Graduate Profiles
Lauren Siongco; Second Year
Lauren received her BA in Women's Studies from the
University of California Los Angeles.
Meagan Clark; Second Year - Journalism Concentration
Meagan earned her BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from The King's College in 2013 and her master's in Religion and Public Life from Harvard Divinity School in 2022. Since 2019, she has been the founding managing editor of ReligionUnplugged.com, a global online religion magazine covering faith, politics and culture. She has particular interests in Eastern Orthodox Christianity globally and reporting on religion in South Asian communities, after living for nearly five years in Delhi, India. While at Harvard she researched why some American evangelicals are becoming Orthodox and hopes to continue this project at NYU along with other stories she's itching to report.
Jieyu (Warren) Liu; Second Year
Warren received a BA in Religion & BS in Public Relations at Boston University. Warren’s BA thesis was entitled "Comparing the Construction and Maintenance of Religious World and Video Game World." The thesis was trying to discuss the similarity in the reality and world construction of video games and religions. At NYU he hopes to continue an interdisciplinary approach between religion, communication, and anthropology or sociology, using the concept of mediated reality to understand the extent of virtuality in video games and how it can influence peoples’ lives across the different realities and worlds.
Joshua Ellis; Second Year
I was born and raised in the small town of Forestville, New York where my parents pastor the local Wesleyan church. Throughout my childhood and undergraduate studies, I participated in the practice and leadership of Evangelical worship in LGBTQ+ non-affirming spaces. This tension between participation and exclusion directed my curiosity toward the presence of queerness within religious traditions. I received a BA from Houghton College in music and Biblical studies where my passion to investigate this conflict came into focus. At NYU I plan to center my studies on the experiences of queer identities within dominant faith narratives and how LGBTQ+ performances of worship, specifically through music, are affected by exclusionary practices.
Owen Kellaway; Second Year
I grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. About a decade ago I moved to New York City, and am a devoted resident of Queens. I am a substance use counselor by trade, specializing in LGBTQ populations and harm reduction approaches. In Spring 2021, I completed an undergraduate degree at NYU Gallatin, where I had formulated a concentration in Discard Studies, Transgender Studies, and Sociocultural Analysis, among other disciplines. I focused on how the worth of others is imagined, represented and communicated, as well as what social institutions those imaginaries serve. At GSAS I plan to continue my studies by turning an eye towards the historical relationship between trans and gender nonconforming (TGNC) people and organized religions. Ultimately, I am interested in the development of personal and/or "radical" spiritual practices by TGNC peoples in relationship and reaction to religion.
Grant Besner; Class of 2023
MA Thesis Title: The Impossibility of Campus Religion: Critical Meditations on Neoliberal Modernity at N.Y.U.
Where Are They Now: Coming soon!
Tianyu (Pamela) Liu; Class of 2023
MA Thesis Title: Sister "Iron Girl": Post-Maoist Discourse on Chinese Protestant Life in China's State Sanctioned Church
Where Are They Now: Pam is the General Business Manager for WorldEx Group in China.
Cameron Andersen; Class of 2023
MA Thesis Title: Don't Tread on Memes: The Americans that Stormed the Capitol and the Affects that Moved Them
Where Are They Now: Coming soon!
Rena Rubino; Class of 2022
MA Thesis Title: "Press F to Pay Respects": American Neoliberal Religion in Call of Duty
Where Are They Now: After her time working for the Religious Studies Department, Rena realized she wanted to continue her career in higher education. She currently holds a position in NYU's International Relations Program as Program Administrator.
Anna Donch; Class of 2021
MA Thesis Title: Mediating Mormon Womanhood: Reimagining the Boundaries of Material Culture
Where Are They Now: Anna is working as a Program Administrator for the NYU Center for Ancient Studies.
Derek Luos; Class of 2021
MA Thesis Title: The Spirit of Salem: Analyzing the Salem Pilgrimage Through Ideological and Material Forms of Magic, Placemaking and Experience.
Where Are They Now: Derek is the founder and principal director of Homespun Industries; a worker owned start-up dedicated to designing, developing and distributing digital resources for the maker community. Without relying on paywalls or intellectual property constraints, Derek hopes to lay the groundwork towards a post-consumerist culture of creators and innovators. Derek also works at Steady Equipment Corp, where he builds coffee robots as their Lead Manufacturing Technician.
Shakir Stephen; Class of 2020
MA Thesis Title: Into the Science Classroom: Creationism, Leveraging the Law, and Post-Fact Epistemes
Where Are They Now: Shakir has been working as a tutor in the Ivy Tutor Network and is pursuing a Ph.D. in Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara
Robyn Lanz; Class of 2020 Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title:
Mediating Heathen Identites: How Adherents of a Small Neo-Pagan Religion in America Engage With Formal Media Structures in Attempt to Legitimize and Discredit Specific Identites in America's Public Discourse
Journalism Project: Those Worthy of Valhalla: The Conflict at the Heart of Heathen Identity in America
Where Are They Now: Robyn is a co-founder, producer, host and marketing and digital media manager at the podcast network Beaned Media, as well as a freelance graphic designer. Currently, Robyn is the YouTube Account Manager for Storm Ideas.
Natalya Titova; Class of 2020
MA Thesis Title: Evaluating the Plausability of Nancy Eisland's Presentation of the Post-Resurrection Jesus Christ as "The Disabled God"
Where Are They Now: Natalya is a statistician at the NYU School of Professional Studies.
