Lilac Ramsey, a senior religion/philosophy and psychology double major from Wilson, North Carolina, won first place in an annual Theta Alpha Kappa (TAK) essay competition for their paper titled “Collective Tissue: Animals, Religion, and the Interwovenness of Theology.”
The honor, the Albert Clark Award, comes with a cash prize and publication of the essay in the “Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa.” TAK is the national honor society for religious studies and theology.
Ramsey’s paper is a version of their philosophy/religion capstone, which Dr. Dorothy Dean, associate professor of religion at Hastings College, advised last fall.
The paper originally started in response to an assignment in Dean’s “Animals and Religion” course a year ago, before being revived this past fall as a capstone and scholarly submission.
Ramsey described the project as an exploration of the elements that cause religion to be present in all animals. It touches on what Ramsey refers to as “collective tissue,” or the totality of mental and physical processes that allow for the existence of religion, and how this allows humans to read animals as a part of spirituality.
“It’s a prerequisite to animality,” Ramsey said.
Dean said Ramsey put in considerable effort for the paper, including restarting the Hastings College chapter of TAK to even submit it for consideration.
“I am extremely proud of all of Lilac’s hard work and persistence,” Dean said.
Ramsey will present the award-winning essay at 1:30 p.m. during Academic Showcase on Wednesday, April 29. The full schedule and details for the presentation, including two other presentations by Ramsey during the event, are available at hastings.edu/as.
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