Picture: At Piran Kaliyar, near Rourkee, Uttar Pradesh (India)

Office Lentz Hall 207
Office Phone (262) 551-5913
Fax (262) 551-6208
Email James G. Lochtefeld
Snail Department of Religion, Carthage College, 2001 Alford Drive Kenosha WI 53140

Education

1992 Ph.D, Columbia University (Religion). Dissertation is "Haridwara, Haradwara, Gangadwara: The Construction Of Identity And Meaning In A Hindu Pilgrimage Place." The dissertation combines textual and field sources for a full study of Hardwar, a major Hindu pilgrimage site, and uses this as a window into modern Hindu religious life.
1987 M.A., University of Washington (Sanskrit, Hindi)
1983 M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School (History of Religion)
1979 B.A. cum laude, Colgate University (Philosophy and Religion)

Professional Experience

September 2005—Present: Professor of Religion, Carthage College 

October 2001—Present: Director, Asian Studies Program, Carthage College.

October 1998-August 2001: Chair, Department of Religion, Carthage College.
September 1997-August 2005: Associate Professor of Religion, Carthage College.
September 1992-August 1997: Assistant Professor of Religion, Carthage College.

September 1991-August 1992: Instructor in Religion, St. Olaf College, full-time.

Languages: Sanskrit, Hindi, Braj Bhasa, French, German

Research Interests: Hindu Pilgrims and Pilgrimage, Medieval North Indian Saints, Modern Hindu Religious Movements.

Panels, Papers and Presentations

March 2008:  “Imagined Landscapes: Space and Place in the Haridvaramahatmya.”  Invited Paper delivered at the “Ocean of Devotion” Symposium run by the Center for the Study of Hindu Traditions (Gainesville, FL)

March 2008:  “What’s So Special about Me? The Role of the Specialist in General Education.”  Invited Paper delivered at the ASIANetwork annual meeting (San Antonio, TX). 

 April 2006: “Experiencing Other Cultures: Travel to Asia.”  ASIANetwork Annual Meeting (Lisle IL); panel discussant. 

April/May 2006: “Tensions Within Islam: The Struggle for the Soul of a Faith,” public lectures delivered to the Racine Coalition for Peace and Justice (24 April) and the UW-Parkside Forum (1 May).  Invited Presentations.  

August 2005: “Shinran and Tulsidas: Mystery and the Workings of Grace,” delivered at The Shin Buddhist Path in Global and Comparative Perspective, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY.  Invited Presentation. 

February 2003: “The Construction of the Kumbha Mela,” lecture delivered to the South Asia Seminar at the University of Iowa (Iowa City).

November 2002: Invited Panelist at “Kumbha Mela: Where the Sacred Meets the Profane,” AAR/SBL Annual Meeting, Toronto.

November 2001: Invited panelist to discuss the film “Poverty, Politics, and Religion: The Plight of India’s Poor,” which was arranged by the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies; AAR/SBL Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado.

April 2001: “Distance Learning at the Cleveland Museum of Art,” panel discussant at the ASIANetwork annual meeting, Cleveland, OH.  Invited Presentation.

April 2000: "The Web and Teaching," a paper presented at the ASIANetwork annual meeting, Lisle IL.   Invited Presentation.
Nov. 1999: "Hindu Nationalism," a paper presented at Earth and Fire: Nationalism and Society in South Asia, a symposium on India organized by the Heritage Studies Program of Carthage College (I also played a primary role in organizing this symposium).
Nov. 1998 "Tirthas and Tourism: From Bliss to Babylon?" Paper presented at the AAR/SBL annual meeting, Orlando FL. Invited Presentation.
Apr. 1997 Planned, organized, and presided over "South Asia in the Asian Mosaic," at the 1997 ASIANetwork annual meeting, Manchester Vermont. The panel was composed at the express request of the president of the ASIANetwork.
Oct. 1996 Panel member in "Learning From Our Religious Pluralism: An Alumni Symposium on the Religious Traditions of Asia," sponsored by the Department of Religion at Colgate University, Hamilton, NY. Invited presentation.
Aug. 1996 "The Transformation of Haridwar." Address to the Ranipur branch of Rotary International, Ranipur (India). Invited Presentation.
Apr. 1995 Panel member in "Getting Started: Asian Studies From the Ground Up," a panel discussion at the ASIANetwork annual meeting, St. Petersburg, FL. Invited presentation.
Nov. 1993 Organized and participated in "From Sanatana Dharma to Hindutva: Hindu Voices Describing Hindu Identity in the 19th and 20th centuries" at the AAR/SBL Annual Meeting, Washington D.C. Paper was "New Wine, Old Skins: The Vishva Hindu Parishad and the Transformation of Hinduism."
Apr. 1992 "Water For Lord Shiva: Hope Upon Hope." AAR/SBL Upper Midwest Regional Meeting, St. Paul, MN. Invited Presentation.
Nov. 1991 "Continuity and Change in a Hindu Pilgrimage Center: The Evidence of The Mayapurimahatmya." AAR/SBL Annual Meeting, Kansas City, MO. Invited Presentation.
Mar. 1991 Organized, presided, and participated in "Liquid Assets and Liabilities: Hindu Perspectives on the Management of Fluids," at the AAR/SBL Mid-Atlantic Regional Meeting, New York, NY. Paper presented was "Bringing Home The Ganges: Bhagirath Revisited." Oct. 1988 "Reflected Splendor: The Regional Appropriation of `All-India' Tirthas." New York Conference on Asian Studies, Albany, NY. Invited Presentation.

