Religion in Motion: The Identity and World-Creating Powers of Religious Action
From Walter H. Capps Center (Video) by UCTV
June 2, 2026 · 54 min
About this episode
Sam Gill discusses the identity and world-creating powers of religious action through a biological and philosophical lens.
What does it mean to rethink religion from the ground up? University of Colorado's religious studies professor Sam Gill draws on biology, philosophy, and decades of research and dance practice to argue that we are moving, whole organisms before we are divided into mind and body. Gill proposes that humans possess a biologically enabled capacity to hold together what we know to be different as if it were the same—a dynamic that underlies the powers of metaphor, masking, dancing, ritual action, symbol, and language. Through vivid examples from Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry and dance, and Navajo prayer ceremonials, Gill shows how religious actions create worlds, identities, and enduring cultural coherence. Series: "Ethics, Religion and Public Life: Walter H. Capps Center Series" [Humanities] [Show ID: 41541]
People in this episode
Guest: Sam Gill
Topics covered
- religion
- identity
- cultural coherence
- metaphor
- ritual action
- dance
Keywords
- religion
- identity
- cultural coherence
- metaphor
- ritual
- dance
- symbol
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: University of Colorado
Books & works: Hopi initiation, Javanese shadow puppetry, Navajo prayer ceremonials
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