In-person November Annual Meeting 2025 Program Book

Readers of the Qur’an often emphasize the verses outlining what we imagine as fetal development in “the wombs” as evidence of an inherent Islamic reverence for conceiving bodies. Yet, there is more to the Qur’an than a reading that values women based on their assumed fertility. Drawing on gender and disability studies, I argue that the Qur’an conveys a complicated relationship with women and reproduction, both affirming and unsettling binary understandings of female embodiment. While the Qur’an’s maternal citations support readings that elevate motherhood to a status that is almost sacred, its narrative dimensions hint at the complexities of these embodied experiences. The term “barren,” for example, is semantically linked to the notion of Divine Punishment; however, Sarah’s reaction to the annunciation suggests that she preferred her “barren” body and did not desire to achieve the conceiving ideal highlighted by many readers.

This paper situates menstruation within the discussion of reproductive freedom in Islam, analyzing how the everyday phenomenology of menstruation disrupts traditional ‘ulama-led knowledge-making related to women’s bodies. The paper asks: how do ordinary Muslim women draw on nuances of their menstruating bodies to create Islamic knowledge related to menstrual purity (tahārah)? Drawing on the pietistic emphasis on menstruation (hayd) in the Islamic tradition at large, basing analysis on contemporary ethnographic accounts of menstrual effluent disposal in Pakistan, and using frameworks of embodied phenomenology, this paper inverts the doctrine-making direction of menstruation laws in Islamic fiqh by showing how the bodily nature of menstruation dictates a context of its Islamic interpretation. The paper shows how challenges of effluent disposal raise questions of agency for women, answered by the discursive closeness of menstruation with vernacular concepts of purity and pollution, re-imagined as the ‘Islamic’ norms of menstruation by women in Pakistan.

This paper analyzes North American Muslim religious discourses on elective abortion. With references to the Qur'an, Islamic oral traditions, jurisprudential discourses, feminist Islamic scholarship, and contemporary Muslim American social media posts, I analyze discourses that seek to limit, on one hand, or to expand on the other, a pregnant Muslim's recourse to terminating pregnancy through elective abortion. Considering various circumstantial factors and drawing upon the Foucauldian concept of biopower, I track how pregnant people may be encouraged to procreate through tactics of coercion that seek to mold pregnant bodies into docile reproductive forms in the name of religious compliance. Yet, nuances in Islamic approaches to reproductive-related decision-making create fissures in which pregnant people can maintain pious aspirations and simultaneously exercise their reproductive agency in jurisdictions where reliable reproductive care is readily accessible. 

The overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision put women’s reproductive freedom in significant peril. The decision also generated debate within the American Muslim community on the permissibility of abortion in Islam. Muslim organizations submitted an amicus brief opposing overturning Roe v. Wade, arguing that Islamic law permits abortion (before a certain period). Other Muslim groups disputed this claim, stating that abortion is based on values which are not upheld by Islamic law. Hinging on this tension, this paper explores legal discussions in the Hanafi legal school on abortion (isqat al-haml) to investigate the juristic assumptions regarding the reproductive body and the fetus and how this shapes their conception of women’s reproductive rights. To address this, the paper asks whether the fetus is a legal person. What is the nature of the fetus’ rights and how were these rights considered in relation to the rights of the pregnant person? 

“Tathāgata in Translation” explores a failed CIA effort to win the hearts and minds of Asian Buddhists in the early Cold War. Its focus is an unpublished 1953 screenplay on the life of the Buddha, conceived as a psychological warfare tool to promote U.S. bloc-building efforts in Asia. Envisioned as a Hollywood-style epic, The Wayfarer would  convince Asian Buddhists to reject Communism and help the CIA forge ties local Buddhist leaders.

To examine its failure, I  analyze The Wayfarer's interpretative ambiguity through a close reading of three  scenes. I then frame the screenplay as a Translation Zone, in Emily Apter’s sense—a battleground for interpretative dominance.  By relocating The Wayfarer from a CIA back office to a  wartime frontier, we see that American efforts to court Asian Buddhists failed not from poor execution, but because they became sites of resistance where local actors adeptly re-purposed them to suit their own goals.

