SJ Crasnow
Associate Professor of Theology and Religious Studies
College of Arts and Sciences
Arrupe Hall 232
Additional Positions
Dept Co-Chair
Degrees
Ph.D. Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside
M.A. Religious Studies, University of California, Riverside
M.Ed. Education, University of California, San Diego
Biography
S.J. Crasnow, Ph.D., is interested in the field of contemporary American religion, with an emphasis on Judaism. Their* work is particularly centered on the intersection of religion, gender and sexuality.
Crasnow regularly teaches courses on the religions of the world; Judaism; Islam; and religion, gender and sexuality.
They are currently at work on a book project that is tentatively titled "Envisioning a Queer Judaism: Negotiating Normativity and Innovating Tradition." This book relies on ethnographic work conducted over nearly two years, including 71 semi-structured interviews documenting the religious lives of queer and transgender (trans) Jews in Boston and Los Angeles.
The primary interest of this work is to explore how queer and trans Jews adapt their religious lives in response to the privileging of heterosexuality and cisgender (non-transgender) identity, or even homophobia/transphobia, in normative Judaism. Crasnow has also had an article published on Jewish ritual innovated by queer and transgender Jews in The Journal of Contemporary Religion.
*S.J. Crasnow's pronouns are they/them/theirs.
