Committee on the Study of Religion

People

Doctoral Students

Ph.D. Doctoral Students
Allen, Michael South Asia	mallen@fas.harvard.edu
Anderson, Mary Theology and Aesthetics (English)	anders@fas.harvard.edu
Aviv, Eyal Chinese Religions	aviv@fas.harvard.edu
Bain, Katherine New Testament	bain@fas.harvard.edu
Baker-Miller, Willa Blythe Buddhism	wbaker@fas.harvard.edu
Blair, Heather Japanese Religions	hblair@fas.harvard.edu
Braun, Erik Buddhism	ebraun@fas.harvard.edu
Callahan, Chris Japanese Religions	callahan@fas.harvard.edu
Cann, Candi Christianity / Chinese Religions	cann@fas.harvard.edu
Charles, David American Religious History	dcharles@fas.harvard.edu
Clower, Jason Buddhism	clower@fas.harvard.edu
Concannon, Cavan New Testament	cconcann@fas.harvard.edu
Corley Dunn, Mary History of Christianity	mcorley@fas.harvard.edu
Dalrymple, Timothy Theology	dalrympl@fas.harvard.edu
Davis, Robert History of Christianity	davis@fas.harvard.edu
Dankel, Tara Islam	dankel@fas.harvard.edu
Dasgupta, Sutopa Religion and Society	sutopad@gmail.com
Eltantawi, Sarah Islam	eltantaw@fas.harvard.edu
Erdelack, Wesley Philosophy of Religion	erdelack@fas.harvard.edu
Fisher, Ken New Testament	fisher@fas.harvard.edu
Friedlander, Nuri Islam	friedlan@fas.harvard.edu
Gentry, James Buddhism	jgentry@fas.harvard.edu
Goldstein, Elon South Asia	elongold@earthlink.net
Gordan, Rachel American Religious History	rgordan@fas.harvard.edu
Gower, Margaret Theology	mgower@fas.harvard.edu
Harrison, Charlotte Religion and Society	chharris@fas.harvard.edu
Haxby, Mikael New Testament	haxby@fas.harvard.edu
Held, Shai Judaism	shaiheld@yahoo.com
Jyvasjarvi, Mari South Asia	jyvasjar@fas.harvard.edu
Keel, Terence Religion and Society	tkeel@fas.harvard.edu
Keng, Ching Chinese Religions	keng@fas.harvard.edu
Kermani, Z American Religious History	kermani@fas.harvard.edu
Lenk, Marcie New Testament	lenk@fas.harvard.edu
Lipnick, Jonathan Judaism / Christianity	jlipnick@fas.harvard.edu
Lobel, Adam Buddhism	alobel@fas.harvard.edu
Lockwood, Charles Religion and Society	clockw@fas.harvard.edu
Matus, Zachary History of Christianity	matus@fas.harvard.edu
Miller, Anna New Testament	acmiller@fas.harvard.edu
Monson, Elizabeth Buddhism	elmonson@fas.harvard.edu
Mulyadi, Sukidi Islam	smulyadi@fas.harvard.edu
Murphy, Regan Japanese Religions	rmurphy@fas.harvard.edu
Nair, Shankar South Asia	snair@fas.harvard.edu
Omer, Atalia Religion and Society	omer@fas.harvard.edu
Overbey, Ryan Buddhism	overbey@fas.harvard.edu
Page, Tovis Religion, Gender, Culture	tpage@fas.harvard.edu
Premawardhana, Devaka Theology	premawar@fas.harvard.edu
Reed, Julia Religion, Gender and Culture	jmreed@fas.harvard.edu
Regan, Julie Religion, Gender, Culture / Buddhism	jregan@fas.harvard.edu
Ritzinger, Justin Buddhism	ritzing@fas.harvard.edu
Roantree, Bronwyn Religion and Society	roantree@fas.harvard.edu
Schapiro, Joshua Buddhism	schapiro@fas.harvard.edu
Scott, Mark Theology	msscott@fas.harvard.edu
Seitz, John American Religious History	jseitz@fas.harvard.edu
Singh, Harpreet South Asia	singh@fas.harvard.edu
Skorburg, Raleigh Philosophy of Religion	skorburg@fas.harvard.edu
Smith, Justine New Testament	smith12@fas.harvard.edu
Smith, Rachel History of Christianity	rjdsmith@fas.harvard.edu
Snyder, Glenn New Testament	gsnyder@fas.harvard.edu
Stevenson, Margaret New Testament	mstevens@fas.harvard.edu
Tatta, Yukie Islam	ytatsuta@fas.harvard.edu
Teng, Weijen Buddhism	teng@fas.harvard.edu
Thorpe, Tracy Religion and Archaeology	thorpe@fas.harvard.edu
Wagner, Alan Chinese Buddhism	agwagner@fas.harvard.edu
Wagoner, Bryan Theology	wagoner@fas.harvard.edu
Weimer, Adrian American Religious History	weimer@fas.harvard.edu
Willard, Mara Religion and Society	mwillard@fas.harvard.edu