This paper takes up the well-worn debate over Buddhist modernism from the perspective of its neglected shadow: Buddhist tradition. Can contemporary American Buddhists ever be “traditional” (as opposed to merely “traditionalistic”)? What would that mean? Based on ongoing ethnographic interviews, participant observation, and liturgical analysis, I argue that the Tibetan Buddhist preliminary practices (ngondro) work to form Buddhist subjects with a visceral sense of tradition, binding together cosmologies, bodily postures, ethical commitments, emotional habits, and sacralized relationships. This “tradition” is neither an ahistorical essence already out there in the world nor a rhetorical posture batting ineffectually at the rupture of modernity: it is one possible outcome of human labor and desire. For American converts engaged in the preliminary practices, both tradition and modernity are live orientations, ways of being in the world in a fraught and often tragic relationship to one another.

Through the life of Allan Bennett/Ananda Metteyya (1872-1923), this paper argues that the transmission of Buddhism to the West cannot be understood without examining Western esotericism. To draw a line between Buddhism and the esoteric in a Western context is a false dichotomy. In his youth, Bennett turned towards Theosophy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, within which he became the teacher of Aleister Crowley (1875-1947). After a period in Sri Lanka, he gained higher ordination as a Buddhist monk in Myanmar, becoming Venerable Ananda Metteyya. As a monk, Metteyya insisted that there was nothing esoteric or mysterious in Buddhism. In his personal life, however, Metteyya retained constructive relationships with Theosophists and continued to practice the esoteric, yogic meditation he had learnt in Sri Lanka. A dialectical relationship, therefore, existed between the esoteric and Buddhism within Metteya's life and within the Buddhism that he communicated to the West.

Western mindfulness movements, including mindfulness-based psychotherapies, have widely adopted Buddhist metta (lovingkindness) meditation practices. In their traditional contexts, these meditation practices have had an apotropaic function, and Buddhist commentary literature narrates the use of metta practice to transform conflict with "supernatural" beings. This paper engages in a discourse analysis of psychotherapy manuals, such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and psychotherapeutic research articles that include metta meditation practices, focusing on their omission or minimization of the Buddhist origins of metta practice more broadly and Buddhist metta traditions involving supernatural beings more specifically. This discourse analysis shows that adoption of metta practices by contemporary psychotherapy reflects broader patterns in secular appropriation of Buddhist traditions, such as front-stage/back-stage behavior, and that elements of Buddhist cosmology involving supernatural beings are strongly targeted for deselection. This is ethically problematic and may limit the effectiveness of metta practice for spiritually-attuned care.

This paper examines “Catholic feminism” as a term and analyzes the meaning(s) of these words as various Catholic women theologians and leaders have used them throughout the last three decades (~1990 to ~2025). Through engaging Catholic feminist theologians such as Rosemary Radford Ruether, Elizabeth A. Johnson, and Ivone Gebara, this paper reveals how progressive Catholic women are defining Catholic feminism. Through engaging contemporary Catholic women leaders such as Abigail Favale and Josephine Garrett, this work also analyzes how conservative Catholic women are considering Catholic feminism. Bringing the progressive and conservative Catholic women into conversation with one another, this essay uncovers what each approach has in common with one another, while revealing key differences that may prove irreconcilable. This paper establishes the slippery nature of the term “Catholic feminism,” suggests the need to reconsider the use of the term, and proposes new language to use in scholarly conversation.

In the year 2000, the World March of Women (WMW 2000) organized a series of international events to condemn poverty and violence against women.  Development and Peace – Caritas Canada (the official international development organization of the Canadian Catholic Church) financially supported the March and encouraged Catholics to participate as a sign of “courageous solidarity” with women around the world.  WMW 2000 became controversial as some of the other groups that also supported the March called for greater access to abortion, which contradicted established Catholic moral teaching.  Pro-life organizations in Canada called for a boycott of the March and for the Canadian Bishops to withdraw their support from Development and Peace.  As bishops lined up on both sides of the issue, WMW 2000 became one of the most divisive debates in Canadian Catholic history.  This paper explores why this event was so polarizing and explains its impact on contemporary Canadian Catholicism.

