Richard Newton is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. His research interests include the anthropology of scriptures, the New Testament in Western imagination, African American intellectual history, identity politics, and pedagogy in Higher Education. A sought-after media commentator, his insights have been featured on National Public Radio, Penn Live, and other outlets. In addition to articles in top-flight academic journals and online popular essays, Newton is the author of Identifying Roots: Alex Haley and the Anthropology of Scriptures (Equinox 2020) and the founder of the online social media professional development network, Sowing the Seed: Fruitful Conversations in Religion Culture and Teaching (SowingTheSeed.org)