Faculty & Staff

Lynn Davidman

The Robert M. Beren Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Studies

Office: 105 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 864-7255
e-mail address: lynndavidman@ku.edu

Sociology of Religion, Modern Jewish Studies, Women and Gender

Link to her Fall 2008 Course: Ethnography of Religious Communities

We are delighted to announce that, in the Fall semester of 2008, Lynn Davidman will join the departments of Religious Studies and Sociology as the Beren Distinguished Professor of Modern Jewish Studies. Lynn received her doctorate from Brandeis University in 1986. She has published three books with major university presses: "Tradition in a Rootless World" (University of California Press, 1991), which won a National Jewish Book Award; "Motherloss" (University of Calif Press, 2000); and "Feminist Perspectives in Jewish Studies" (Yale, 2004), co-edited with Shelly Tenenbaum. Her research has appeared in a variety of prestigious journals such as Sociology of Religion and Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Lynn serves on the advisory board of the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University and is a member of the editorial board for Qualitative Sociology. She comes to KU from Brown University, where she has been a professor of Judaic studies, American civilization and gender studies.

Joseph E. Steinmetz, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, praises Lynn Davidman as "a foremost scholar in modern Jewish studies whose work intersects the disciplines of sociology, religious studies, Jewish studies, women and gender studies, and race, religion and ethnicity." She brings her skills and enthusiasm to the rapidly expanding program in Jewish Studies at KU. And as a colleague in the departments of Religious Studies and Sociology, her vision will be instrumental to the development of transdisciplinary tracks in sociology of religion, women and gender at the graduate and undergraduate levels.

Sergey Dolgopolski
Assistant Professor

Office: 106 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-5568
e-mail address: sdolgopolsky@gmail.com
Web site: http://www.people.ku.edu/~sbd

Jewish Studies, Talmud, Interpretation, and Jewish Thought both classical and contemporary

Sergey Dolgopolski holds a Joint Ph.D. in Jewish Studies from UC Berkeley and Graduate Theological Union (2004), and the degree of Doctor of Philosophical Sciences from the Russian Academy of Sciences (1999). He specializes in the Talmud, Interpretation, and Jewish Thought and philosophy both classical and contemporary. He authored a monograph Rhetoric of the Talmud in the View of Post-Structuralism (1998, St-Petersburg and Jerusalem, in Russian). His book What is Talmud? The Art of Disagreement is forthcoming with the Fordham University Press in the Fall 2008. He is currently working on a new book-length project tentatively titled Talmud, Philosophy, Virtuality, also under a contract with Fordham University Press researching epistemological shifts between the Babylonian Talmud in Late Antiquity and its reception in the Talmudic methodology of 15th century in light of contemporary controversy about the digital virtual. He came to KU Lawrence as an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies in the Fall 2006. He had previously taught Jewish Studies at UC Davis, University of San Francisco, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, and conducted research in Jewish Studies as Mellon Postdoctoral Researcher and Lecturer at UC Berkeley.

His more general area of interest is in the relationship between religion the Talmud (both as a book and as an intellectual discipline of its learning) and contemporary religious thought.

Aaron Ketchell
Lecturer

Office: 203 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-4609
e-mail address: aketch@ku.edu
More info: link

Religion in America, Popular Religion, Sociology of Religion, Cultural Studies

Link to his Fall 2008 Course: REL 339 History of Religion in America

William R. Lindsey
Assistant Professor
Undergraduate Director

Office: 9 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-5582
e-mail address: brl@ku.edu

Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh, 2002

Religion in Japan; Popular religious expression and ritual in the Tokugawa period

Joining the department in the fall of 2002 as the Japan specialist, Lindsey has undertaken and created courses on various aspects of religion in Japan ranging from its historical formation to focused examinations of religious nationalism and shamanism. His research interests lie in studies of popular religious expression and ritual in the Tokugawa period. Currently he is in Japan preparing publications in both English and Japanese as a research fellow at the Institute for the Study of Cultural History of Everyday Life in Japan (Nihon Jomin Bunka Kenkyu-jo), which is centered at Kanagawa University in Yokohama. He will return to Lawrence for the 2006 fall term.

Timothy Miller
Professor

Office: 11 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-7263
e-mail address: tkansas@ku.edu
More info: link

Ph.D., University of Kansas, 1973

History of American Religions; Intentional Communities and Alternative Religions

Robert N. Minor
Professor

Office: 202 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-7264
e-mail address: rminor@ku.edu
Web site: http://www.people.ku.edu/~rminor/

Ph.D., University of Iowa, 1975

South Asian Religions; History of Religions Methodology; Religion and Gender

Robert N. Minor teaches religion in South Asia, methodology, and religion and gender. He holds the Ph.D. from the University of Iowa and has done research in India,Japan, Taiwan, the Near East, and Europe. Besides his interest in history of religions methodology, he concentrates on Indian religious thought and texts, and religion and gender. Among his publications are numerous articles and eight books, three of which were published both in the United States and India: Sri Aurobindo: The Perfect and the Good; Bhagavadgita: An Exegetical Commentary and Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavadgita. His recent books include The Religious, the Spiritual, and the Secular: Auroville and Secular India (SUNY Press), Scared Straight: Why It's So Hard to Accept Gay People and Why It's So Hard to be Human (HumanityWorks!) and When Religion Is an Addiction (HumanityWorks!).