Publications

“Getting in Line: The Kumbha Mela Processions."  In Knut Axel Jacobsen (ed.), South Asian Religions on Display: Religious Processions in South Asia and the Diaspora.  New York: Routledge South Asian Religion Series, 2008: 29-44.

"The Saintly Chamar: Perspectives on the Life of Ravidas.” In Eleanor Zelliot and Rohini Mokashi-Punekar (eds.), Untouchable Saints, 201-20.  Delhi: Manohar Press, 2005.

“The Construction of the Kumbha Mela,” South Asian Popular Culture, vol. 2 no. 2, (October 2004): 103-26.

“Tirtha” (Hindu pilgrimage sites, co-written with Prof. S.M. Bhardwaj, Bowling Green State University).  In Gene Thursby and Sushil Mittal, eds., The Hindu World, 478-501.  New York: Routledge, 2004. 

“Web Pages and Teaching,” The ASIANetwork EXCHANGE, vol. VIII, no. 3 (Spring 2001): 23-24.

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism. New York: Rosen Publishing, 2001.
"Kumbh Mela," entry in Encyclopedia of World Religions, Springfield: Merriam Webster Inc. 1999.
"The Saintly Camar: Perspectives on the Life of Ravidas," in ARC: The Journal of the Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University, vol. 26 (1998): 63-82.
"New Wine, Old Skins: The Sangh Parivar and the Transformation of Hinduism," Religion 26 (1996): 102-17.
"The Vishva Hindu Parishad And The Roots Of Hindu Militancy," JAAR LXII 2 (Summer 1994): 1301-16.
"Reflected Splendor: The Regional Appropriation of `All-India' Tirthas," in a volume of papers given at the New York Conference on Asian Studies. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1990. 

Honors, Grants, and Fellowships

2005:  Sabbatical Leave, Carthage College (fall semester)

2004: Faculty Summer Research Grant, Carthage College

2002: ASIANetwork Freeman Faculty-Student Research Grant

2001: Faculty Summer Research Grant, Carthage College

1998: Sabbatical Leave, Carthage College (spring semester)

1997-98 Senior Research Fellowship, American Institute of Indian Studies
1996 Faculty Summer Research Grant, Carthage College
1991, 1989, and 1988 President's Fellow, Columbia University
1990 Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship
1989 Fulbright-IIE (alternate)
1987, 1986, and 1984 FLAS Fellowships, Columbia University and Univ. of Wa.
1985 A.I.I.S. Hindi Language Program Fellow
1979 Robinson Prize in Biblical Literature, Colgate Univ.

1975-79 War Memorial Scholar, Colgate University

1975 Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America.

Professional Organizations: American Oriental Society, AAR/SBL, ASIANetwork.  

College and Community Service

January 2008-January 2011: Senior Warden, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church

October 2006-present: Chair, Global Heritage Working Group (Curriculum formation)

Aug. 2004-Aug. 2005—Chair, Faculty Executive Committee, Carthage College

January 2004—January 2007: Member of the Vestry, St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church

Aug. 2003-Aug. 2009: Faculty Executive Committee, Carthage College (consecutive terms)

April 2001-April 2002: Past Chair (ex officio), ASIANetwork Board of Directors.

April 2000-April 2001: Chair, ASIANetwork Board of Directors.
Jan. 2000-Jan. 2003: Junior Warden of the Vestry, St. Mathew's Episcopal Church
April 1999-April 2000: Vice-Chair, ASIANetwork Board of Directors

Oct. 1998-Sept. 2001—Chair, Religion Department, Carthage College
April 1998: Member, Board of Directors, ASIANetwork (3 year term)
May 1997-May 2000: Member and Secretary, Faculty Executive Committee, Carthage College
Feb. 1996-Jan. 1999: Clerk and Member of the Vestry, St. Mathew's Episcopal Church.
Sept. 1995-August 2005: Faculty adviser, The Current (student newspaper)
Mar. 1995-Aug. 1997 Chair, Heritage Oversight Committee.
Fall 1994: Authored Carthage grant proposals for a Luce Consultancy (from the ASIANetwork) and a Fulbright Scholar-In-Residence (both approved).
May 1995-Sept. 1999: Coordinator, Wingspread Fellows Program
Dec.1993-Dec. 1999: Faculty Adviser, Delta Upsilon Fraternity, Carthage College Chapter.
1993-94 Faculty Secretary, Carthage College  

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Last modified 23 May 2008