Th.D. Doctoral Students
Aguilar, Maria History of Christianity	maguilar@hds.harvard.edu
Bayne, Brandon American Religious History	bbayne@hds.harvard.edu
Bodley Dangelo, Faye Theology	fbodleydangelo@hds.harvard.edu
Chang, Peter Comparative Religions	pchang@hds.harvard.edu
Choi, Jung Hyun New Testament	jchoi@hds.harvard.edu
Daniel-Hughes, Carly New Testament	brandoncarlyhughes@earthlink.net
Demos, Louis History of Christianity	ldemos@hds.harvard.edu
Dinkler, Michal New Testament	mdinkler@fas.harvard.edu
Ellison, Linda Religion, Gender, Culture	lellison@hds.harvard.edu
Fisher, Linford American Religious History	lfisher@hds.harvard.edu
Francis, Philip Theology	pfrancis@hds.harvard.edu
Garcia Eveloff, Katrina Religion, Gender, Culture	kgarciaeveloff@hds.harvard.edu
Gish, Elizabeth Religion, Gender, Culture	egish@hds.harvard.edu
Gonzalez, George Religion and Society	ggonzalez@hds.harvard.edu
Hinkle, Christopher Theology	chinkle@hds.harvard.edu
Hofheinz, Hannah Theology	hannah@ladibug.org
Hutton, Nan Religion, Gender, Culture	nhutton@hds.harvard.edu
Ittzes, Gabor Theology	gittzes@hds.harvard.edu
Jones Farmer, Tamsin Theology	tjonesfarmer@hds.harvard.edu
Kantor, Mary Religion and Society	mkantor@hds.harvard.edu
Kim, David Y. Ethics	dykim@hds.harvard.edu
Kim, Joseph New Testament	jkim@hds.harvard.edu
Landau, Brent New Testament	blandau@hds.harvard.edu
Lee, Simon New Testament	shlee@hds.harvard.edu
Loustau, Marc Religion and Society	mloustau@hds.harvard.edu
Malysz, Piotr Theology	pmalysz@hds.harvard.edu
Marin, Juan History of Christianity	jmarin@hds.harvard.edu
May, Stephanie Religion, Gender, Culture	smay@hds.harvard.edu
McClenahan, Ann Religion and Society	abmcclenahan@mindspring.com
McInroy, Mark Theology	mmcinroy@hds.harvard.edu
Moore, Brenna Religion and Society	bmoore@hds.harvard.edu
Nussberger, Mark Hebrew Bible	mnussberger@hds.harvard.edu
Nkhoma, Jonathan New Testament	jnkhoma@hds.harvard.edu
Padilla, Carlos Ethics	cpadilla@hds.harvard.edu
Park, Chan Sok New Testament	cpark@hds.harvard.edu
Partridge, Cameron Religion, Gender, Culture	cpartridge@hds.harvard.edu
Petrey, Taylor New Testament	tpetrey@hds.harvard.edu
Rice, Christian Ethics	crice@hds.harvard.edu
Robichaux, John Theology	jrobichaux@hds.harvard.edu
Robinson, Ananda Comparative Religions	arobinson@hds.harvard.edu
Sentilles, Sarah Theology	ssentilles@hds.harvard.edu
Shaner, Katherine Ann New Testament	kshaner@hds.harvard.edu
St. Hilaire, Robert Theology	rsthilaire@hds.harvard.edu
Stanford, Ilene Religion, Gender, Culture	istanford@hds.harvard.edu
Stang, Charles Theology	cstang@hds.harvard.edu
Vlassidis, Maria Religion, Gender, Culture	cvlassidis@hds.harvard.edu
Wetzel, Tom Hebrew Bible	twetzel@hds.harvard.edu
Whitley, John Brooks Hebrew Bible	jwhitley@hds.harvard.edu
Widmann, Danielle Comparative Religions	daniellea@gmail.com

