Aaron Ketchell
Lecturer

Fields / Areas of Teaching:
Religion in America
Popular Religion
Sociology of Religion
Cultural Studies

Publications:
 Holy Hills of the Ozarks:  Religion and Tourism in Branson, Missouri (Baltimore, MD:  Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007)

“Hillbilly Heaven:  Tricksters and Tourism in the Southern Missouri Ozarks.”  In Dixie Emporium: Consumerism, Tourism, and Memory in the American South, ed. Anthony J. Stanonis.  Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, forthcoming 2008.

“‘I Would Much Rather See a Sermon than Hear One’:  Experiencing Faith at Silver Dollar City.” In The Business of Tourism:  Place, Faith, and History, eds. Philip Scranton and Jan Davidson, 109-136. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2006.

“These Hills Will Give You Great Treasure’:  Ozark Tourism and the Collapse of Sacred and Secular.” The CSSR (Council of Societies for the Study of Religion) Bulletin 32, no. 3 (2003):  73-80.             

"Contesting Tradition and Combating Intolerance:  A History of Freethought in Kansas.” Great Plains Quarterly 20, no. 4 (2000): 281-295.

"The Precious Moments Chapel:  Suffering, Salvation and the World's Most Popular Collectible." Journal of American Culture 22, no. 3 (1999): 27-33.

Recent Presentations:
“Religion and Popular Culture in the Ozarks” (respondent)—Midwest American Academy of Religion Conference, March, 2007, Dominican University, River Forest, IL

“Las Vegas without the Sin:  Values, Aesthetics, and Tourism in Branson, Missouri”—Far West Popular and American Culture Associations Conference, January, 2007, Las Vegas, NV

“‘Near Heaven’:  The Dynamics of Sacred Space in Branson, Missouri”—Interdisciplinary Scholars Initiative Conference, September 2005, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

“Theaters as Churches, Churches as Theaters: Religion and Recreation in Contemporary Branson, Missouri Tourism”—Missouri Conference on History, April, 2005, Northwest Missouri State University, Maryville, MO

“’I Would Much Rather See a Sermon than Hear One':  Consuming Faith at Silver Dollar City”—"Consuming Experiences: The Business and Technologies of Tourism" conference, November, 2004, Hagley Museum and Library, Wilmington, DE         

Grants/Awards:
Yetman Dissertation Prize in American Studies, University of Kansas, 2005
Louisville Institute Dissertation Fellowship, 2003-2004
American Culture Association Rollins-Shoenecke Travel Grant, 2003
State Historical Society of Missouri Richard S. Brownlee Research Award, 2002