About the Host

I'm Mark Banas, creator and host of the YouTube channel TenOnReligion. I developed this channel because I’m fascinated with teaching people about religion. I like reading about and discussing a wide range of topics in the academic field of religion.

My main area of research is interreligious understanding. I also love the history of religion, philosophy of religion, and religion and the arts, while also dabbling in Continental philosophy. I have enjoyed teaching others about religion ever since I can remember (or at least since I started teaching religious studies courses at the community college level in 2005). I have taught at Mesa Community College and Chandler-Gilbert Community College in the Phoenix area, and Perimeter College at Georgia State University in the Atlanta area, teaching courses in religion, philosophy, and the humanities.

I've been a member of the American Academy of Religion since 2005 and have delivered multiple academic presentations at the regional and national level as well as publishing several journal articles relating to interreligious and intercultural understanding. I have a Ph. D. in Religion from Claremont Graduate University and completed an M. A. in Philosophy at California State University, Los Angeles in May 2021. (Yeah, I'm a little bit of a philosophy nerd too!)