Amanda J. Lucia, Ph.D.
Associate Professor University of California-Riverside Riverside, California 92521
Email: [email protected] Phone: (773) 412-8436 Website: www.amandajeanlucia.com
EMPLOYMENT
2015-present Associate Professor, Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside 2011-15 Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside 2010-11 Visiting Assistant Professor, Religious Studies, Austin College 2005-06 Visiting Lecturer, Hindi/Urdu, University of Illinois at Chicago 2004-05 Lecturer, Hindi, University of Chicago
EDUCATION
2010 Ph.D., History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School Thesis: “Darshan in a Hotel Ballroom: Amritanandamayi Ma’s (Amma’s) Communities of Devotees in the United States” Committee: Wendy Doniger (Chair, History of Religions), Steven Collins (South Asian Languages and Civilizations), Omar McRoberts (Sociology)
2004 M.A., History of Religions, University of Chicago Divinity School
1998 B.A., Religious Studies, India Studies, Indiana University
PUBLICATIONS (Prior to 4/2013, Amanda J. Huffer)
Books
Lucia, Amanda and Maya Warrier, co-editors. A Cultural History of Hinduism in the Age of Independence (1947 – 2017). Vol. VI of A Cultural History of Hinduism. London: Bloomsbury Press, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Reviewed in: High Country News
Featured in: Sacred Matters Magazine, Canopy Forum, UC Press blog, The Yogic Studies podcast, New Books in Indian Religions podcast, New Books in Religion podcast
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 1
Lucia, Amanda. Reflections of Amma: Devotees in a Global Embrace. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. 2014. Reflections of Amma: Devotees in a Global Embrace. Berkeley: University of California Press. Reviewed in: Journal of Contemporary Religion; Nova Religio; Spirituality & Practice; Choice Connect; Commonground Magazine; The Journal of Religion, The Journal of Hindu Studies
Featured in: U.S. Religion Blogspot, New Books in Religion, Asia Research Institute (ARI) Reading Group, Singapore; Spirit Matters Podcasts, Publishers Weekly
Awards: Emory Elliott Book Award Winner, UCR 2013-2014; Named one of “The Best Spiritual Books of 2014” (top 50), Spirituality & Practice
Articles (Peer Reviewed) Lucia, Amanda. “A Field of Gurus and a Scholarly Field,” Religion Compass (invited), in progress.
Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “An Unlikely Tīrtha: Making a Gaudiya Vaishanava Space Sacred among the Mormons.” Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Vol. 27. No. 1: 171-183.
Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “Guru Sex: Charisma, Proxemic Desire, and the Haptic Logics of the Guru Disciple Relationship.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion. Vol. 86. No. 4: 953-988.
Lucia, Amanda. 2014. “‘Give Me Sevā Overtime:’ Selfless Service and Humanitarianism in Mata Amritanandamayi’s Transnational Guru Movement.” History of Religions. 53: 4: 188-207.
Lucia, Amanda. 2014. “Innovative Gurus: Tradition and Change in Contemporary Hinduism.” International Journal of Hindu Studies. 18. 2: 221-263.
Huffer, Amanda. 2011. “Backdoor Hinduism: A Recoding in the Language of Spirituality.” Nidan: International Journal for the Study of Hinduism. Vol. 23: 53-71.
Huffer, Amanda. 2011. “Hinduism without Religion: Amma’s Movement in America.” CrossCurrents: Special Issue: Religion in Asia Today. Vol. 61. Issue 3: 374-398.
Huffer, Amanda. 2010. “Female Immigration as a Catalyst for Ritual Practice: A Social History of Hinduism in the United States.” Journal of Hindu Studies. 3(2): 189-215.
Chapters in Edited Volumes (Peer Reviewed)
Lucia, Amanda. “Aspiring for Beauty: Aesthetic ideals and Ascetic Practice in Contemporary Spirituality,” In Embodied Reception, edited by Henriette Hanky, Istvan Keul and Knut A. Jacobsen, in progress.
Lucia, Amanda. “Nithyananda’s Tangled Webs: Discourses and Accusations in an Internet Empire,” In Gurus and Media, edited by Jacob Copeman, in progress.
Lucia, Amanda. “Divided Lines: Ethnic Stratification in Hindu NRMs and Yoga,” In Hindu Diasporas, edited by Knut Axel Jacobsen, in progress.
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 2
Lucia, Amanda. “Building Altars, Making Mandalas, and Festival Introspections on the Yoga Mat.” In Event Horizons: Transformational Festivals, Movements, and Cultures, edited by Graham St. John and Sarah M. Pike, submitted October 28, 2020.
Lucia, Amanda. “Lineages, Emerging Exemplars, and Movements.” In A Cultural History of Hinduism in the Age of Independence, co-edited by Amanda Lucia and Maya Warrier, Volume 6 of A Cultural History of Hinduism, edited by Karen Pechilis, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. “Economies of Wonder: The Production of Spectacle at the Kumbh Melā,” In An Anthropology of Wonder, edited by Tulasi Srinivas, SUNY Press, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. “Kumbh Mela as Hyperobject.” Routledge Handbook of Material Religion, edited by S. Brent Plate, Pooyan Arab, and Jennifer Scheper Hughes, in press.
Lucia, A. “Gurus and Healing: Amma (Mata Amritanandamyi) at the Intersection of Miracles and Medicine,” in The Routledge Handbook of Religion, Medicine, and Health, edited by Dorothea Lüddeckens, Philipp Hetmanczyk, Pamela Klassen, and Justin B. Stein. London and New York: Routledge, in press.
