David Chidester

David Chidester (born 31 October 1952) is an American-born South African scholar of religion and emeritus professor of religious studies at the University of Cape Town (UCT). He is known for his work on comparative religion, African indigenous religions, American popular culture, and the history and theory of religious studies, often from postcolonial and materialist perspectives. He has authored or edited more than twenty books, including ''Salvation and Suicide'', ''Patterns of Transcendence'', ''Religions of South Africa'', ''Savage Systems'', ''Authentic Fakes'', ''Wild Religion'', ''Empire of Religion'', and ''Religion: Material Dynamics''.

Chidester has twice received the American Academy of Religion's Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, has been rated an "A"-rated researcher by South Africa's National Research Foundation, and has won UCT's Alan J. Pifer Award for social research and the UCT Book Award on more than one occasion. Provided by Wikipedia