Ph.D. Student Profiles

Willa Blythe Baker-Miller studies Tibetan Buddhism. Her specific interests include biographical, autobiographical, commentarial, liturgical, and meditative literature and traditions in pre-modern Tibet. She is currently researching humor, parody and irony in Tibetan religious literature in preperation for a dissertation focusing on the autobiography of the enigmatic 16th century Tibetan saint Drukpa Kunley.

David Charles came to Harvard from Oxford University, where he obtained degrees in social anthropology and religious studies. His interests range from film studies to the history of the study of religion to the religious lives of twentieth-century tyrants. He is currently researching the anthropology of reading sacred texts.

Rachel Gordan’s research in American religious history focuses on American Jewish history, and her dissertation examines post-World War II American Judaism. Rachel graduated from Yale College with distinction in the American Studies major, and earned an MAR in American religious history from Yale Divinity School. She grew up in Massachusetts and currently lives in Cambridge.

Mari Jyvasjarvi is studying South Asian religions, primarily Indian Buddhism and Hinduism. Her research interests center on the history of monastic and ascetic traditions on the Indian subcontinent, particularly as they pertain to issues of women and gender and the “gendering” of renunciation and religious authority. Among her other interests and guiding themes are religious narrative and debate, ethics, bodily practices and disciplines, religion and sexuality. She is also an eternal student of Indian languages and literatures, particularly Sanskrit.

Ching Keng’s main interest lies in the interface between Indian and Chinese thought, as exemplified in the transmission of Buddhism from Indian to China. His dissertation will focus on Paramārtha (Jendi, AD 499–569), an Indian monk who came to China and translated several Yogācāra Buddhist texts from Sanskrit to Chinese. He will use Paramārtha as an example to explore the extent and mechanism of the so-called “Sinification of Buddhism.” He is also interested in Buddhist philosophy in general, especially Buddhist theory of epistemology. Ching now lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, who is a Ph.D student in Greek philosophy.

Z Kermani studies North American religions, focusing particularly on New Religious Movements, 19th and 20th century alternative religions, and contemporary American Paganism. She is currently living in California and writing her dissertation, an ethnographic study of American Pagan family values and Pagan children's participation in their religion. Additional research interests include gender and religion, children’s spirituality and religious practice, and the history of magic and witchcraft. She holds a B.A. in Religious Studies from Youngstown State University and an M.A. in Phenomenology of Religion from the Graduate Theological Union.

Jonathan Lipnick is a student of Judaism and Christianity in late antiquity. Specifically, his focus is rabbinic and patristic literature composed in the urban centers of Palestine in the 3rd-7th centuries CE. Broadly, he is interested in the impact of interreligious polemic on the development of holy sites, the institution of pilgrimage, liturgy and popular religion. He has written on the themes of martyrdom and biblical exegesis in Talmudic and early Christian texts. Jonathan holds a BA from Indiana University and an MA from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Zachary Matus studies Christian traditions of the Latin West in the medieval and late antique epochs. His primary research interests include heresy, apocalypticism, and the relationships between the religious life of women and the Franciscan and Domincan orders. Zachary is currently in Rome where he is researching his dissertation, which examines the intersection of madness, prophecy, and gender in the context of inquisitorial culture. He earned his MTS from Harvard Divinity School and a BA in Sociology from Johns Hopkins.

