Cults: A History

Anyone who has spent more than a minute stream-surfing knows that cults are having a moment right now. What accounts for the current spate of cult documentaries that treat everything from Jonestown to fast fashion? What’s the difference between being a cult leader and having a cult of personality? Just how does the notion of cults function for us, and what does our usage of the term tell us about ourselves?

This talk with cover a brief history and evolution of “cult” (a category that went from innocuous to incendiary in relatively short order) and will play some of the hits regarding groups that have received its rhetorical treatment. More broadly, we will discuss what its current connotations have to do with our everyday attempts at making meaning and imposing order on chaos. 

K. Merinda Simmons is a professor of religious studies at the University of Alabama and is the Vice President…