Department of Appalachian Studies
About Dr. Adler
Dr. Jennifer Axsom Adler has a joint appointment in the departments of History, Appalachian Studies, and Philosophy & Religious Studies. A first-generation college student from Bloomington, Indiana, she graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard College with an A.B. in Government and earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University. Her dissertation explored how 19th-century American Protestants came to regard the Holy Land as a material gospel — a place that preserved an authoritative and experiential account of sacred history and that could be plainly read, interpreted, and reproduced. Her primary research focuses are American religious history, sacred space, ritual, material culture, and lived religious experience. She teaches courses on American religious history, world religions, African American religions, gender, and material culture.
Education:
A.B., 2004, Harvard College
M.A., 2012, Vanderbilt University
Ph.D., 2015, Vanderbilt University
Areas of Academic Specialty:
American Religious History
Christian History
Sacred Space and Landscape
Religion and Material Culture
Holy Land Travel and Pilgrimage