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It was in Fall 2010 that I came to the Department of Religion at Montclair State University. My area of specialization is Indigenous Religions of North America, with particular interest in the encounter between Native religious traditions and Christianity. I also conduct research and publish in the fields of Christian history and theology, especially Catholicism and Pentecostalism, and the intersection of religion and environmental activism.

Currently, I'm working on a book project examining US communities engaged in spiritually informed environmental activism -- from Native Hawai'ian elders resisting the Thirty Meter Telescope on Mauna Kea, to Catholic Sisters using a Chapel blockade to resist a fracked gas pipeline through their farmland in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

During the summer months, I often conduct fieldwork on the Apsaalooke (Crow) Reservation in Montana, writing oral religious histories and documenting the nature of polyreligious belonging among the Crow tribe. I've published articles in the Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Spiritus, U.S. Catholic Historian, Latin American Indian Literatures Journal, Missiology, and Horizons. My first book, 'Demons, Saints, and Patriots: Catholic Visions of Native America (1902-1962)' was published by Marquette University Press in 2009. My second book, 'Crow Jesus: Personal Stories of Native Religious Belonging' was published by the University of Oklahoma Press (2016). This second book was made possible through a research grant from the Lilly Endowment-funded Louisville Institute (Kentucky).

At MSU, I regularly teach the following courses: RELG 101-Understanding Religion; RELG 254-Native American Religions; RELG 275-Interreligious Encounters; RELG 352-Religious Texts of the Native/European Encounter; RELG 355-Jesus & Liberation; RELG 357-Religious Experience; and RELG 382-Indigenous Voices Today.

Specialization

Indigenous Religions of North America
Native American Christianity
Pentecostalism
Christian Liberation Theologies
Religion & Eco-Justice
Phenomenology of Religion
Religious Experience

Resume/CV