Faculty | Adjunct Faculty | Faculty Emeriti | Staff Faculty of the Department Paul Groner, Chair Elizabeth Shanks Alexander, Ph.D. (Yale University) Assistant Professor, Rabbinic Judaism and Talmudic Literature 434-924-6648 email: esa3p@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 9978)  Judaism in the ancient world; literary approaches to rabbinic literature; talmudic and midrashic hermeneutics; orality in rabbinic culture; modern theological contexts for rabbinic literature; the role of law, legal reasoning and legal argumentation in Judaism; women and gender in rabbinic literature. Asher Biemann, Ph.D. (Karl-Franzens Universität, Graz/Hebrew University, Jerusalem) Assistant Professor, Judaic Studies. 434-924-3643 email: ab5j @virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 9042) Modern Jewish thought and intellectual history; German-Jewish studies; Zionism and Jewish nationalism; dialogical philosophy; theories of Jewish history and Jewish renaissance; Jewish art and aesthetics; Israeli cinema. Professor Biemann is on leave for the semester Larry D. Bouchard, Ph.D. (University of Chicago), Associate Professor; Religion, Literature and The Arts. 434-924-6710, email: LBouchard@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 1993)   Religious, Theological, and Ethical Studies of Imaginative Literature; Interpretation Theory, Hermeneutics, and Criticism; Tragedy and Modern Drama; Sin, Suffering, and The Religious Imagination; Uses of Narrative in Christian Theology and Ethics; Conceptions of Integrity in Theology and Ethics; Images of Medicine in Film, Drama, and Fiction; the Thought of Paul Ricoeur James F. Childress, Ph.D. (Yale University), John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics Professor; Religious Ethics. 434-924-6724, email: Childress@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID # 1840) Religious Ethics; Social and Political Ethics; Biomedical Ethics; Methods in Ethics. Professor Childress is on leave for the semester Valerie C. Cooper, Th.D.. (Harvard University), African American Religious History, valerie_cooper@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # b663 ) African American Religious History, Evangelicalism, Pentecostalism, Religion and Society, Religion and Popular Culture, African American Women's Religious Narratives, African American Biblical Hermeneutics and Appropriation, New Testament and Christian Origins M. Jamie Ferreira, Ph.D. (Princeton University), Carolyn M. Barbour Chair in Religious Studies, Professor;Philosophy of Religion 434-924-6712, email: JamieF@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID #5267) Philosophy of Religion: special attention to questions of epistemology, language, and religious experience; Hume, Kant, Kierkegaard, J. H. Newman, and Wittgenstein; Victorian studies and 20th century philosophy; religious and ethical imagination. Gerald P. Fogarty, S.J., Ph.D. (Yale University), William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor; History of American and Modern European Catholicism; History of Theology. 434-924-6707, email: GFogarty@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID #2747) American Catholic history; Vatican-American relations; History of Catholic theology since the French Revolution; History of Vatican II Harry Y. Gamble, Ph.D (Yale University), Professor; New Testament Studies; Early Christian History. 434-924-6714, email: HGamble@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 1661) Early Christian history, literature, and thought; the historical Jesus; Pauline Studies; history of the text and canon of the New Testament; social description of early Christianity; bridgework with patristics: apostolic fathers, apologists, apocryphal literature, early history of the liturgy. Jennifer Geddes, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Research Assistant Professor, Co-Program Director and Permanent Fellow in the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture, Editor of The Hedgehog Review; 434-924-7705, email: jlg2u@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 5293) Religion and Literature, particularly 20th century literature and Franz Kafka, Religion and Culture, Evil and Suffering, Hermeneutics, Holocaust Studies, Literary Theory, Philosophy of Religion, Ethics, Postmodern Thought David F. Germano, Ph.D. (University of Wisconsin), Associate Professor; History of Religions; Buddhist Studies. 