Martyn Smith

Martyn Smith is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Lawrence University, where he has been teaching since 2006. His work examines how groups of people find meaning in their lives through relationships with places, focusing on how communities modify landscapes and build structures that reflect shared beliefs.

Smith's primary research interests include:

• The relationship between people and sacred spaces
• Religion and ecology (specifically moving beyond settler perspectives)
• Religion and technology (critiquing tech's placeless vision)
• Islamic studies with focus on cities like Cairo and Istanbul
• Digital humanities approaches to religious studies

His ongoing digital project PlacedThoughts examines the construction and destruction of sacred space globally, with case studies from Senegal, Dubai, Cairo, Silicon Valley, and Wisconsin's effigy mounds. Smith regularly contributes to the Global Studies program, leading student trips to religious sites in Dearborn, Michigan, and international locations including Morocco, Senegal, and (planned for spring 2025) Brazil. He served as faculty in residence at the Lawrence London Centre in fall 2019.

Smith holds a PhD in Comparative Literature from Emory University, an MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a BA in Theology from Prairie Bible College. Beyond academia, he serves as an alderperson in Appleton's District 4, bringing his understanding of community and place to local governance.