Grant helping MSU鈥檚 Lukasik unite scholars to rethink diaspora in American religion
Contact: Sarah Nicholas
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥斞侵奚墒悠 Assistant Professor Candace Lukasik has received a highly competitive 2026 Collaborative Research Grant from the American Academy of Religion to examine religious communities through the lens of diaspora鈥攑opulations dispersed beyond their ancestral homelands while maintaining strong cultural and social ties.
Lukasik, a member of MSU鈥檚 Department of Philosophy and Religion and a faculty affiliate in the Department of Anthropology and Middle Eastern Cultures, is collaborating with Professor Leonard McKinnis of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Their work will convene an interdisciplinary group of scholars to examine religious communities during a workshop in Illinois, 鈥淭he Idea of Diaspora in the Study of American Religion.鈥
A fall workshop will explore how histories of displacement shape belonging, identity and resistance, bringing together researchers whose work on Black and immigrant religions and transnational traditions is often siloed.
Lukasik and McKinnis aim to map and analyze the concept of diaspora across disciplines and produce a jointly authored special issue or edited volume.
鈥淒iaspora is a concept that resonates deeply in American religious life,鈥 Lukasik said. 鈥淭hrough this project, we hope to connect scholars across fields, building a new network for understanding the intersections of religion, race and migration in the U.S.鈥
Lukasik said in the field of religious studies, this is among the most prestigious grants awarded because it is granted by the field鈥檚 premier professional organization. Lukasik serves as cochair of the AAR鈥檚 Middle Eastern Christianity Unit and the Religion and Politics Unit, and previously received an Individual Research Grant in 2020.
Since joining MSU in 2022, Lukasik has gained national recognition for her scholarship in the study of religion. She is the author of 鈥淢artyrs and Migrants: Coptic Christians and the Persecution Politics of U.S. Empire,鈥 a 2025 NYU Press publication, and coeditor of the volume 鈥淎nthropologies of Orthodox Christianity: Theology, Politics, Ethics,鈥 a 2025 Fordham University Press publication exploring the intersections of theology, politics and ethics in Orthodox Christian communities.
Lukasik has received multiple fellowships, including recognition as a 2024鈥2026听Young Scholar in American Religion by the Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, and fellowships from Brandeis University鈥檚 Crown Center for Middle East Studies and the American Association of University Women. She earned her Ph.D. in sociocultural anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2020.
For more information on MSU鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Philosophy and Religion, visit and .
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