Introducing IRH’s 2026–2027 Interim Director: Susan B. Ridgely
IRH is thrilled to announce that Susan B. Ridgely (Professor, Religious Studies, UW–Madison) will take over as Interim Director in 2026–2027. In this article, Sue tells about her own research, what she has planned for the Institute, and what excites her about her incoming role.
Sue arrived at UW–Madison in the fall of 2016 by way of UW–Oshkosh. Though already immersed in the Universities of Wisconsin system, she found UW–Madison to be a world of difference from her previous appointment. “It really has been a dream job,” Sue told us. Between having substantially more time to do research and contributing to the growth of Religious Studies, it’s safe to say that Sue is fulfilled by her role at the university.
At the same time, Religious Studies is relatively small, with only 4.5 faculty and 1 full-time teacher/advisor. So when the opportunity came along to direct the IRH for a year, Sue knew that she couldn’t pass it up. “Directing the IRH gives me the opportunity to move beyond the Religious Studies’ bubble and learn new ways of approaching questions from historians, philosophers, medievalists, and many others,” she explained. “Simultaneously, this position offers the chance to introduce Religious Studies’ interdisciplinary frameworks to scholars across the humanities.”
In fact, it was Religious Studies’ interdisciplinary nature that originally prompted Sue to study it as an undergraduate student. “I wanted to understand why groups of people could see the world so differently from each other,” she recalls. “Religious studies gave me the tools to analyze ideas about the afterlife in conversation with morality, economics, and much more.”
An accomplished and thoughtful scholar, Sue will serve as an excellent mentor and colleague to early-career fellows and Senior Fellows alike. Her third monograph, One True Church: An American Story of Race, Family, and Religion, was published with UNC Press this past March. The book offers an oral and archival history of an interracial, rural Catholic Parish in North Carolina. Currently, Sue is working on an article that explores how her ethnographic methods changed over the course of her three book projects between 1996 and 2026. She is also co-editing The Oxford Handbook on Children and Religion with Villanova’s Dana Lloyd.
It takes more than a history of scholarly achievement to be a good IRH Director, though. Just as important, if not more important, is a record of leadership experience. And leadership experience Sue has! She was previously on the L&S Curriculum Committee for three years, which she then chaired for another three years. These roles taught Sue what it takes to be a good leader, skills that she looks forward to bringing to the IRH. “Leading the Curriculum Committee through the COVID-19 pandemic and other difficult moments taught me the importance of transparency, honesty, building communities, and”—much to the delight of outgoing IRH Director Steven Nadler—”keeping meetings as short as possible.”
With over 40 fellows per year and 17 fellowship types, there’s a lot for the incoming Director to learn—especially when she will only be in the position for a year. Given these constraints, Sue is keeping her goals modest. “My main goal is to maintain the nurturing community of the IRH,” she said. “Letting fellows know in big and small ways that their research is valued and that they have a supportive place to focus on their work feels all the more important.” To this end, Sue is also interested in partnering with other campus groups to showcase the innovative work being done by IRH fellows.
IRH staff and the 2026–27 fellow cohort alike look forward to having someone as friendly and kind as Sue direct the Institute. Current and former fellows are encouraged to welcome her at susan.ridgely@wisc.edu.