How can we foster a more inclusive, responsible, and communicative future? What if illustrated scholarship is one way to get there?
“A Universe of Terms” first appeared as a multimedia project at The Immanent Frame, published in 2019-2020. Mona Oraby and Emilie Flamme transformed a select number of text-based contributions to that project into a graphic nonfiction book. Organized around eight terms central to the study of religion, A Universe of Terms: Religion in Visual Metaphor proposes an alternative form for scholarly communication. Beautifully illustrated and inspired by a range of media from graphic novels to podcasts, A Universe of Terms is a visual experiment, one that invites readers to think again and anew about how the visual is integral to thought.
Reviews
“Oraby and Flamme invite readers into an impressive, courageous, and innovative experiment in communicative arts, an interpretive work of political action, a wager at broader engagement for important ideas raised in expertly curated words and equally scintillating images. A Universe of Terms ushers into perceptible shape a series of interconnected propositions; it threads these together to create space for expansive imaginings. This hefty contribution is a brilliant object for study and thought.”
—Sally M. Promey, Yale University
“In this genre-bending work of art, words and images morph in ways that free the reader’s imagination to think and write differently. Mona Oraby, Emilie Flamme, and their ghostwriters create the kind of visionary experimentation and innovation that are sorely lacking, but very much needed both within and beyond the academy today.”
—Mark C. Taylor, Columbia University
“A Universe of Terms encourages readers to reconsider the conventions that have served to inform what we see and how we communicate the social sciences and humanities. And, in the process, it supports new and unconventional ways of thinking, communicating, and engaging. This is a creative and important project that opens much needed space for reimagining academic language and knowledge.”
—Anthony B. Pinn, author of Interplay of Things: Religion, Art, and Presence Together