Lucia, Amanda and Michael Alexander, “Aum Shalom: Jews, Gurus, and Religious Hybridity in the City of Angels.” Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation, and Diversity in the Global City, edited by Richard Flory and Diane Winston, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. 2021. “The Global Manifestation of the Hindu Guru Phenomenon.” pp. 413-427 in Routledge Handbook of South Asian Religions, edited by Knut Axel Jacobsen. New York: Routledge University Press.
Lucia, Amanda. 2021. “Charisma in Hinduism.” pp. 175-185 in Routledge International Handbook of Charisma, edited by José Pedro Zúquete. New York: Routledge University Press.
Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “Saving Yogis: Spiritual Nationalism and the Proselytizing Missions of Global Yoga.” pp. 35-70 in Asian Migrations & Global Religion: Studies on Transnational Religious Movements, edited by Brenda Yeoh and Bernardo Brown, Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press.
Lucia, Amanda. “Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) as ‘Religious Genius,’” In Religious Genius, edited by Alon Goshen-Gottstein, Jerusalem, Israel: Elijah Interfaith Institute, in press.
Articles (Non-Peer Reviewed) Lucia, Amanda. 2020. “Why are Yogic and Transformational Festivals – from Wanderlust to Burning Man – So White? UC Press Blog. November 25. https://www.ucpress.edu/blog/53445/why-are -yogic-and-transformational-festivals-from-wanderlust-to-burning-man-so-white
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. “Religious Exoticism and White Utopias: 7 Questions for Amanda J. Lucia,” Sacred Matters: Religious Currents in Culture. November 1. https://sacredmattersmagazine.com /religious-exoticism-and-white-utopias-7-questions-for-amanda-j-lucia
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. “Representation and Whiteness among the ‘Spiritual but not Religious.’” Canopy Forum: On the Interactions of Law and Religion. September 24.
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 3 https://canopyforum.org/2020/09/24/representation-and-whiteness-among-the-spiritual-but-not- religious
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. “The Hindu Guru-Disciple Relationship and the Complications of Consent.” The Revealer, March, Special Issue: Religion and Sexual Abuse. https://therevealer.org/the-guru- disciple-relationship-and-the-complications-of-consent/
Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “Desires for power: sex scandals and their proliferation.” Oxford University Press Blog. December 15. https://blog.oup.com/2018/12/desires-power-scandals-proliferation
Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “On the Global Guru Circuit: From India to the West and Back Again.” The Religious Studies Project. November 15. https://www.religiousstudiesproject.com/2018/11/15/on-the- global-guru-circuit-from-india-to-the-west-and-back-again/
Lucia, Amanda. 2017. “Divali in the White House?” Oxford University Press Blog. October 18. https://blog.oup.com/2017/10/diwali-white-house
Lucia, Amanda and Jennifer Scheper Hughes, Jim K. Lee, and S. Romi Mukherjee. 2015. “Take It Outside: Practicing Religion in Public.” BOOM: A Journal of California. December 23. http://www.boomcalifornia.com/2016/01/take-it-outside
Lucia, Amanda. 2015. “The Playful Seduction of Colors: Chanting ‘Hare Krishna’ by Accident.” October 24. www.religiousfestivals.ucr.edu
Lucia, Amanda. 2015. “Toward a Theory of Festival.” October 24. http://religiousfestivals.ucr.edu
Lucia, Amanda. 2015. “How ISKCON took Hinduism to the US Heartland.” Scroll.In. January 16. http://scroll.in/article/700557/How-ISKCON-took-Hinduism-to-the-US-heartland (~23K views, reposted on http://www.utahkrishnas.org/iskcon-took-hinduism-us-heartland)
Lucia, Amanda. 2014. “Who Needs a Hug(ging) Saint?” Religion in American History. September 21. http://usreligion.blogspot.com/2014/09/who-needs-hugging-saint.html
Lucia, Amanda. 2013. “Religious Genius Project – Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) Discourses” Elijah Interfaith Institute, http://elijah-interfaith.org/sharing-wisdom/religious-genius-project-mata- amritanandamayi-amma-discourses
Encyclopedia Entries Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “Hinduism in America.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion in America, (print edition), edited by John Corrigan. New York: Oxford University Press, 105-125.
Lucia, Amanda. 2017. “Hinduism in America” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion in America, (online edition), edited by John Corrigan, January 26. http://religion.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780199340378.001.0001/acrefore-9780199340378-e- 436
Lucia, Amanda. 2016. “Festivals.” In Oxford Bibliographies in Hinduism, edited by Tracy Coleman, November 28. http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com
Lucia, Amanda. 2013. “Mata Amritanandamayi Mission Trust/Embracing the World,” BRILL Encyclopedia of Hinduism, vol. V, edited by Knut A. Jacobsen. Leiden: BRILL (2013), 523-30.
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 4
Translations Huffer, Amanda. 2007. Translation of selections from the Sadhvi Shakti Parishad’s (a subsidiary of the VHP) Mātramāhāśakti. (Hindi original.) Available at the Regenstein Library. The University of Chicago.
Book Reviews Lucia, Amanda. American Religion. Megan Goodwin, Abusing Religion: Literary Persecution, Sex Scandals, and American Minority Religions, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. H-ASIA. Luke Whitmore, Mountain, Water, Rock, God: Understanding Kedarnath in the Twenty-First Century, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. Relegere: Studies in Religion and Reception. Paul Hackett, ed., The Assimilation of Yogic Religions through Pop Culture, in press.
