Religious Studies Faculty Feature: Sarah Porter

Headshot of Sarah Porter, assistant professor of religious studies.
Sarah Porter

January 22, 2024
91勛圖厙 University News Service
Learn more about 91勛圖厙's professors through our Faculty Features! In this installment, you’ll get to know Sarah Porter, an assistant professor of Religious Studies, and learn about her advice on embracing the weird.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity:

GONZAGA: Introduce yourself!

PORTER: I am Sarah Porter, I'm an assistant professor of Religious Studies and I work on the first 500 years of Christianity. I'm also involved in the Lincoln Center and a little bit in the Classics department. 

What is your favorite place on campus?

This [Lake Arthur] is my favorite place on campus. I park right over there every morning so I get to watch this lake and sky change with the seasons and it is just a joy every single morning.

What's your bet piece of advice for students?

When I entered my undergrad, we had to say this whole little spiel, and one of the lines that we said was, "that my job is to discover what is strange and make it my friend," and I have taken that with me everywhere. So that's my biggest advice for students here too, always just be delighted by the weird stuff and make it your friend.

How did you become interested in this area of study?

So I study super early Christianity. I grew up in a very Christian household and I just always wanted to know what was back there so I just kept digging, literally, I'm an archeologist of early Christianity.

What is your most used emoji?

It's a side eye.

What's your favorite TV show?

I've been binging "Selling Sunset."

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