Religious Studies Prof’s Research Paper Earns Top Prize
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Damon Berry won first prize in Nova Religio’s 17th annual Thomas Robbins Award for Excellence in the Study of New Religious Movements for his article, “Voting in the Kingdom: Prophecy Voters, the New Apostolic Reformation, and Christian Support for Trump.”
Nova Religio is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal that presents scholarly interpretations and examinations of emergent and alternative religious movements. It is published by the University of California Press.
The Robbins Award was established in 2002 by the late Thomas Robbins to recognize outstanding articles published in Nova Religio. Berry and other prizewinners were selected by board members of the Association for the Academic Study of New Religions from articles appearing in volume 23 of the journal.
According to the article summary, Evangelical Christian support for U.S. President Donald Trump quickly became a focus for journalistic and scholarly efforts to understand the results of the 2016 presidential election. Most studies have focused on Trump’s position on social issues or voters’ racialized nostalgia for an idealized American past. In the article, Berry draws attention to motives not analyzed by these studies.
Berry writes, “Among the leaders of the New Apostolic Reformation, a new charismatically inclined Christian movement, alleged prophecies explaining that God had chosen Trump to become president compelled their support for his candidacy, presidency, and attempt at reelection in 2020. I argue that Trump’s support among what I call prophecy voters resulted from their obedience to these prophecies and the accompanying mandate to combat alleged demonic conspiracies aligned against President Trump that seek to prevent the eventual establishment of the Kingdom of God on Earth.”
Berry was also the 2020 recipient of St. Lawrence’s J. Calvin Keene Award, given annually to a faculty member in recognition of high standards of personal scholarship, effective teaching, and moral concern. One of Berry’s student nominators wrote that Berry “has a presence on this campus that reflects his compassion and dedication to his students. Professors and students alike speak incredibly highly of him. He wants all students (not just his own) to succeed both in the classroom as well as outside of it. He genuinely cares about his students,” and encourages them “to branch out and think critically about established systems of our society and what their implications are. He wants students to try out ideas not just try to find the 'right' answer; it is about the journey of discovery, confusion, knowledge, and the possibility of understanding ourselves and the world around us a little better.”
Berry’s research focuses on the imbrication of religious and racialized discourses that shape and inform logics of exclusion and violence. He regularly teaches courses such as Global Christianities, Religion & Race, Religion & Violence, Religion in Conspiracy Theory, and American Religious Lives.