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. Nova Religio. Richard Weiss, The Emergence of Modern Hinduism: Religions on the Margins of Colonialism, Nova Religio, vol. 24, no. 2: 114-116.
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. The Journal of Religion. Angela Rudert, Shakti’s New Voice: Guru Devotion in a Woman-Led Spiritual Movement, 100, No. 1 (January): 152-154.
Lucia, Amanda. 2020. Southern California Quarterly. David J. Neumann, Finding God through Yoga, Vol 102., No. 1: 86-9.
Lucia, Amanda. 2019. International Journal of Hindu Studies. Nanette Spina, Women’s Authority and Leadership in a Hindu Goddess Tradition. 23.1: 97-98.
Lucia, Amanda. 2019. The Journal of Asian Studies. J. Barton Scott, Spiritual Despots: Modern Hinduism and the Genealogies of Self-Rule. Vol. 78, Issue 2: 476-477.
Lucia, Amanda. 2018. Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies. Prema Kurien, Ethnic Church Meets Megachurch: Indian American Christianity in Motion. Vol. 31, Article 37: 132-134.
Lucia, Amanda. 2017. Contributions to Indian Sociology. Karline McLain, The Afterlife of Sai Baba: Competing Visions of a Global Saint. 51, 3: 379-381.
Lucia, Amanda. 2016. Reading Religion (American Academy of Religion Book Reviews). Nicholas Campion, The New Age in the Modern West: Counterculture, Utopia and Prophecy from the Late Eighteenth Century to the Present Day. http://readingreligion.org/books/new-age-modern-west
Lucia, Amanda. 2016. Nova Religio. Véronique Altglas, From Yoga to Kabbalah: Religious Exoticism and the Logics of Bricolage. Vol. 20, No. 1, (Aug.): 134-135.
Lucia, Amanda. 2016. The Journal of Religion. Orianne Aymard, When a Goddess Dies: Worshipping Ma Anandamayi after Her Death. Vol. 96, Issue 2 (April 2016): 252-253.
Lucia, Amanda. 2015. Religious Studies Dissertation Reviews. Michael J. Altman, “Imagining Hindus: India and Religion in Nineteenth Century America.” http://dissertationreviews.org/archives/11459
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 5 Lucia, Amanda. 2014. Inscriptions. Vincent Wimbush, ed., MisReading America: Scriptures and Difference. Vol. 9, Spring: 2-4.
Lucia, Amanda. 2014. Religious Studies Review. Jacob Copeman and Aya Ikegame, eds., The Guru in South Asia. Vol. 40 (1): 55-56.
Lucia, Amanda. 2013. Religion and Society: Advances in Research. Jacob Copeman and Aya Ikegame, eds., The Guru in South Asia. 4: 212-213.
Huffer, Amanda. 2011. Journal of Asian Studies. Tulasi Srinivas, Winged Faith: Rethinking Globalization and Religious Pluralism Through the Sathya Sai Movement. Vol. 70 (3): 894-896.
Huffer, Amanda. 2011. Journal of Hindu Studies. Kavita Ramdya, Bollywood Weddings: Dating, Engagement, and Marriage in Hindu America. 4(1): 109-110.
Huffer, Amanda. 2011. History of Religions. Sumathi Ramaswamy, The Goddess and the Nation: Mapping Mother India. Vol. 51, No. 2: 185-188.
INVITED LECTURES 2021. “Embedding the Guru: Why Context Matters in Abuse Allegations.” Religious Studies Seminar, University of Edinburgh (March 24)
2021. “White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals,” Book Talk at Cellar Door, Riverside, CA (February 19)
2021. “White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals,” Book Talk at Open Book Sessions, Seattle, WA (February 9)
2021. “White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals,” Festival Cultures: Imagined Pasts, Alternative Futures, Keynote, Open University, Milton Keynes, UK (September 9) (postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to COVID-19)
2020. “Between Asceticism and Mysticism: Spiritual Yogis in the Festival Scene,” New Directions in Yoga Studies: Online Weekend School for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (December 6)
2020. “Romanticizing the Premodern: Positioning Yoga in the Context of Religious Exoticism.” SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies, University of London (December 2)
2020. “In Conversation: Michael Alexander on Making Peace with the Universe (2020) and Amanda Lucia on White Utopias (2020).” Center for Ideas and Society, University of California-Riverside (November 17)
2020. “Representing Yoga: A Book Talk on White Utopias with Amanda Lucia,” Webinar. Yoga Alliance (November 12)
2020. “Saving Yogis: Spiritual Nationalism and the Proselytizing Missions of Global Yoga,” Class Presentation. Otterbein University. (November 11)
2020. “White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals,” Religious Studies Colloquium. University of Southern California. (October 21)
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 6
2020. “White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals,” Colloquium. Loyola Marymount University. (October 7)
2020. “Mata Amritanandamayi in the Context of Guru NRMs,” Class Presentation. Whittier College. (September 30)
2020. “Religion and Sexual Abuse,” Inform Seminar: Sexual Abuse Framed by Faith or Belief, London, UK (July 22)
2020. “Permeable Bodies and Sexual Abuse in the Guru-Disciple Relationship,” (Lectures I, II, III), Yoga Studies Summer School, Jagiellonian University, Kraków, Poland, (July 13-15) (cancelled due to COVID-19)
2020. “Manufacturing Consent: Persuasion, Coercion, and Conformity in Guru-Disciple Relationships,” Yoga and Sexual Abuse Conference, Loyola Marymount University, (June 13)
2020. “Rethinking Ethnographic Methodology in the Wake of Writing White Utopias,” Office of Research and Economic Development, University of California-Riverside, (May 19)
2020. “Consent and Empowerment in the Guru-Disciple Relationship,” Evolution of Yoga Summit, Loyola Marymount University, (March 22) (cancelled due to COVID-19)
2020. “White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals,” Ratner Family Lecture, Keynote, Case Western Reserve University, (March 4)
2019. “White Utopias: Yoga, Transformational Festivals, and Countercultural Spirituality,” Keynote, Yogascapes 2.0, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan (July 11).
