on the category of religion/s.
Education
Ph.D., Religion, University of Denver & Iliff School of Theology’s Joint Doctoral Program, In Progress
M.A., Religious Studies, University of Denver, 2017
B.A., Religious Studies, College of Charleston Honors College, 2015
Research Interests
Growing up in upstate South Carolina, my religious understanding was limited to different protestant denominations and Catholicism. While at The College, I came to understand religious diversity in a different way. My research focuses on the cultural, political, and social contexts that led Medieval European Christian communities to oppress Jewish communities. My dissertation is based on analyzing material culture artifacts and finding a method to distinguish between anti-Judaic and antisemitic material culture and art. It is my hope that this research will allow people to investigate material culture, visual culture, images, and media in the Medieval Period to interact with and understand the contexts that produced the visual representations of Jews, the ramifications of those representations, and the change in representations of Jews over time as understood through the theoretical lens of the nonrational and irrational.
Courses Taught
Publications
The Krampus Conundrum with Madison Tarleton. The Classical Ideas Podcast, EP 146. https://classicalideaspodcast.libsyn.com/ep-146-the-krampus-conundrum-wmadison-tarleton-0, 2020.
Spaced and Placed: Hetero-‘topic’ Interpretations of the Warsaw Ghetto. The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory, 2019.
“Brew Halls and Baptismal Fonts: A Conversation with ‘The Church Brew Works.’” Founder Sean Casey.” Sacred Matters Magazine, July 2019.
“The Devil’s in the Details: The Krampus Conundrum.” Sacred Matters Magazine, December 2018.
“The Body of Fried Chicken and the Blood of Bud Light.” Sacred Matters Magazine, October 2018.