Michael Amoruso

Michael Amoruso serves as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Occidental College, appointed in 2019. His academic work bridges religious studies, urban anthropology, and critical race theory with a geographic focus on the Americas.

His educational background includes a B.A. from Lehigh University, an M.A. from the University of Chicago, and M.A./Ph.D. degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. His research centers on the intersections of death, race, and urban space in religious practice, particularly within Brazilian contexts.

Amoruso's scholarship reveals how religious movements serve as sites of historical memory and resistance. His analysis of São Paulo's devotion to suffering souls demonstrates how marginalized communities use religious practice to contest racialized urban erasure. This work connects contemporary religious movements to legacies of slavery and industrialization through spatial analysis of sites like the Church of the Holy Cross of the Souls of the Hanged.

His publication trends show consistent focus on religious movement in urban settings, with increasing attention to material culture and spatial politics. Early works examined transnational traditions like novenas and All Souls' Day, while recent scholarship centers on Brazilian religious practices and their relationship to historical trauma.

• Moved by the Dead: Haunting and Devotion in São Paulo, Brazil (University of North Carolina Press, 2025)
• Walking with the dead: transit, transfer, and transformation in São Paulo's devotion to souls (2024)
• Endorsements from leading scholars including Kelly E. Hayes (Indiana University) and Bettina E. Schmidt (University of Wales)

Amoruso teaches courses on religion in the Americas with thematic focus on race, ethnicity, politics, and violence. His classroom approach emphasizes student engagement with complex theoretical frameworks while maintaining connection to contemporary social issues. His research methodology combines ethnographic fieldwork with archival analysis to trace religious movement through urban landscapes.