2018. “Box Braids, Buddhist Altars, and Native Headdresses: Radical Self Expression vs. Cultural Property at Burning Man,” Burning Man and Transformational Event Cultures Symposium, University of Fribourg, Switzerland, (November 29-20).
2018. “Reflecting on Reflections of Amma: The Perils and Profits of the Celebrity Guru,” University of California-Davis, (October 29).
2018. “The Cathartic Freedom of Transformational Festival: Escapes and Entrapments of Neoliberal Modernity,” University of California-Riverside, (October 4).
2018. “Anxieties over Authenticity: American Yoga and the Problem of Whiteness,” University Club, Claremont, CA, (June 29).
2018. “Anxieties over Authenticity: American Yoga and the Problem of Whiteness,” Department of Religion and Philosophy, California State University-Bakersfield, (May 4).
2018. “Mediating Charisma: The Rise of the Celebrity Guru,” Rise of New Religions in Asia Workshop, Boston University, (March 19-20).
2018. “Touching God: Charisma, Proxemic Desire, and the Haptic Logics of the Guru Disciple Relationship,” Colloquium, sponsored by Department of Classics and World Religions/Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Ohio University, Athens, OH.
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 7
2018. “Making the Intangible Tangible: How to Recreate the Magic of the Classroom in an Online Learning Environment,” Faculty Instructional Innovation Studio, University of California, Riverside.
2017. “From John Lennon to Mark Zuckerberg: Imaginings of India in American Counter/Culture,” Spirit of Women Dinner, United Church of Christ, Claremont, CA.
2017. “Romanticizing the Premodern: Charting Indices of Indigenous and Asian Religions in Contemporary American Spirituality,” Middlebury College.
2017. “American Multiculturalism: Promises and Actualities,” La Sierra University, Riverside, CA.
2017. “Illusions of Freedom: Escapism, Exoticism and the Neoliberal Yogi,” University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.
2016. “Reflecting on Reflections of Amma,” Elijah Interfaith Institute, Tel Aviv, Israel.
2016. “Asian Immigration and Religion in the United States,” The 40th Annual Meeting of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A., Suddhavasa Temple, Riverside, California.
2015. “Does Ethnicity Trump Religion?” The Returns of Religion, Religion in Diaspora and Global Affairs Conference, UCHRI, Collège d’études mondiales/FMSH/EHESS, Paris, France.
2015. “Saving Yogis: Missionizing Discourses and the Transnational Dissemination of Modern Postural Yoga,” Migrant Communities and Religious Experience in Asia Conference, Asia Research Institute (ARI), Singapore.
2015. “Modern Postural Yoga through Multiple Lenses,” Dueling Disciplines: Critical Dance Studies, Religious Studies, and Political Theory, Center for Ideas and Society, University of California-Riverside.
2015. “An Intimate Connection: Devotional Desires and Guru Physicality,” Gurus: Mapping Spirituality in Contemporary India, South Asian Council Annual Conference, Yale University.
2015. “Reflections on Reflections of Amma,” Plenary for 2014 Emory Elliott Book Award, Center for Ideas and Society, University of California-Riverside.
2014. “The Yoga of Antiquity: American Yoga and Authenticity,” Dance Department, University of California-Riverside.
2014. “Reflecting on Reflections of Amma,” a conversation with Dr. Edward Blum, Religious Studies Department, University of California-Riverside.
2014. “Innovative Yoga Gurus: Charisma, Devotees, and the creation of NRMs,” When New Religious Movements Get Old, Conference in honor of Eileen Barker, University of California-Riverside.
2014. “Seeking the Sacred: Transformational Festivals and the Search for Spiritual Experience,” Indiana University-Bloomington.
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 8
2014. “Ethics of Ethnography,” Honors Symposium, University of California-Riverside.
2013. MisReading America: Scriptures and Difference, edited by Vincent Wimbush with Lalruatkima and Melissa Renee Reid. Panel Respondent. Claremont Graduate University.
2013. “Ethics of Ethnography,” Honors Symposium, University of California-Riverside.
2013. “Ascetic Discipline and the Kumbh Mela 2013,” Center for Ideas and Society Speaker Series, University of California-Riverside, Palm Desert Campus.
2012. “The One and the Many: Religious Pluralism in India,” California Agricultural Leaders Association, California State Polytechic University-Pomona.
2011. “Do We Still Need Gurus?” Colloquium Panel with Ivan Strenski, Toby Johnson, and Erich Schwitzgebel, University of California-Riverside.
2011. “Ethics of Ethnography,” Honors Symposium, University of California-Riverside.
2011. “Swami Vivekananda and the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions,” Austin College, Sherman, Texas.
2011. “Swami Vivekananda and the World’s Parliament of Religions,” The Art Institute of Chicago.
2011. “Hinduism Without Religion: Amma’s Movement in America,” University of California- Riverside.