434-924-6728, email: Germano@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 1927) The Nyingma and Bön lineages of Tibetan Buddhism, tantric traditions, and Tibetan historical literature and concerns, particularly from the eighth to fifteenth centuries; the current renaissance of Buddhism in the People's Republic of China, and non-monastic yogic communities in cultural Tibet; methodological issues such as hermeneutics, phenomenology, literary criticism, systems theory, and so forth within the context of Buddhist Studies. Timothy Gianotti, Ph.D. ( University of Toronto) Assistant Professor, Classical Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Mysticism; 434-924-6721 Office: 102 Halsey Annex; email: tjg5g@virginia.edu; UVa instructor ID # b661 Psychological dimensions of classical Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Mysticism; Therapeutic aspects of the psycho-spiritual systems of medieval Islam; Spiritual and philosophical foundations for character formation, moral theology, and political thought in Islam; Death and dying in classical Islamic thought; Medieval Jewish & Christian Philosophy, Theology, Mysticism; Martial dimensions of the Abrahamic religious traditions. Professor Gianotti is on leave for the academic year 2007-08 Greg Schmidt Goering, Th.D. (Harvard University), Assistant Professor; Classical Hebrew, Hebrew Bible. 434-924-6721, email: goering@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID # c989) Classical Hebrew language; Jewish wisdom literature; religions of the ancient Near East; Second Temple Judaism; the intersection of historical and literary methodologies in the study of ancient texts; ethnicity and religious identity in antiquity; theodicy; sacrifice. Paul S. Groner, Ph.D. (Yale University), Professor and Chair; Japanese and Chinese Buddhism. 434-924-6715, email: Groner@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 5388) Chinese and Japanese Buddhism, with a research focus on the the Japanese Tendai tradition, how precepts and practice affected doctrine, and the relationship between monastic and lay Buddhism in medieval Japan. Mark A. Hadley, Ph.D. (Brown University) Associate Professor and Assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences. 434-924-8863 email: mah2ar@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID # d181) American religious thought; pragmatism; African-American religious and social criticism; social ethics; and modern Judaic and Christian thought. Martien A. Halvorson-Taylor, Ph.D. (Harvard University), Assistant Professor, Hebrew Bible. 434-924-6723, email: mah3uh@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # b121) Hebrew Bible/Old Testament; classical Hebrew; history and religion of Ancient Israel; wisdom literature; biblical interpretation in the Second Temple period; canonical process; history of biblical scholarship; literary approaches to the Hebrew Bible. Kevin Hart, Ph.D. (The University of Melbourne) Edwin B. Kyle Professor of Christian Studies. 434-924-1097 email: kjh9u@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID # c991 Phenomenology of Christianity; Systematic Theology, especially Trinity and Christology; Mysticism; Theology and Poetry; Philosophy of Religion. Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Associate Professor; African Religions. 434-924-6314, email: H-Fatton@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 3389) African independent churches; Luo religion; East African spirit possession movements; gender and religion in Africa; the history of Christianity and Islam in Sub-Saharan Africa; African-derived religions in the New World. Clarke Hudson, Ph.D (Indiana University),Assistant Professor, Chinese Religions, 434-924-8884, email: wch4b@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID # c992) Traditions and texts of Daoist self-cultivation (esp. inner alchemy), Daoist commentary; Chan, Chinese Buddhism, Chinese religions; Buddho-Daoist interactions; social thought (esp. sociology of culture), hermeneutics, esotericism. Classical Chinese. James D. Hunter, Ph.D. (Rutgers University), Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies; Religion and Society. 434-924-6524, email: jdh6c@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 0207) Sociology of Religion: classical and contemporary theory; the historical sociology of American religion from the mid-nineteenth century to the present with special attention given to American Evangelicalism; religion, politics, and public life. Slavica Jakelić, Ph.D. (Boston University), Research Assistant Professor; Co-Director of the Program on Religion, Culture, and Democracy and a Faculty Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture; 434-2435111; email: sj3d@virginia.edu (UVA instructor ID #c804)  Sociology of Religion; Religion and Identity; Religion, Conflict, and Dialogue; Secularism; Theories of Religion and Methodological Approaches to the Study of Religion; Religion, Social Order, and Social Change, especially Religion, Post-communist Transition, and European Enlargement; Christianities; Historical Sociology; Theology in Sociological Perspective. Paul Dafydd Jones, Ph.D. (Harvard University), Assistant Professor; Western Religious Thought. 