Rachel Schwaller

Rachel Schwaller is a Multi-Term Lecturer in the Department of History and Religious Studies at the University of Kansas. She holds a BA and first MA in History from Penn State University, focusing on Ancient Near Eastern Archaeology and Biblical Studies. She earned a second MA and PhD in American Studies from KU in 2019. Her research explores the intellectual history of white conservative Christians in America through denominational magazines (1940s–present), analyzing their influence on free market economics, race, gender, and societal change. She also studies ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia, biblical studies, and scripturalization.

Recent teaching includes courses such as Religion in American Society, African American Religions, and Christianity in American Life. She is a member of the 2022/2023 American Examples cohort, a Luce Foundation-supported group for early-career scholars in Religion in America.

Upcoming publications include contributions to Postscripts (2023), an American Examples edited volume (2024), and Vincent Wimbush’s Masquerade: Scripturalizing Modernity Through Black Flesh.