2011. “Performing Authority: Amritanandamayi Ma’s Theater of the Goddess,” Albion College, Albion, MI.
2011. “Hindu Religiosity in America,” Rotary Club of Delphi, Delphi, Indiana.
2010. “Ordinary Women, Goddesses, and Gurus: Post-1965 Diversification of Vivekananda’s Hinduism.” Hindus in India and America: Hinduizing America; Globalizing India Conference, University of Chicago.
2010. “Like Bees to Honey: Amma and her American devotees through the lens of Devī Bhāva.” Theory and Practice in South Asia (TAPSA) Seminar, University of Chicago.
2010. “Like Bees to Honey: Amma and her American devotees through the lens of Devī Bhāva,” Elon University.
2009. “From the Serampore Mission to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC): A History of “American Hinduism,” TAPSA Seminar, University of Chicago.
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS 2021. “Aspiring for Beauty: Aesthetic ideals and Ascetic Practice in Contemporary Spirituality,” Practices of Embodied Reception, University of Bergen, Norway. (September 8-9).
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 9 2021. “The Guru and his ‘Invading Army:’ Nativist constructions of Osho’s Rajneeshpuram in ‘Wild Wild Country,’” European Academy of Religion Conference, Muenster, Germany. (August 30- September 2) (postponed from 2020 due to COVID-19)
2021. “Post-Soviet Guru Devotion: Pilot Baba and a New Wave of Hippies,” Born Again Selves: New Religious Movements and the Norms of Belief, Universistät Erfurt, Erfurt, Germany, (May 12-14)
2020. The Power of Context, Identity, and Capital: Three Books Interrogating Spirituality and Yoga Published in 2020. Roundtable Panelist, responding to White Utopias. American Academy of Religion. (December 9)
2020. Neoliberalism, Hinduism, and Globalized ‘Spirituality’ Discourses in India and America. Panel Respondent. American Academy of Religion. (December 8)
2020. Amanda Lucia on her new book “White Utopias,” interviewed by Tulasi Srinivas. American Anthropological Association Annual Meeting, Raising our Voices. (November 11)
2019. Theory and Method 2.0 Roundtable. American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA.
2019. Authors Meet Critics. Harshita Mruthinti Kamath, Impersonations: The Artifice of Brahmin Masculinity in South Indian Dance. American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA.
2019. Authors Meet Critics. Tulasi Srinivas, The Cow in the Elevator: An Anthropology of Wonder, Association for Asian Studies, Denver, CO.
2019. “Temporary Asceticisms: The Embodied Practices of Spiritual Tourism,” Society for Pilgrimage Studies Conference, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India.
2018. “The Ephemeral Field: Ethnographic Research on Nebulous Spirituality,” American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO.
2018. “Yogic Spiritual Tourism: A Modern Asceticism?” American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO.
2018. “White Bhaktas/White Yogis: Anxieties over Authenticity in Indic Spirituality in the United States” University of Wisconsin-Madison South Asia Conference, Madison, WI.
2018. “Celebrity, Scandal, and the Godmen of Modern India.” Conference on the Study of Religions of India, University of California-Davis.
2017. Authors Meet Critics: David A. Palmer and Elijah Siegler, Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality. Panel Respondent. American Academy of Religion, Boston, MA.
2017. Reconstructing Authority: Female Gurus Today. Panel Respondent. American Academy of Religion, Boston, MA.
2016. “Transnational Yoga: Translation, Domestification, and Appropriation,” American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, TX.
2016. Disseminating Yoga: Teachings and Traditions. Panel Respondent. American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, TX.
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 10
2015. “Feeling Encounters: Understanding the Haptic Logics of Guru Intimacy,” American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, GA.
2015. “Postethnic Authenticities: Postural Yoga and American Multiculturalism,” American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, GA.
2015. “From Healing to Sex Scandal: Understanding the Haptic Logics of Guru Intimacy,” Society for the Anthropology of Religion, San Diego, CA.
2015. “Saving Yogis: Missionizing Discourses of American Yoga,” Yoga (R)evolution? Interrogating Possibilities and Practices, The Race and Yoga Research Working Group, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, CA.
2014. “Mormons Playing Holi at the Hare Krishna Temple: Cultural Representation, Proselytization, and the Productive Spaces of Festival,” American Anthropological Association, Washington DC
2014. Gods Just Want to Have Fun: Ecstasy, Celebration and Community in Los Angeles Religions. Panel Respondent. American Studies Association, Los Angeles, CA.
2013. “Textuality, Sexuality, and Embodiment: performing the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra,”American Academy of Religion, Baltimore, MD.
2013. “Is Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma) a ‘Religious Genius’?” American Academy of Religion, Baltimore, MD.
2013. “Vectors of Religious Labor at the Kumbh Mela 2013,” Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.
2013. “Ascetic Discipline and the Kumbh Mela,” Society for Pilgrimage Studies Conference, University of Allahabad, Allahabad, India.
2012. “Reviving the ‘Golden Age of the Vedas’: Gendered Innovations of Hindu Ritual,” American Academy of Religion, Chicago, IL.
2012. “Exhibit(ing) India: Authenticity and the Politics of Representation in American Yoga,” American Academy of Religion, Chicago, IL.
2012. “Responses to the Pew Forum Report on Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths.” Religious Studies Colloquium, University of California-Riverside, Riverside, CA
2012. “Hunting Exotic India: Freak Show and Festival in America 1894-2012,” South Asian Studies Association (SASA), Claremont, CA.
