Stories about "identity terms"
Religion professor receives NEH grant for 'identity terms' research

Tuesday, January 26, 2010 12:00 am

"Identity terms" are the words that people use to affiliate themselves and others with particular groups — ethnic, racial, religious, social and so on. Cynthia Baker, associate professor of religious studies at Bates, recently received $50,400 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to support her research into one of history's most fraught identity terms: "Jew," a word that can convey praise, pride, prejudice or pure description.