Alumni

Alphabetical by last name.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U V W Y Z

Ryan J. T. Adams

BA, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2001.
MA, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2006.
PhD, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2012.
Areas of Study at UCSB: East Asia-Chinese Religions, Religion and Culture, History of Religions, Anthropology of Religions, Philosophy of Religion, Technologies of the Self/Body, Sacred Space, Charisma.
Title of Master’s Thesis: “Falun Gong: Transforming Tradition, Self, and Society.”
Title of Doctoral Dissertation: “Transformers: Chinese Self-Cultivation Traditions in Taiwan’s Falun Gong.”
Current Employment: Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Comparative Religion, Western Michigan University.

Joseph A. Adler

BA, Biology, University of Rochester, 1970.
MA, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 1977.
PhD, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 1984.
Areas of Study at UCSB: Chinese Religions, Confucianism, Buddhism, Ancient Mediterranean.
Title of Doctoral Dissertation: “Divination and Philosophy: Chu His’s Understanding of the I-ching.”
Current Employment: Professor Emeritus of Religious Studies and Asian Studies, Kenyon College.

Munther H. Al-Sabbagh

Jessica Andruss

AB, Religion and Modern Languages & Literatures, Kenyon College, 2001.
MA, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2006.
MA, Near Eastern Languages, The Ohio State University
PhD, University of Chicago
Areas of Study at UCSB: Medieval Spain and North Africa, Sephardim and Sephardic Diaspora, Hebrew and Arabic Convivencia Literature, Vernacularism, Alfonso X, Medieval Biblical/History Projects, Creativity.
Title of Master’s Thesis: “The Nazirite Embodiment of Holiness: A Conditional Vow of Consecrated Hair.”
Current Employment: Assistant Professor, Mellon Fellow, Institute of the Humanities and Global Cultures, University of Virginia

Courtney Applewhite

Area: Death ritual and grief; North American Religions; secularism and secular people; religion and science; ritual studies
PhD, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2023
Dissertation: From Dust to Compost: Eco-Disposition Methods and a Changing Religious Landscape in the United States
MA, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2019
MA Thesis: Institutionalized Individuality: Death Practices and Afterlife Beliefs in Unity Church, Unitarian Universalism, and Spiritualism in Santa Barbara

Jon Armajani

BA, Philosophy, Oberlin College, 1988.
MDiv, Princeton Theological Seminary, 1991.
PhD, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 1999.
Areas of Study at UCSB: Islam, Theory and Method for the Study of Religion, and Philosophy of Religion.
Title of Master’s Thesis: “Kurds, Turks, Nestorians, and Westerners: An Analysis of Religious, Political, and Ethnic Turmoils in Nineteenth Century Kurdistan.”
Title of Doctoral Dissertation: “Islamic Thought in the West: Sacred Texts, Islamic History, and Visions of Islam in a Transnational Age.”
Current Employment: Associate Professor, Department of Theology, College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.

Natalie Avalos

BA, Interdisciplinary Studies in Anthropology, Psychology, and Religious Studies, UC Berkeley, 2006.
MA, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2010.
PhD, Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara, 2015.
Areas of Study at UCSB: Indigenous Religious Traditions of the Americas and Tibet, Tibetan Buddhism, Chicano Religions, Indigenous Ontology, Healing Historical Trauma, Religiosity as Social Justice, Transnational Religiosity, Race and Religion.
Title of Master’s Thesis: “Postcolonial Healing: Indigenous Concepts of Power and Strategies for Self-Determination.”
Title of Doctoral Dissertation: “Interdependence as a Lifeway: Decolonization and Resistance in Transnational Native American and Tibetan Communities.”
Current Employment: Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow, Ethnic Studies Department, University of Colorado at Boulder
Transitioning to a tenure-track position in the same dept. next academic year (2020-21)