2011. “Hinduism without Religion: the Rhetoric of ‘Spirituality’ in Amma’s Global Guru Movement,” American Academy of Religion, San Francisco, CA.
2011. “Spiritual, But Not Hindu: Universalism in a Global Transnational Guru Movement,” Society for the Anthropology of Religion, Santa Fe, NM.
2010. “A ‘Feminine’ and Feminist Form of Hindu Religiosity: The Goddess in Amritanandamayi Ma’s
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 11 Movement,” Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.
2009. “Bounded Communities: Ammachi’s Communities of Devotees in the United States.” American Anthropological Association, Philadelphia, PA.
2009. “From the Serampore Mission to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC): A History of “American Hinduism,” Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.
2007. “Surprising Parallels: Rhetoric of Divine Motherhood in the Discourses of the Sadhvi Shakti Parishad and Amritanandamayi Ma,” Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.
2007. “An Analysis of Female Agency in Nancy Falk’s ‘Shakti Ascending: Hindu Women, Politics, and Religious Leadership During the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries.’” Midwest American Academy of Religion, River Forest, IL.
GRANTS 2020-21. Academic Senate Omnibus Travel Award, Committee on Research, UCR ($1800)
2019-20. Academic Senate Committee on Research Award ($5,000).
2019-2024. PI: “Religion and Sexual Abuse Project,” Henry Luce Foundation ($550,000)
2018. Center for Ideas and Society (CIS) Second Project Award (course release equaling $6100)
2018-19. Academic Senate Omnibus Travel Award, Committee on Research, UCR ($950)
2016. Budget Expansion, Innovative Learning Technology Initiatives (ILTI), UCR, to develop RLST 012 into an online course ($60,000)
2016-17. Academic Senate Committee on Research Award ($6,500)
2016-17. Academic Senate Omnibus Travel Award, Committee on Research, UCR ($1,100)
2015. UCEAP Academic Integration of Study Abroad ($5,000)
2015. “The Public Practice of Immigrant and Minority Religions in Southern California,” Mellon Foundation, Center for Ideas and Society, UCR (course release equaling $6,200)
2015. ILTI, UCR ($2,500)
2014-15. Academic Senate Omnibus Travel Award, Committee on Research, UCR ($1,300)
2013-15(16). Co-PI: Religion in Diaspora and Global Affairs (RIDAGA) Humanities Studio Award, University of California Humanities Research Initiative/Luce Foundation ($75,000)
2013-15. Hellman Fellowship, UCR ($30,000)
2013-14. Academic Senate Omnibus Travel Award, Committee on Research, UCR ($1,125)
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 12 2013-14. Regents Faculty Fellowship, Committee on Research, UCR ($4,400)
2013-14. Mellon Workshop, Center for Ideas and Society, UCR, Co-PI: ISIR (Institute for the Study of Immigration and Religion) ($5,000)
2011-12. Stimulus Money, Office of the Chancellor, UCR, Co-PI: ISIR ($13,500)
2011-12. Faculty Research Grant, UCR ($15,000)
2011. ACLS Mellon New Faculty Fellowship (declined)
2009-10. Dissertation Fellowship, Committee on Southern Asian Studies (COSAS)
2009. Dissertation Research Stipend, COSAS/Divinity School, University of Chicago
2008-09. Dissertation Fellowship, COSAS
2005-06. Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Grant, Malayalam
2004-05. FLAS Grant, Hindi
2003-04. FLAS Grant, Hindi
2003. American Institute of India Studies (AIIS)/FLAS. Summer Hindi in Jaipur, India
1996-97. College Year in India Program (Varanasi), University of Wisconsin, Madison
AWARDS
2020. Professor of the Year, University Honors Program, UCR
2018. University of California Women’s Initiative for Professional Development (UC WI)
2015. Emory Elliott Book Award for Reflections of Amma, Center for Ideas and Society, UCR
2015. Reflections of Amma, One of “The Best Spiritual Books of 2014,” Spirituality &Practice
2014. Outstanding Mentorship Award, Sisters in Strength undergraduate club, UCR
TEACHING University of California-Riverside:
Lower Division: Religious Myth and Ritual (cross-listed with Ethnic Studies): 2021 (Honors), 2020 (Online), 2020 (Honors); 2019 (Honors), 2019 (online); 2018 (+ Honors section), 2018 (online); 2017 (+Honors section), 2017 (online); 2016 (+Honors section); 2015
Introduction to Asian Religions: 2014
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 13
Upper Division: New Religious Movements: 2020, 2012 Gurus and Saints: 2016, 2013, 2012 Yoga: From Ancient to Modern: 2017, 2016 Contemporary Themes in Religion and Theory: 2018, 2014, 2013 Gender, Sexuality, and Religion (cross-listed with Gender & Sexuality Studies): 2017, 2012 Modern Hinduism: 2020F, 2020W, 2014, 2013, 2011 Senior Seminar: 2018, 2016, 2015
Graduate Seminars: Charisma: Advanced Topics in Method and Theory in the Study of Religion: 2020 Via Mystica: 2017 Advanced Topics in the Study of North American Religion: 2014, 2012 Ethnographic Methodology: 2020, 2019, 2015, 2013 Thinking Religion: Classic Theories in the Study of Religion: 2018 Contemporary Methods and Theory in the Study of Religion: 2016
Independent Studies: Sociology of Religion Muslim Postcolonial Feminisms in South Asia American Communal Utopias Transmission of Buddhism from Asia to the US Hinduism in America Senior Seminar Hinduism First Year Hindi/Urdu: I, II, III Shirdi Sai Baba First Year Sanskrit: I, II, III
Austin College: Religion, Culture, and Society in Asia Hinduism Asian Religions in America Buddhism Gurus and Globalization
University of Illinois, Chicago: Second year Hindi/Urdu Advanced Readings Hindi/Urdu
The University of Chicago: Second year Hindi
RELATED EMPLOYMENT 2009-10. Research Assistant, Dr. Wendy Doniger, History of Religions, University of Chicago
2007-08. Program Assistant, South Asia Language Resource Center (SALRC), University of Chicago
6-9/2006. Research Assistant, Dr. Martin Riesebrodt, Sociology of Religion, University of Chicago 6-9/2004