Atalia Omer works on questions of religion and society in the modern west as a historical and theoretical complex. Her doctoral work consists of identifying the historical and contemporary interplay between, on the one hand, nationalism or the idea of the “nation” and, on the other, religion or the religious cultural resources and particularities reflective in diffrent nationalisms and conceptions of citizenship in the modern world. In particular, she focuses on the complex role of religion as it has transpired in the context of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. In 2000, she graduated with honors from the University of California in Santa Barbara, California where she earned a bachelor degree in Islamic and Near Eastern Studies. In 2002, she earned a MTS degree from Harvard Divinity School. Subsequently, Atalia was a doctoral fellow at the Center for the Study of World Religions in Harvard University from September 2002 till June 2004.

Ryan Richard Overbey studies the origins and development of Buddhist magical spells (dhāraṇī, mantra, and vidyā) in India and their diffusion through Central Asia and China. He is currently researching the 20-fascicle spells of Jinagupta (523–600), a Gandhāran monk responsible for translating many volumes of Buddhist texts into Chinese during the Suí Dynasty. Research interests also include the historical pragmatics of magical and ritual texts, esoteric magical and philosophical traditions in the Near East and Europe, the origins and diffusion of magical practices through the ancient world, and the implications of magical practices and rituals for the study of the history and for the study of religion.

Tovis Page, PhD student in the Religion, Gender, and Culture program, studies the intersections between religion (primarily Christianity), gender, and the environment in the United States. Her dissertation examines the interplay between Christianity (especially Roman Catholic), gender, and nature in back-to-the-land and environmentalist movements in the United States during the twentieth century. The dissertation looks closely at changing conceptions of the “religion-woman-land” nexus in the National Catholic Rural Life Conference, the United States Grail, the emerging Sisters of Earth movement, and ecofeminist philosophy and theology. In addition to her dissertation research, Tovis has studied contemporary grassroots projects in religion and ecology in her role as a research associate for the Forum on Religion and Ecology. Tovis received her B.A. in English and Government at Skidmore College and her M.T.S. at Harvard Divinity School.

Julie Regan is interested in the relationship between imaginative literary works and bodily practices in Asian religion, and in related theory and practice in Euro-American traditions that problematize notions of the subject, the body, gender and sexuality. Her area of specialization is Tibetan Buddhist poetic and narrative literature, though she is more generally interested in questions of world literature and religion.

Justin R. Ritzinger is a fifth year Ph.D. student in Chinese Buddhism. He is currently pursuing dissertation research in Taiwan and China. His dissertation deals with issues of tradition and modernity in the reinvention of the cult of Maitreya among the reformist faction in 20th and 21st century Chinese and Taiwanese Buddhism. Other interests include popular Chinese religion, Chinese Buddhist mummies, Chinese religious pluralism, and religion and film.

Bronwyn Roantree is a first year student in Religion and Society. Her interests include the proper role of religion in public life, particularly with regard to questions of the relationship between religious claims and human rights claims.

Mark Scott is a fifth year PhD Candidate in the Study of Religion, specializing in systematic and historical theology, particularly patristic theology. He is completing his dissertation entitled: “Cosmic Theodicy: Origen on the Problem of Evil.” He hails from Barrie, Ontario, Canada. Mark holds a B.A. (Honours) from McMaster University (Religious Studies), a M.A.R. (Theology) from Yale Divinity School, and an A.M. from Harvard University.

John Seitz studies religions in North America. His dissertation is an ethnographic and historical study of Catholics in the Boston Archdiocese. The project tracks in detail the recent “reconfiguration” with particular attention to the practices of resistance regarding particular parish and school closures. Thematic considerations include obedience and religious authority, Catholic material and devotional life, and human responses to loss. Additional research interests include immigrant religious life in the Colorado mining camps of the early twentieth century. John grew up in Colorado, did his undergraduate work in religious studies at the University of Colorado, and earned an MTS at Harvard Divinity School.

Harpreet Singh’s research traces the formation and articulation of religious identities in South Asia. He is interested in the grammar of interaction among various strands of thought that gave rise to many distinct religious communities employing a shared vocabulary. His project aims to trace the nature of interaction among languages and literary cultures in the development of these religions in South Asia. His research allows for comparative study pursued through reading devotional and philosophical texts in a number of original languages: Punjabi, Braj, Sanskrit, Hindi-Urdu, Persian and Arabic. Harpreet co-founded the Sikh Coalition (www.sikhcoalition.org) in the aftermath of September 11, 2001 attacks. Harpreet received the Bachelor of Science degree in Computer and Systems Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned the Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School.

