Religion and Theology

Dr. Julie Regan was first introduced to Asian religions as an undergraduate student of Comparative Literature at Brown University, where she subsequently earned her MFA in Literary Arts. After several years devoted to writing fiction and plays, and teaching writing, she decided to pursue a Ph.D. at Harvard University to deepen her understanding of Buddhist literary traditions and their relationship to bodily practice.

Her secondary fields are Religion, Gender and Culture and Comparative Literature, and her scholarship takes an interdisciplinary approach to reading a variety of texts, performances and rituals, from early Sanskrit court poetry to acts of self-immolation in Tibet today. Her research into Buddhist practice and the body has included fieldwork in traditional temples, cave and pilgrimage sites in India, Nepal, Tibet and China. She comes to La Salle from NYU, where, as a visiting scholar, she recently taught courses including Introduction to Buddhism and Tibetan Buddhism.

Areas of Expertise

Asian religions, Buddhism in South Asia, Tibetan Buddhism and Zen

Buddhist literature and cultural practice

World literature and religion

Religion, gender, and culture

Education

Ph.D., MTS, Harvard University

MFA, A.B.; Brown University

Teaching

REL 153: Exploring Religion

REL 231: Buddhism

REL 271 Tibetan Buddhism

REL 279 Hinduism: Yoga, Dharma & Devotion

HON 244 Buddhism

HON 346 Love in Asian Religion, Literature & Film

Presentations, Panels, and Publications

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION, Annual Meeting, Denver, 2015. “The Possibilities of Emptiness: Queer Subjectivities and Sexualities in Contemporary Buddhism.”

EXPLORER CAFÉ, La Salle University, 2015. “Can Mindfulness Change our Minds? Exploring a Buddhist Approach to Addressing Bias.”

LA SALLE UNIVERSITY ART MUSEUM, 2015. “Seeing (the Divine) as an Act of Love in Hindu Traditions,” Invited Speaker, La Salle University Art Museum.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION, Annual Meeting, Baltimore, 2013.“Burning Questions” on the Tibetan Immolations.

AAR, Mid-Atlantic Regional Conference, Baltimore, March 2013.“To Be Real: Tibetan Nuns Transgressing Gender Boundaries.”

HARVARD UNIVERSITY, Religion Colloquium, 2010. “Religion in the Classroom.”

THE WOODENFISH PROJECT, Buddhism in Chang’an, 2009. “The Da Ci’en Temple.”

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION, Annual Meeting, Chicago, 2008. “The Site of Poetry: a New Look at English in Transnational Tibetan Cultural Survival.”

TIBETAN HISTORIOGRAPHY MINI-CONFERENCE, Harvard University, 2007.“A ‘Hidden Treasure’ of Nyingma History.”

FORUM ON WOMEN, GENDER AND RELIGION, Harvard Divinity School, 2005.Respondent. Amy Hollywood’s “Feminist Melancholy.”