2004-05. Research Assistant, Dr. Christian Wedemeyer, History of Religions, University of Chicago
2004-05. Coordinator, Theory and Practice in South Asia (TAPSA) Lecture Series, University of Chicago
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 14
2002-04; 6-9/2005. Coordinator, South Asia Outreach, University of Chicago
SERVICE, PROFESSIONAL SKILLS, AND ASSOCIATIONS Service to Academic Institutions: University of California-Riverside: Senate Committees Executive Council (2020 – present) Graduate Council (2018 – present) Chair (2020 – present) Graduate Council Courses and Programs Subcommittee (2019 – 2020) Graduate Council Fellowships Subcommittee (2018 – 2019) Covid-19 Working Group, Senate Subcommittee (2020 – present) Administrative Studies Committee (2016 – present) Scheduling Committee Member (2017 – 2018) CHASS Executive Committee (2014 – 2016)
Campus Service Instructional Continuity group, coordinated by the Associate Provost (2020 – present) Classroom Design subcommittee, coordinated by the Associate Provost (2019 – present) Center for Ideas and Society (CIS) Mellon Speaker Series Coordinator (2012 – 2014) Mentoring Summer Research Internship Program (MSRIP) (06/2016 – 08/2016) Making Excellence Inclusive (MEI): UCR Diversity Certificate Program (2016 – 2017) Office of Research and Development trip to Washington DC to meet with Program Officers (7/2016) Associate Provost Team Classroom Visit, Oregon State University (3/2019)
Department Committees Graduate Program Committee (2011 – 2018, 2019 – present) Lecturer Committee (Spring 2019 – 2020) Colloquium Coordinator (Spring 2019 – 2020, 2013 – 2014); Co-Coordinator (2014 – 2015) Undergraduate Advisor (Fall 2011, Fall 2015 – Spring 2019) Assessment Coordinator (2016 – Spring 2019) Faculty Liaison for Undergraduate RLST Club (2012 – 2018) Library Coordinator (2014 – 2016) Search Committee member: Shrimad Rajchandra Endowed Chair in Jain Studies (2017 – 2018), Holstein Chair (2015 – 2016), Global Christianity (2014 – 2015), Transnational Buddhism (2013 – 2014)
Austin College: Asian Studies Committee (2010 – 2011)
Graduate Students Advised – Dissertation Committee Chair Rosetti, Cristina. 2019. “Spirits in Zion: Dissenting Acts of Spirit Communication as Sources of Authority in Contemporary Mormonism,” Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside
Kuo, Shou Jen. 2018. “Situating Themselves in the Pure Land of Humanistic Buddhism on Earth: A Study of Chinese American Religiosity at Hsi Lai Temple in Southern California,” Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 15 Guida, Jeremy. 2016. “Metaphysical Underground: The Underground Press and the Transformation of Metaphysical Religion, 1964-1973,” Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside
Graduate Students Advised – Dissertation Committee Member Steven Quach (2020 – present), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Tejpaul Bainiwal (2020 – present), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Hassanah El-Yacoubi (2018 – present), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Owain Graham (2018 – present), Ethnomusicology, University of California-Riverside Benjamin Blocksom (2018 – present), Ethnomusicology, University of California-Riverside Nathan Womack (2016 – 2019), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Chris Miller (2017 – 2018), Religious Studies, University of California-Davis Jen Aubrecht (2014 – 2017), Dance, University of California-Riverside Sean Sagan (2013 – 2017), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside SJ Crasnow (2013 – 2017), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Jeremy Guida (2013 – 2015), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Allison Solso (2012 – 2015), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Charles Townsend (2012 – 2015), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside
Graduate Students Advised – Dissertation Committee External Reader di Placido, Matteo. 2020. “Pedagogies of Salvation: Discipline, Practice, and the Shaping of the Self,” Sociology and Social Research, Universita Degli Studi Di Milano-Bicocca, Milan, Italy
Wittich, Agi. 2020. “Her Yoga: Women-Oriented Iyengar Yoga: Between Innovation and Tradition,” Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Graduate Students Advised – Qualifying Exam Committee Chair Cristina Rosetti (2016), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Jessica Rehman (2015), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Shou Kuo (2014), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside
Graduate Students Advised – Qualifying Exam Committee Member Alina Pokhrel (2020 – present), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Gurbeer Singh (2020 – present), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Tessa Harmon (2020 – present), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Tejpaul Bainiwal (2020), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside – reader Steven Quach (2019), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Hassanah El-Yacoubi (2018), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside – reader Owain Graham (2018), Ethnomusicology, University of California-Riverside Benjamin Blocksom (2018), Ethnomusicology, University of California-Riverside Chris Miller (2017), Religious Studies, University of California-Davis Nathan Womack (2016), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Jen Aubrecht (2014), Dance, University of California-Riverside Jeremy Guida (2013), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Sean Sagan (2013), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside SJ Crasnow (2013), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Daniel Pschaida (2012), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Daniel Suh (2012), Sociology, University of California-Riverside
