Rachel Scott named chair of the Department of Religion and Culture

Rachel Scott isn’t interested in changing her students’ minds about a particular religion or political stance. But she is intent on providing them with the context they need to make informed decisions.

Scott, professor of Islamic studies, was named the new chair of the Department of Religion and Culture in July. Scott said she has always been fascinated by the relationship between religion and politics, but her passion for the subject solidified when she took a year-long trip to Egypt as an undergraduate student.

“I was inspired by that,” Scott said. “I knew it was a place where religion really had an influence in politics. My interests continued to develop from there.”

Scott has been a member of the Virginia Tech community since 2005. Her research largely focuses on Islamic law, modern Islamic political thought, and religion and secularism. Her work delves into topics such as constitutions, personal status law, and Muslim-Christian relations. Through her classes, she also explores concepts such as death and mourning and women and gender in Islam.

In her new role, Scott hopes to highlight the regional and international expertise of the department. Through exploration of topics such as moral culpability and what it means to be human in an everchanging world, she hopes the department can help students engage in ethical debates about hot button issues. Advancements in technology and artificial intelligence have the potential to reshape numerous aspects of the world, such as warfare and economics.

“But it isn’t just about technology,” she said. “The world is changing in quite profound ways, and I want our department to really be at the forefront of providing students with a really deep understanding of the religious and cultural contexts that underpin societies around the globe.”

Scott said she is looking forward to representing the department, which she said is a “diverse faculty with diverse interests.” She said one of her main goals is to raise awareness about what the department does.

“Our department is about giving students religious and cultural context and knowledge,” Scott said. “We’re an open umbrella. We want them to come to our department and take courses that enrich their understanding of not only their own religious tradition but of others.”

Scott recalls a class that two faculty members taught that focused on examining friendship from different religious perspectives. She was invited to share and discuss a text about friendship written from a Muslim perspective.

“What’s so interesting is that it was not just about religion and faith,” she said. “It was about all that, but it was also about how to advise people about how to be a true friend and a better friend. And it was so rich and amazing. You don’t have to be a member of a particular religion to appreciate some of the lessons.”

She follows Matthew Gabriele, a professor of medieval studies, who served in the role since 2018.

Scott is also a core faculty member of ASPECT, the Alliance for Social, Political, Ethical, and Cultural Thought, a Ph.D. program that focuses on interdisciplinary theoretical research and fosters engagement between social sciences, the humanities, and the arts.

In addition to numerous book chapters and articles, Scott has authored two books. They are “The Challenge of Political Islam: Non-Muslims and the Egyptian State," and “Recasting Islamic Law: Religion and the Nation State in Egyptian Constitution Making," which is being translated into Russian for the Russian-language series, “Contemporary Religious and Theological Studies."

Among her honors, Scott received a certificate of teaching excellence from the college for the 2014-15 academic year. She also was a university nominee for the Carnegie fellowship in 2015, and she received the Dean’s Faculty Fellowship in 2016.

She served as co-chair of the religion and politics section for the American Academy of Religion – the world's largest association of religious studies scholars.  

Scott earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Oxford and her doctoral degree from the University of London.

“Dr. Scott is a brilliant scholar who will be a great asset on the college’s executive council,” said Laura Belmonte, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. “I look forward to working closely with her and her colleagues and applaud their many contributions to the college.”