434-982-2283, email: pdj5c@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # c468) Christian theology and philosophy of religion in the West. Special interests in Christology, the doctrine of God, and theological method; nineteenth- and twentieth-century Protestant thought (particularly Karl Barth); political, liberationist, and constructive theology. Judith L. Kovacs, Ph.D. (Columbia University/Union Theological Seminary), Associate Professor; New Testament Studies; Greek. 434-924-6711, email: JKovacs@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 4503) Patristics: patristic exegesis (especially interpretation of Paul and debates between Gnostic and catholic exegetes); Clement of Alexandria; New Testament: the Gospel of John; interpretations of the death of Christ. Karen C. Lang, Ph.D. (University of Washington), Professor; History of Religions; Buddhist Studies. 434-924-0846, email: KLang@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID #0719) Buddhism in India, Sri Lanka and Tibet; the relationship between early Buddhist, Jain, and Hindu texts; Indian philosophy; the relationship between gender and religious discourse and practice. Charles Marsh, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Professor, Director of the Project on Lived Theology. 434-924-6839, email: CMarsh@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 5485) Philosophical and systematic theology; theology and society,.with special interests in civil rights, race and the social practices of religious communities; theological anthropology; religion and mental health Charles T. Mathewes, Ph.D. (University of Chicago), Associate Professor, Religious Ethics, History of Christian Thought. email: CTMathewes@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 6966) Plato, Patristics (esp. Augustine), Medievals (esp. Anselm, Bernard, Bonaventure and Aquinas), Luther and Calvin, Pascal, Edwards, Schleiermacher, Barth, the Niebuhrs, Anglican theology; Modern philosophy (Continental and Analytic); moral and political theory, moral psychology and rationality; interreligious dialogue; Trinity, Christology, the idea of "tradition," tragedy, evil, and sin. H.C. Erik Midelfort, Ph.D. (Yale University), C. Julian Bishko Professor of History, Professor of Religious Studies; Early Modern Europe. 434-924-6385, email: hem7e@virginia.edu European religious movements, 1450-1800: special attention to the social history of ideas; the consequences of various theological commitments; the understanding of demons, possession, witchcraft, and evil in general; the interpretation of suicide and madness; the social and political history of the Protestant and Catholic Reformation, both as a matter of high and of popular culture. Margaret Mohrmann, Ph.D. (Harvard University), Associate Professor 434-924-2094, email: mem7e@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 9732 ) Religious ethics, feminist ethics, and the history of Christian ethics. John Nemec, Ph.D (Univ. of Pennsylvania), Assistant Professor, Hinduism. 434-924-6716, email: jwn3y@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # a867 ) South Asian Religions; Sanskrit; Tantra; Indian Philosophy; Religion and Politics; Theories of Religion.  Peter W. Ochs, Ph.D. (Yale University), Edgar M. Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies; Modern Jewish Thought. 434-924-6718, email: POchs@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 6968 ) Modern Jewish philosophy and theology; history of Jewish thought and Jewish ethics; rabbinic hermeneutics, semiotics, and ethics. American philosophy, pragmatism, semiotics; Charles Peirce, modern and postmodern philosophic theology, philosophy of religion. Vanessa Ochs, MFA, Ph.D.. (Drew University) Associate Professor, Ida and Nathan Kolodiz Director of Jewish Studies, Jewish Studies, Anthropology of Religion. 434-924-6722, email: vlo4n@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 8131 ) Anthropology of Judaism, women in Judaism, material culture and the study of religions, new ritual, healing in Jewish tradition, literature of spiritual journeys John Portmann, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Assistant Professor, Religious Ethics, Philosophical Ethics, History of Western Philosophy, and Philosophy of the Emotions. 434-924-6713, email: jep7a@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 2859 ) Cultural Christianity; Ethics; Catholic Studies; History of Western Philosophy; Religion and Psychology; Religion and Science; Philosophy of the Emotions; French Civilization (philosophy and literature) Benjamin C. Ray, Ph.D. (University of Chicago), Professor; History of Religions, African Religions. 434-924-6720, email: BenRay@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 4409 ) African Religions, African Art, history of religions methodology, Salem witch trials, technology in the humanities. Abdulaziz A. Sachedina, Ph.D. (University of Toronto), Professor; Islamic and Shi'ite Studies; Theological and Juridical Studies. 