Glenn Snyder studies the Judaisms, Christianities, and philosophies of the Hellenistic-Roman world. He is interested in “religious” identity and thus in the definitions, categories, and classifications used in the study of “religion.” He is currently researching second- and third-century deployments of apostolic authority in a dissertation titled “The Apostle’s Authority: Traditions in the Acts of Paul.” He holds a B.A. from Indiana University, an M.A.R. from Yale University, and an A.M. from Harvard University.

Wei-Jen Teng: My special field of study is the Buddhist thought of the Theravāda and Sarvāstivāda schools, and more recently the Buddhism in medieval China. My current research is about medieval Chinese Buddhist scholastic/commentarial practices, such as exegesis, hermeneutics, apologetics and translation of Indic Buddhist texts to Chinese. Research interests also include issues related to religious diversity and inter/intra-religious dialogue.

Alan G. Wagner: My field is premodern Chinese Buddhism, with an emphasis on doctrinal and philosophical issues in a comparative perspective. I am currently planning a dissertation on the writings of Yan Bing, a lay Buddhist literatus from the late 12th – early 13th centuries.

Adrian Weimer Adrian Weimer is currently writing a dissertation on martyrdom in the historical imaginations of seventeenth-century English Protestants. The project explores the devotional and political uses of narratives of persecution and bodily suffering in puritan, Quaker, Baptist, and Native American contexts. She is also interested in asceticism, religion and literature, and contemporary religion and public life. Adrian received her undergraduate degree in English and Religion from Wake Forest University, and her M.A. in Church History from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Mara Willard studies religion and society in the modern West. Her dissertation research focuses on Hannah Arendt’s use of theological concepts and religious practices in her political-philosophical critiques of totalitarianism. Mara’s interests in the interstices of modern religious and political thought relate such issues as: religion and modernity, the relationship among philosophy, literature and religion, violence and its (given) justifications, ethics, and feminist thought and female experience.

Th.D. Student Profiles

Brandon Bayne is a doctoral student in the history of religion in North America. In broad terms, his work focuses on European and native encounters within the “contact zones” of colonial North America. More specifically, he is looking at the construction and contestation of categories like idolatry, martyrdom, and just war in Catholic missionary enterprises on the northern frontiers of colonial New Spain (Mexico/American Southwest). Other fields of interest include cultural geography, contemporary Global Christianity, Latin American religion, and American Pentecostalism and Evangelicalism.

Louis Demos is a doctoral student in the History of Christianity program. For his dissertation, he is translating and providing commentary on Eustratios of Constantinople’s De statu animarum post mortem, a sixth-century treatise arguing for the afterlife activities of the soul and the saints. His research interests include the history, theological thought and cultural contexts of late antique and Byzantine Christianity; Greek and Latin literature; textual criticism; paleography; Classical archaeology; Byzantine iconography; and Byzantine literature, particularly hagiographic texts, poetry and the novel.

Tamsin Jones Farmer is a doctoral candidate in Theology. She has focussed her research in two different arenas: continental philosophy and phenomenology, on the one hand, and patristic and systematic theology, on the other. Questions of apophaticism, desire and subjectivity are the primary themes occupying her research. She is currently writing a dissertation entitled “Apparent Darkness: Jean-Luc Marion’s Retrieval of the Greek Apophatic Tradition”.

Linford D. Fisher’s general area of study is the history of religion in America. His dissertation, entitled “The Politics of Conversion: Native Agency, Religious Change, and Race in Southern New England, 1736–1776,” is a focused study of the broader cultural and religious changes among Native communities in southern New England in the eighteenth century, between the Great Awakening and the American Revolution.

George Gonzalez is working on a dissertation on corporate spirituality and is interested in the ways in which religious practice and material life are intertwined. George uses the cultural history of religion, philosophy of religion, democratic theory and ritual theory to approach and historicize contemporary questions in religion and society especially as all of these have played a role in constructing ideas of self and other and in mediating intersubjective relationships. He plans to incorporate ethnographic method into his research project.

