People
Doctoral Students
| Ph.D. Doctoral Students | |
|---|---|
| Allen, Michael South Asia |
mallen@fas.harvard.edu |
| Amponsah, David African Religions |
amponsah@fas.harvard.edu |
| Anderson, Mary Theology and Aesthetics (English) |
anders@fas.harvard.edu |
| Angowski, Elizabeth Buddhism |
eangowski@hds.harvard.edu |
| Baker-Miller, Willa Blythe Buddhism |
wbaker@fas.harvard.edu |
| Benjamin, Amy Religion, Gender, and Culture |
abenjam@fas.harvard.edu |
| Block, Mara Theology |
mara.block@gmail.com |
| Butterfield, Margaret New Testament and Christian Origins |
mlbutter@fas.harvard.edu |
| Callahan, Chris Japanese Religions |
callahan@fas.harvard.edu |
| Charles, David American Religious History |
dcharles@fas.harvard.edu |
| Concannon, Cavan New Testament |
cconcann@fas.harvard.edu |
| Dankel, Tara Islam |
dankel@fas.harvard.edu |
| Dasgupta, Sutopa Religion and Society |
sdasgupt@fas.harvard.edu |
| Davis, Robert History of Christianity |
davis@fas.harvard.edu |
| De La Guardia, Jennifer History of Christianity |
jdelagua@fas.harvard.edu |
| Eltantawi, Sarah Islam |
eltantaw@fas.harvard.edu |
| Erdelack, Wesley Philosophy of Religion |
erdelack@fas.harvard.edu |
| Fifield, Justin Buddhism |
fifield@fas.harvard.edu |
| Friedlander, Nuri Islam |
friedlan@fas.harvard.edu |
| Gentry, James Buddhism |
jgentry@fas.harvard.edu |
| Goldstein, Elon South Asia |
goldst11@fas.harvard.edu |
| 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 |
| Jemison, Elizabeth History of Christianity | ejemison@fas.harvard.edu |
| Jyvasjarvi, Mari South Asia |
jyvasjar@fas.harvard.edu |
| Keel, Terence Religion and Society |
tkeel@fas.harvard.edu |
| Kermani, Z American Religious History |
kermani@fas.harvard.edu |
| Khan, Irfan Islam |
imkhan@fas.harvard.edu |
| Lee-Hood, Elizabeth Islam | leehood@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 |
| Lyons, Adam South Asian Religions | alyons@fas.harvard.edu |
| Monson, Elizabeth Buddhism |
elmonson@fas.harvard.edu |
| Moodie, Deonnie Hinduism |
dmoodie@fas.harvard.edu |
| Mueller, Max History of Christianity |
mpmuell@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 |
| Picascia, Rosanna Philosophy of Religion | picascia@fas.harvard.edu |
| Potts, Matthew Theology |
mpotts@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 |
| Reich, James Hinduism | jreich@fas.harvard.edu |
| Richardson, Kip History of Christianity | kip.richardson@gmail.com |
| Ritzinger, Justin Buddhism |
ritzing@fas.harvard.edu |
| Roantree, Bronwyn Religion and Society |
roantree@fas.harvard.edu |
| Roberts, Carolyn Religion, Gender, and Culture |
carolynroberts1@gmail.com |
| Sanchez, Michelle Theology | sanchez2@fas.harvard.edu |
| Schapiro, Joshua Buddhism |
schapiro@fas.harvard.edu |
| Singh, Harpreet South Asia |
singh@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 |
| Wagoner, Bryan Theology |
wagoner@fas.harvard.edu |
| Wesselhoeft, Kirsten Religion and Society | wesselh@fas.harvard.edu |
| Willard, Mara Religion and Society |
mwillard@fas.harvard.edu |
| Williams, Gerald Theology | geraldw@fas.harvard.edu |
| Th.D. Doctoral Students | |
|---|---|
| Aguilar, Maria History of Christianity |
maguilar@hds.harvard.edu |
| Bannon, Brad Comparative Religion, Hinduism-Christianity |
rbannon@hds.harvard.edu |
| Barros, Pearl Religion, Gender, Culture |
pbarros@hds.harvard.edu |
| Bayne, Brandon American Religious History |
bbayne@hds.harvard.edu |
| Bodley Dangelo, Faye Theology |
fbodleydangelo@hds.harvard.edu |
| Choi, Jung Hyun New Testament |
jchoi@hds.harvard.edu |
| Craig, Eleanor Religion and Society |
ecraig@hds.harvard.edu |
| Demos, Louis History of Christianity |
ldemos@hds.harvard.edu |
| Dinkler, Michal New Testament |
mdinkler@fas.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 |
| Grainger, Brett History of Christianity |
bgrainger@hds.harvard.edu |
| Hofheinz, Hannah Theology |
hannah@ladibug.org |
| Hokklotubbe, Thomas New Testament | thoklotubbe@hds.harvard.edu |
| Hutton, Nan Religion, Gender, Culture |
nhutton@hds.harvard.edu |
| Lesley, Michael Hebrew Bible | mlesley@hds.harvard.edu |
| Lim, Eunyung New Testament | elim@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 |
| Mata, Roberto New Testament |
rmata@hds.harvard.edu |
| May, Stephanie Religion, Gender, Culture |
smay@hds.harvard.edu |
| McClenahan, Ann Religion and Society |
abmcclenahan@mindspring.com |
| Nussberger, Mark Hebrew Bible |
mnussberger@hds.harvard.edu |
| Padilla, Carlos Ethics |
cpadilla@hds.harvard.edu |
| Park, Chan Sok New Testament |
cpark@hds.harvard.edu |
| Paulsen-Reed, Amy Hebrew Bible | apaulsenreed@hds.harvard.edu |
| Peter Dass, Rakesh Theology |
rpeterdass@hds.harvard.edu |
| Petrey, Taylor New Testament |
tpetrey@hds.harvard.edu |
| Robichaux, John Theology |
jrobichaux@hds.harvard.edu |
| Robinson, Ananda Comparative Religions |
arobinson@hds.harvard.edu |
| Shaner, Katherine Ann New Testament |
kshaner@hds.harvard.edu |
| Stanford, Ilene Religion, Gender, Culture |
istanford@hds.harvard.edu |
| Stevens, Travis History of Christianity | tstevens@hds.harvard.edu |
| Vlassidis, Maria Religion, Gender, Culture |
mvlassidis@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 |
| Yoder, Klaus Religion and Society | kyoder@hds.harvard.edu |
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.