434-924-6725, email: Sachedina@virginia.edu; (UVa instructor ID # 3331) Research areas: Middle East, East Africa, and South Asia in Arabic, Persian, Swahili, Urdu-Hindi. Research interests: Religious Fundmentalism, War and Peace, Political Ethics, and Interfaith Relations in Islam. Research in progress: Islamic Biomedical Ethics and Medical Jurisprudence; Comparative Legal Theory in Sunni-Shii Jurisprudence; Theology of Christian-Muslim and Jewish-Muslim Relations.) Kurtis Schaeffer, Ph.D. (Harvard University): Associate Professor, History of Religions, Tibetan Buddhist Studies, 434-924-3770, email: ks6bb@virginia.edu, ( UVa instructor ID #  b662) http://faculty.virginia.edu/krs The cultural history of Buddhism in Tibet, Nepal, and India; the history of the arts and sciences in Tibet; Buddhist canonical literature in Tibet; Tibetan biography, autobiography, and historiography; Tibetan poetry. Jalane Schmidt, Ph.D. (Harvard University), Assistant Professor; Latin American & Caribbean Religions, 434-924-1061, email: jds7b@virginia.edu  (UVa instructor ID # c990) African diaspora religions, religion and colonialism, religion and race, anthropology of religion, ritual performance, popular Catholicism, processes of religious and cultural creolization. Augustine Thompson, O.P., Ph.D., (University of California, Berkeley) Professor, Historical Theology. 434-924-6729, email: at3p@virginia.edu , (UVa instructor ID # 8706) The history of Western Christianity in the High Middle Ages (A.D. 1000 to 1350), especially religious life and practice in Italy.  Professor Thompson is on leave for the academic year 2007-08 Heather Anne Warren, Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins University), Associate Professor; European and American Religious History. 434-924- 6719, email: HWarren@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 0874) American religious history: the many forms of Protestantism and its relation to American culture since the colonial period; the Christian Realists; cooperation among Protestant and Jewish religious educators in the 1920s; character in 20th-century, mainline Protestantism. Robert L. Wilken, Ph.D. (University of Chicago), William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor; Early Christian History. 434-924-6709, email: Wilken@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 2927) Early and medieval Christian history and thought; Byzantine Christianity; history of biblical interpretation; early Christian ethics; Eastern Christianity; Christianity and Islam; Augustine Professor Wilkin is on leave for the semester William M. Wilson, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Assistant Dean, College of Arts and Sciences; Lecturer in Religious Studies; 434-924-3672, email: wmw2v@virginia.edu (UVa instructor ID # 4814) Philosophical Theology, Modern Christian Thought, and Religion and Literature Faculty | Adjunct Faculty | Faculty Emeriti | Staff Adjunct Faculty top of page Edward R. Freeman, Ph.D. (Washington University), Olsson Professor of Business Administration; Business Ethics, (434) 924-0935, email: ref8d@virginia.edu Jon Mikalson, Ph.D. (Harvard ) William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of Classics, Greek religion, literature, history, and archeology. (434) 924-3008, e-mail: jdm9x@virginia.edu Patricia Werhane, Ph.D, (Northwestern University) Business Ethics, Environmentally Sustainable Businesses, Health Care Organization Ethics; (434) 924-4840 e-mail: WerhaneP@virginia.edu Andrew C Wicks, Ph.D. (University of Virginia), Associate Professor, The Darden School, University of Virginia, Religious Ethics, (434) 243-8379, email: wicksa@virginia.edu Faculty Emeriti top of page Julian N. Hartt, Ph.D. (Yale University), William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor Emeritus; Philosophical Theology William Lee Miller, Ph.D. (Yale University), Miller Professor of Ethics and Institutions, and Religious Studies; Ethics and Society K. L. Seshagiri Rao, Ph.D. (Harvard Univeristy), Professor Emeritus; History of Religions, Hinduism, Religions of India Robert P. Scharlemann, Dr. Theol. (University of Heidelberg), Professor Emeritus; Philosophical Theology Kenneth W. Thompson, Ph.D. (University of Chicago), J Wilson Newman Professor Professor Emeritus; Government and Religious Studies Staff in the Department top of page Mick Watson, Secretary to the Chair, Fiscal Administrator, Human Resources, 434-924-6713, email maw4fp@virginia.edu Sarah Adams, Graduate Secretary, Fiscal Administrator, 434-924-6706, email sea3n@virginia.edu Doug Burgess, Undergraduate Secretary, Curriculum Coordinator, Web Master. 434-924-6705, email: edb9d@virginia.edu   Faculty | Adjunct Faculty | Faculty Emeriti | Staff .