Brent Landau is a Doctor of Theology candidate in New Testament and Early Christianity. He is also currently the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies for the Committee on the Study of Religion. His dissertation is a translation and analysis of the Revelation of the Magi, an ancient Christian apocryphal writing about the Magi from the Gospel of Matthew. His interests include Jewish and Christian noncanonical works, ancient accounts and explanations of natural disasters, the literature and communities of Syriac Christianity, Luke/Acts, the Gospel of John, and the Book of Revelation.

Juan Miguel Marin (History of Christianity) Juan Miguel's research revolves around Roman Catholic spirituality, especially Jesuit mystical theology. Other topics of interest include Latino devotional practices, women's history, philosophy of religion and ministry studies. Originally from Puerto Rico he attended Tufts University and later Harvard, from which he received his MTS and MDiv degrees.

Stephanie May studies Religion, Gender, and Culture. She is particularly interested in the relationship between Christianity and family structures in contemporary U.S. society. Currently, she is preparing to begin writing a dissertation exploring the rhetoric of “home” in the Christian tradition. She has also done extensive work on single mothers in the Christian church and contemporary society. Additionally, Stephanie works as managing editor of The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. Before Harvard, she completed a MDiv at Princeton Theological Seminary and BA in Philosophy at Wheaton College, IL.

Ann McClenahan is currently researching and writing her dissertation on the impact of political engagement on congregations and people of faith. As a participant-observer, she is exploring the ways in which Industrial Area Foundation (IAF) narratives, rituals, and organizational practices of civil engagement influence the religious narratives, rituals, and organizational practices of eight Christian and Jewish congregations which are member’s of the IAF’s Greater Boston Interfaith Organization. This case study intends to contribute to the analysis of contemporary IAF organizations from the perspective of both Religious Studies and Sociology (in its sub-fields of religion, culture, and social movements).

Brenna Moore is a student in Religion and Society, and studies modern Christian thought from the 16th to the 20th centuries, primarily focusing on Roman Catholicism in Europe. Her work is oriented towards the relation between theological ideas and their contexts, and she has theoretical interests concerning the spiritual, moral and political formation of the self, gender, and the category of modernity. She is beginning to prepare for a dissertation examining the “Catholic revival” among intellectuals in France in the 1930s. Brenna grew up in Michigan, did her undergraduate work in religious studies at the University of Colorado, and her M.Div at Harvard Divinity School.

Jonathan Nkhoma received his first BA in 1995 from African Bible College (Malawi). After three years of secondary school teaching, he went to study at the University of Malawi where he obtained another BA in 2000 and MA in 2001. For five years he taught New Testament at Mzuzu University, Malawi. Jonathan came to Harvard to explore how literary-critical theories that have evolved over the past thirty or forty years inform our understanding of the gospel texts in general, and the image of Jesus portrayed in them in particular. His research interests also include the relationship of Jesus to contemporary Judaism and Christian rhetoric in the early Church. Jonathan comes from Malawi, Southern Africa.

Taylor Petrey, Th.D. 4th year. My concentration is in New Testament and Early Christianity. I am interested in issues of interpretation, gender, identity formation, and practice. My dissertation research is about early Christian debates concerning the nature of the resurrected body.

Katherine Shaner, Th.D. 2 New Testament and Early Christianity. Katherine’s interests include the rhetorical creation and use of ethnic identities in early Christian communities, slavery in antiquity, and archaeology. She has secret side interests in late 19th century American religious life and contemporary democratic theory.

Ilene Stanford is a doctoral candidate in Religion, Gender and Culture. Her research interests are primarily focused on issues related to religion and public life. She is currently researching and writing a dissertation entitled, “The Rhetoric of Marriage: A critical analysis of gender and sexuality in theological discourses on marriage.” This dissertation critically analyzes the theological rhetoric of marriage as it has been deployed in the public discourses on same sex marriage; and explores elements of an alternative theological construction of marriage and its political ethics for seeking justice within a pluralistic democratic society. Ilene earned a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Oregon State University, a M.Div. from University of Notre Dame, and a Th.M. from Harvard Divinity School.

Harvard University: Committee on the Study of Religion

People

Doctoral Students

Ph.D. Student Profiles

Th.D. Student Profiles