This paper explores contemporary Catholic feminism and abortion rights activism and advocacy in Mexico, Argentina, and the U.S., with a focus on three nongovernmental organizations: Catholics for the Right to Decide Mexico, Catholics for the Right to Decide Argentina, and Catholics for Choice in the U.S. Specifically, I examine how these organizations strategically employ saints and their hagiographies to advance abortion rights. In the wake of Pope John Paul II's "sustained programme of ... 'strategic canonization,'" Catholic feminists have demonstrated that the “many models of holiness” the pope sought to highlight to advance the Vatican's agenda can also be employed to challenge the Church’s official positions (Bennett, 2011, p. 441, p. 448). Ultimately, the use of saints in Catholic feminism points to the ways in which the Catholic tradition, perhaps paradoxically, sets the stage for Catholic feminism to emerge.

The 9th century Tamil narrative poem Cīvakacintāmaṇi is not the first place most scholars of Jain studies would think to look for Jain perspectives on contemplative practice. This text, which tells the story of Cīvakaṉ (Jivandhra in Sanskrit) is well known–even infamous–for its excessively erotic nature. Although some scholars interpret it as ultimately critical of embodied experiences, we can also read the work as exploring what it means to be embodied while on a spiritual path. In the narrative world of the Cīvakacintāmaṇi, animal interactions form a critical part of that path for Cīvakaṉ. This paper looks at the ways animal interactions and animal suffering catalyze intense emotional experiences, moments of contemplation, mantric practice, and the central character’s ultimate decision to renounce kingship and the world. Despite the story’s antiquity, these key moments can serve as guiding examples even in today’s world.

Pātañjali's teachings on the workings of the mind and the experience of meditation have been well-researched. The first part of his Yogasūtra—the samādhi pāda—presents, among other topics, different practices to stabilize the mind, obstacles in meditation, and different types of samādhi. Its compact style has often posed challenges for commentators. This paper examines Yaśovijaya’s engagement with this part of the Yogasūtra in the Dvātriṃśaddvātriṃśikā, a long Jain compendium on mendicant conduct that includes an auto-commentary. Despite his influence on Jain thought, Yaśovijaya remains understudied, and much of his work has not been translated into English. With original translations, this paper explores how Yaśovijaya offers a particular interpretation of Patañjali’s teachings on meditation, drawing from Vyāsa at points, building on earlier Jain authors like Haribhādrasūri, and applying Jain ontological and ethical frameworks. It also shows how his engagements with different current of thought reveal important concerns of his time.

Śrīmad Rājcandra (1867–1901) was a prominent Jain mystic, philosopher, and poet whose impactful teachings continue to influence Jain philosophy and spirituality, particularly in Gujarat, India, and among the Gujarati diaspora. His spiritual approach emphasized the imminent potential for spiritual liberation through self-realization, detachment, and contemplation, offering a perspective that may seem more immediate than what many Jains might believe. This paper explores Śrīmad Rājcandra's teachings on contemplative practices, drawing from his works such as Mokṣamāḷā and the Ātmasiddhi, which provide detailed guidance on the contemplative practices important for liberation within the Jain tradition while connecting modern and pre-modern ideas about Jain contemplative practice.

This paper features Jain contemplative practices in the “Arhum Yoga” tradition of Acharya Sushil Kumar (1926–1994), a Jain guru who left India to establish a community in North America in the 1970s. While Kumar described his contemplative system as “Jain Yoga” in his book, Song of the Soul (SOtS), a study of the contemplative practices contained therein reveals that Kumar was drawing from manifold non-Jain pan-South Asian influences to create his yoga system. He was therefore carrying forward a medieval tradition found in Jain yoga texts such as Hemacandra’s Yogaśāstra and the later Yogapradīpa, both of which drew contemplative practices from non-Jain traditions though without losing their commitment to Jain soteriology. What is most striking, however, is how Kumar draws from non-Jain Vedic, haṭha-yogic, and tantric traditions, and in doing so appears at times to present a non-Jain ontological and soteriological system – features of SOtS this paper will carefully untangle.