Graduate Students Advised – Master’s Exam Committee Member
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 16 Anna Beck (2014), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Erin Routon (2013), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside James Edmonds (2012), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside
Undergraduate Honors Students Theses Advised Emma Sherwood (2017), Religious Studies, University of California-Riverside Aubrey Francis (2013), Psychology, University of California-Riverside
Undergraduate Student Language Exam Advisor and Proctor Zara Raza (2019), Urdu Placement Exam, University of California-Irvine Devansh Bhargava (2017), Hindi Placement Exam, University of California-Riverside Madiha Jamal (2016), Urdu Placement Exam, University of California-Riverside Mohammad Sameer Saddiqi (2014), Urdu Placement Exam, University of California-Riverside Saad Sidiqqui (2013), Urdu Placement Exam, University of California-Riverside Affaf Waseem (2013), Urdu Placement Exam, University of California-Riverside Aleena Khan (2012), Urdu Placement Exam, University of California-Riverside
Service to Academic Fields: Research Groups: PI: Religion and Sexual Abuse Project (2019 – present) Pedagogy Discussion Group: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Smithsonian (8/2020) Co-Director: Institute for the Study of Immigration and Religion (2012 – 2018) Co-PI: Religion in Diaspora and Global Affairs, RIDAGA (2013 – 2015) Contributor: Working Group, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California (2012-2014)
Leadership in National Organizations: American Academy of Religion: Member: Yoga Theory and Practice Group Steering Committee (2016 – present) Co-Chair: Hinduism Group (2014 – 2018) Member: Hinduism Group Steering Committee (2011 – 2014)
Academic Journal Activity: Journal of the American Academy of Religion, Editorial Board (2018 – 2020)
Journal Reviews: American Jewish History (2015) Asian Women (2011) Critical Research on Religion (2018) Fieldwork in Religion (2020) History of Religions (2014, 2013) International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (2019) International Journal of Hindu Studies (2016, 2015, 2012) International Social Sciences Journal (2010) Journal of Asian and African Studies (2015) Journal of Dharma Studies (2019) Journal of the American Academy of Religion (2018, 2017, 2015) Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture (2016)
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 17 Nova Religio (2020, 2019, 2018) Race and Yoga Journal (2020, 2015) Religion Compass (2015) Religions (2018) The Journal of Religion (2009) Societies (2018)
Granting Institutions Reviews: Hellman Fellowship Selection Committee, UCR (2020, 2019, 2018) Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) (2017, 2015) National Endowment of the Humanities – Documentary Film Development Projects (2015)
Book Manuscript Reviews: Oxford University Press (2020) University of California Press (proposal, 2019, manuscript 2014) Routledge (proposal, 2018) Bloomsbury Academic Press (2017) Oxford University Press (2017) Palgrave MacMillan (2015) Columbia University Press (2013)
Public Outreach: Media: Interviewed by Michael J. Williams of The Press Enterprise on Aimee Semple McPherson, “Lake Elsinore: Preacher Found Celebrity Status with her Global Following,” http://www.pe.com/articles/mcpherson-775646-elsinore-lake.html, published July 31, 2015 Interviewed by Steven Wall of The Press Enterprise on declining numbers of American Christians, “Religion: Fewer Americans call themselves Christian,” http://www.pe.com/articles/christian-767089-people-percent.html?page=1, published May 12, 2015. Interviewed by high school students from Rancho Verde High School on Swami Vivekananda, November 12, 2014. Interviewed by Kirsten Anne Schmitt on Mata Amritanandamayi (Amma), for Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism publication, July 19, 2013 Interviewed by Ela Dutt on the Pew Forum report, “Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths,” for News India Times, August 28, 2012 Interviewed by David Olson of The Press Enterprise on the launching of the Institute for the Study of Immigration and Religion at University of California-Riverside, “UC Riverside: Institute focuses on immigrant religions,” http://www.pe.com/articles/institute-638543-immigrant-hughes.html, May 31, 2012 Interviewed by Adriana Janovich on Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and global guru movements for USC’s student newspaper, Neon Tommy, April 18, 2012 Interviewed by Josh Jarman of The Columbus Dispatch on Karunamayi Ma’s visit to the Midwest, June 2007.
Higher Education: Alumni Pedagogy Workshop: Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, University of Chicago, April 2013
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 18 Chair/Judge: University of California-Riverside Undergraduate Research Symposium, 2014 Panelist: Hinduism and Buddhism, Student Forum, Austin College, 2011
Languages: Hindi: advanced. Urdu: good. Sanskrit: reading. French: reading.
Technical: Web-based teaching tools (Canvas/ilearn/Blackboard/Moodle/clickers), MS Office, Scrivener, Databases, Adobe, basic HTML/XHTML, Squarespace
Professional Memberships: American Academy of Religion (AAR) Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) American Anthropological Association (AAA) Society for the Anthropology of Religion (SAR) Society for the Anthropology of North America (SANA) American Studies Association (ASA)
REFERENCES Dr. Melissa Wilcox, Professor, University of California-Riverside, [email protected]
Dr. Wendy Doniger, Professor, The University of Chicago, [email protected]
Dr. Hugh Urban, Professor, Ohio State University, [email protected]
Dr. Deepak Sarma, Professor, Case Western University, [email protected]
Dr. Amanda J. Lucia 19