Paul Mirecki
Associate Professor

Office: 205 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-7252
e-mail address: pmirecki@ku.edu
More info: link

Th.D., Harvard University, 1986

Ancient Mediterranean religions, languages, and archaeology; Greek and Coptic papyrology.

Mark Nanos
Lecturer

Office: 203 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-4609
e-mail address: nanosm@ku.edu
Web site: http://www.marknanos.com/

Ph.D., University of St. Andrews, Scotland, 2000

Robert Shelton
Associate Professor

Office: 104 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-4665
e-mail address: rshelton@ku.edu
More info: link

Ph.D., Boston University, 1970

Religious Ethics; Peace and Conflict Studies; Religious Ethical Issues in Health Care;

Daniel B. Stevenson
Associate Professor

Office: 204 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-7258
e-mail address: dbsteve@ku.edu
More info: link
Curriculum Vitae (.pdf)

Ph.D., Columbia University, 1987

Buddhism in China (concentration in institutions, ritual, and literary traditions of Tiantai and Pure Land traditions)

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Geetanjali Tiwari
Hindi Language Lecturer

Office: 203 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-4609
e-mail address: gtiwari@ku.edu

Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University 2001

Cultural Anthropology

Sherryl L. Wright
Lecturer

Office: 203 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-4609
e-mail address: swright@ku.edu
More info: link

Ph.D., University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology, 2002

Religion and Legal Issues in U.S. History

Molly Zahn
Lecturer

Office: 203 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-4609
e-mail address: mzahn@ku.edu

Ph.D., University of Notre Dame, 2009

Molly Zahn's dissertation focuses on the interpretation of the Pentateuch in the Dead Sea Scrolls. She has published articles on the Temple Scroll and other Qumran texts that rewrite the Pentateuch, as well as on the composition of Exodus 13. Her interests include pentateuchal theory and perceptions of scripture and scriptural authority in early Judaism and Christianity.

Paul Zimdars-Swartz
Lecturer

Office: 5 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/864-3187
e-mail address: paulzs@ku.edu
Moreinfo: link

Ph.D., Claremont Graduate School, 1977

19th Century German Theology & Philosophy, German Reformation, Modern Theories of Religion

Paul Zimdars-Swartz received a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate School in 1977. He has been teaching introductory courses in religion for several years and officially joined the faculty with a half-time appointment and more teaching responsibilities in the fall of 1994. His areas of specialization are nineteenth century German philosophy and theology, the German Reformation, and modern theories of religion.

Michael Zogry
Assistant Professor
Affiliated Faculty member, Center for Indigenous Nations Studies

Office: 10 Smith Hall
Office Phone: 785/ 864-7257
e-mail address: mzogry@ku.edu
More info: Curriculum Vitae

Ph.D., University of California Santa Barbara, 2003

First Nations/Native American religions; theory and method in the study of religions; ritual studies; United States religious history; performance and play in the study of religions

Michael Zogry joined the Religious Studies Department as a lecturer in Spring 2003 and as an Assistant Professor in Fall 2003. His areas of specialty are First Nations/Native American religions, and theory and method in the study of religions, with particular attention to the study of ritual. Recent publications include "Wide Open Spaces: The Trail of Tears, the Lewis and Clark Expedition, and Gaps in the National Memory," in Richard Callahan, ed., New Territory, New Perspectives: The Religious Impact of the Louisiana Purchase (University of Missouri Press, 2008). He wrote and co-wrote several entries on indigenous religions worldwide for Frederick Denny, ed., Atlas of the World's Religions, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2007), as well as "North American Indians: Southeast Woodland Traditions," an article-length entry in Lindsey Jones, editor in chief, The Encyclopedia of Religion, Revised Edition, Volume 10 (Macmillan Reference USA, 2005). Grants awarded include a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Award (2005) and an American Academy of Religion Individual Research Grant (2007). Upcoming conference presentations include "Playing and Praying: The Cherokee Anetso Ceremonial Complex," international conference at the University of Heidelberg: "Ritual Dynamics and the Science of Ritual," 2008.

Aagje Ashe
Office: 109A Smith Hall
phone: 785/864-4663
Office Hours: 8:30-3:00 Monday through Friday
e-mail address: a4ashe@ku.edu
Departmental web support

Sara Lundberg
Office: 109A Smith Hall
phone: 785/864-4663
Office Hours: 8:00-5:00   Tuesday and Thursday
                    8:00-12:00  Friday