The term contemplation (anuprekṣā) is an ancient Jain meditative practice which is based on continuing to think about religious subjects with soteriological purpose. The Uttarādhyayanasūtra describes the daily routine of ascetics which consists of the practice of five types of self-study (svādhyāya) wherein anuprekṣā is one technique used as a component of advanced types of meditation (dharma-dhyāna and śukla-dhyāna). This paper notes a shift toward a systematized, modern packaging of anuprekṣā, which is different from its traditional forms in the Jain Āgamas and Tattvārthasūtra (9.7), as it is presented under the meditation system named prekṣā-dhyāna by Ācārya Mahāprajña (1920–2010). The main difference between the premodern practices and modern anuprekṣā is that the premodern method involved merely mental thinking, whereas in modern anuprekṣā many steps such as relaxation, positive affirmation, color visualization and concentration on psychic centers within the body are introduced, demonstrating the entanglement of secular and soteriological goals.

Small towns and big cities alike witness the phenomenon of the independent café that is either supported by a local church or was created to meet many of the functions of a parish church – a place for meeting, study and prayer. But, increasingly, some evangelical Christian women – who eschew formal leadership roles for women in their congregations and micro-denominations – theorize themselves as celebrating the “sacrament of the people” through their coffee service. This paper marshals years of ethnographic research to analyze why and how female coffeehouse owners and baristas construct alternative sacred sites and popular priesthoods that are tolerated within their own gender schemas. Coffee becomes a central mediator of gendered authority for evangelical Christian women. 

Scholarship on food, gender, and religion remains marked by historical male dominance and the marginalization of women’s practices. In communities like the Tablighi Jama‘at, women’s culinary roles are framed as religious obligations, often limiting their spiritual engagement. Sermons discourage excessive time spent on cooking, yet these same roles are enforced as pious behavior. Ottoman-era reforms tied women’s identity to kitchen work, further solidifying their domestic roles. Scholars like Darakhshan Khan and Parna Sengupta reveal how food-related rituals, often overseen by male authority, are central to religious women’s lives. Yet, these practices are rarely recognized as legitimate religious knowledge. Broader scholarship could illuminate the power dynamics that confine women to food-centered roles and empower them within their traditions. By bridging religious, gendered, and culinary intersections, such research could foster mutual understanding and pave the way for greater gender equality within religious communities.

The environmental nonprofit organization, Adamah, named after the Hebrew word adamah meaning “soil” or “earth,” regularly engages with foodways in an effort to help Jews live more sustainably. Adamah offers educational resources on making shabbat and seder meals more ecologically-feasible, as well as advocates for just food options year round. Their programs include community supported agriculture, retreats featuring vegan food, and educational materials on sustainable food systems. Through Adamah’s Farm And Forest School, participants gain hands-on experience with organic agriculture. Adamah asserts that growing food is part of climate action. I seek to answer, how does Jewish environmentalism and eating eco-kosher coincide in the work of the nonprofit Adamah?

What does food justice in an era of mass incarceration require of us? As I come to argue, putting criminal justice and food justice in conversation benefits both. By highlighting the indispensable part food plays not only in well-being, but also in identity and community, food justice teaches criminal justice to see better some of the most serious threats posed by incarceration. Meanwhile, by highlighting the conflicting interests at the heart of ethics and political philosophy, criminal justice urges food justice to make its moral theory (or theories) explicit in order to judge better what we owe incarcerated individuals as well as those they have harmed. In the end, I argue that we all, incarcerated and unincarcerated alike, have pro tanto positive rights not only to food security, but also to food autonomy, if not also to food sovereignty.