Professor of Religious Studies: I teach several Religion Class. My specialty is early/Medieval Christianity and Islam.
Research Interests
My research interests focus on Christianity and Islam and, most recently pilgrimage. My currently book project, Abundant Bodies of Pilgrimage, considers what bodies experience while visiting sacred places. I'm also interested in 'sacred sounds,' particularly music, chant, and Quranic recitation. My next research project will consider how religious traditions understand 'sacred sounds' as healing modality.
Biography
I earned a PhD. in Religious Studies from Indiana University after completing my BA and MA in History at the University of Arkansas. I joined the University of Mississippi in 2003. I have two books on comparative Christianity and Islam, as well as several articles.
Chosen Among Women: Mary and Fatima in Christianity and Shi`ite Islam (Notre Dame)
Sacred Scents in Early Christianity and Islam (Lexington Press),
"Holy Heads: John the Baptist and Imam Husayn in early Christian and Islamic Pilgrimage," for Routledge Handbook on Religion and the Body,
“Searching for the Green Man: Researching Pilgrimage in Israel/Palestine and Egypt,” International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage.
Courses Taught
- REL 101 Intro to Religion
- REL 103 Intro to Judaism
- REL 300 Christianity, and Islam
- REL 326 Comparative Religion
- REL 335 Saints and Sexuality
- REL 340 Self-Harm and Religion
- REL 342 Travel and Tourism in Religion
Education
Associate General Studies, Southern Arkansas University El Dorado B (1989)
B.A. History, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville (1992)
M.A. History, University of Arkansas-Fayetteville (1992)
Ph.D. Religious Studies, Indiana University-Bloomington (1997)