James Gentry studies the religious traditions of South and East Asian Buddhism with a particular focus on ritual practice and theory in Tibetan Buddhism. His research involves an exploration of the theme of “protecting the doctrine” (bstan srung) in Tibetan Buddhist traditions through a study of the life and times of the Tibetan exorcist, doctrinal apologist, and physician Sog-bzlog-pa Blo-gros-rgyal-mtshan (1552-1624) and his guru Gter-ston Zhig-po-gling-pa (1524-1583). Other interests include Tibetan pilgrimage practices, the roles of Tibetan Buddhist rituals in mediating relationships between church and state, and the roles of mythic and historical narratives and ritual transactions in the sanctification of objects, architecture, and locales.
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.
Charlotte Harrison is writing a dissertation that explores questions of conscience, collective responsibility and governance in organ transplantation. As a student in Religion & Society, Charlotte is generally interested in the ethics of professional collaboration across moral cultures, as well as the respective roles of individual doctors, the public, and intermediate institutions (such as professional organizations and hospitals with particular normative commitments) in determining the ethics of medical practice. Her dissertation is informed by her current job as a hospital ethicist and her prior career in the law. In 2009-2010 she will be a student fellow in the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology and Bioethics at her alma mater, Harvard Law School.
Mari Jyvasjarvi is studying South Asian religions. Her research on the place of women in Indian renunciant traditions is culminating in a dissertation on the treatment of gender and its relationship to monastic practice in early medieval Buddhist and Jain monastic commentaries. Her other interests include South Asian religious ethics, debate and dialogue between religious traditions, commentarial literature, and the history of the body and bodily practices.
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 a 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.
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.
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 does Israelite and Christian studies in the Hellenistic-Roman Mediterranean. He is interested in religious identity formation and in the definitions and categories used in the comparative study of “religion.” Currently on a dissertation completion fellowship (2009–2010), Glenn is writing on the Acts of Paul. He has 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.
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.
George Gonzalez is working on a qualitative ethnography of two organizations, the first, a national consortium and roundtable of “spiritually informed” business leaders and the second, a member organization of the roundtable. Members of the roundtable work to articulate theological frameworks that can be practically applied by business practitioners in concrete business settings and gather together to engage in ritualized, guided reflection that brings sacred and literary texts and images to bear on business quandaries in the hopes of informing and improving executive and managerial decision making. Methodologically, George employs a combination of participant-observation and interviews and is informed by an abiding interest in the relationship between the phenomenological worlds of practice and the politics of storytelling and hopes to take this case study as an occasion for considering the particular ethical contributions the study of religion and academic theology might offer the growing discourse in business education and the business world about workplace spirituality or religion in the workplace. The ethnographic material is also taken as an opportunity to engage new debates about “post-secularism” and to explore the uses of “history” and the role of language in “spiritual reform”.
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).
Taylor Petrey, is interested in the history of the body, sexuality, and gender studies in the New Testament and Early Christianity. He is writing his dissertation on early Christian debates about the nature of the resurrected body in the end times. His other interests include martyrdom, Jewish-Christian relations, and religious identity formation. Taylor also is the Assistant Director of Undergraduate Studies in Religion.
John R. Robichaux (Religion and Society) specializes in contemporary Religion and Politics, with competencies in Modern Religious Thought, Theology, Ethics, and Political Theory. His work in Religion and Politics is centered around three loci: religion and political theory (incl. democracy, law, secularism, and religion in public moral-political discourse); religion and war, conflict and human rights (both religious approaches to human rights and religious and group rights); and theology and politics (incl. political, liberation, feminist and queer theologies). He also teaches U.S. religious history, 20th century Christian and Catholic thought, religion and modern literature, religion in Latin America, and hermeneutics. His non-Western work is in East Asian religions. In addition to his studies and teaching, he serves as an Assistant Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences' Summer School and as an editorial assistant for Harvard Theological Review.
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.