Ariana Dimock; Class of 2019
MA Thesis Title: A Land that Time Forgot, Remembered: Tarantism and the Question of Historical Agency
Where Are They Now: Ariana works as the Operations Coordinator for Precision Neuroscience
Madysen Luebke; Class of 2019 Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title: Sociality of Protestant Schisms: A Brooklyn's Church's Social Isolation from its Conservative Synod Creates a Non-Schismatic District
Journalism Project: Misfit Fundamentalist in the City
Where Are They Now: Upon graduation Madysen began working as a Researcher for her thesis advisor, Eliza Griswold, on Eliza's next book, along with working potentially on a book proposal of her own. She is currently a freelance Fact Checker and has served as a Research and Reporting Assistant for various companies conducting interviews, compiling research and data, establishing contacts with sources, fact-checking, and transcribing interviews along with gaining extensive archival experience.
Katie Zavadski; Class of 2018
MA Thesis Title: 'Happiness is Submission to God'
United Submitters International and Islamic Offshoot Movements
Where Are They Now: Katie Zavadski was previously the research editor at ProPublica. She oversaw a team of research reporters who partner with reporters at ProPublica and their local reporting network partners on research- and records-heavy stories. Katie also maintained ProPublica’s stable of research resources and ran the Emerging Reporters program, which provides stipends and mentorship to students from backgrounds that are underrepresented in journalism. She began teaching at the CUNY Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in 2019 and serves as a director of the Princeton Summer Journalism Program.
Katie joined ProPublica in 2018 after stints at The Daily Beast, New York Magazine, and Newsweek. Her work has also appeared in The Washington Post, Buzzfeed, and Politico Magazine.
Source: www.psjp.princeton.edu/people/katie-zavadski
William Puleo; Class of 2018
MA Thesis Title: Pale Blue (Dot) Com: Mediated Cyber-faith in the Age of Richard Dawkins' New Atheism
Where Are They Now?
J.D. Candidate 2024 at Temple University James E. Beasley School of Law
Fortune Onyiorah; Class of 2018 BA MA Program
MA Thesis Title:
The Makeup Reformation: Racial Discrimination in the Makeup Industry
and YouTube Activism
Where Are They Now?
Fortune is an Education Content Strategist at Meta (FKA Facebook) and the lead editor at Nudest.co
Samuel Argyle; Class of 2018 Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title:
"What is Identitarian Religion?;" Counter-Memory, Power, and an Unmasked Other (Religious Studies)
"White Nationalist Weekend" (Journalism Project)
Where Are They Now?
Worked as a Culture Fellow at The Outline
Richard Ramos; Class of 2018
MA Thesis Title:
Mau a Mau: Hawaiian Continuity and Georeligious Practice
Where Are They Now?
Last known whereabouts...teaching English in Japan
Kirby Sokolow; Class of 2018
MA Thesis Title:
Materializing Postmemory: A Study of Embodiment in Second- and Third-Generation Holocaust Documentaries
Where Are They Now?
Kirby is a PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania where she studies Buddhist and mindfulness practices in American prisons.
Kirby studies religion, politics, and embodiment in the contemporary United States. Presently, her work explores the relationship between Buddhist modernism(s), the modern American carceral system, and the affective dimensions of discipline.
Conor Dube; Class of 2017
MA Thesis Title:
“The Mark of Mud and Water:” Laylat al-Qadr in Islamic Exegesis and Modern Scholarship
Where Are They Now?
PhD candidate in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizatioins. He works on the history of Qur'anic interpretation in medieval Islamic societies.
Rawan Hammoud; Class of 2017
MA Thesis Title:
The Human as a Vicegerent of God: A Modality of Ethics in the Sermons of Amr Khaled
Where Are They Now?
Rowan completed a PhD program in Sociology at American University of Beirut and is a research fellow at Al Sharq Strategic Research Center
Zachary Leja; Class of 2017 Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title:
The Money of Mindfulness: Meditation in America in the Twenty-First Century
Where Are They Now?
Working in journalism as a reporter at CNN
Esra Tunc; Class of 2017
MA Thesis Title:
Islamic Schools in the United States: Performing the Quran and Constructing Identities
Where Are They Now?
Currently a PhD Candidate in Religious Studies at UC Santa Barbara. As of August 2022, Esra will be a postdoctoral research associate at the Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University in St. Louis.
Jaspal Singh Jolyon Chana; Class of 2016 Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title:
The Lost Art of Damascus - How the story of Syrian master craftsman elucidated recent Jewish history in the Islamic World and its relationship with Zionism.
Where Are They Now?
Check here often for the latest updates!
Eden Consenstein; Class of 2015
MA Thesis Title:
Buying into Ordinary: Consumerism and Polygamy on Reality Television
Where Are They Now?
Eden is a scholar of religion, media and economy. She received her PhD in Religious Studies at Princeton University, and is currently an assistant professor at The University of North Carolina of Chapel Hill.
Kathryn Newman; Class of 2015 - Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title:
From Virtual Jews to Shabbos Goyim: The Role of Gentiles in Krakow’s Jewish Revival
Where Are They Now?
Working as a journalist
Ethan Poe; Class of 2015
MA Thesis Title:
"The Importance of The Mormon Worker": The Construction of Identities of Dissent and Empowerment in a Digital Religious Landscape
Where Are They Now?
Working in Administration at the Danish Institute for Study Abroad
Don Jolly; Class of 2014
MA Thesis Title:
Religion, Scientology and the Etic Narrative of Mark “Marty” Rathbun
Where Are They Now?
Working as a freelance journalist
Andrew Walker-Cornetta; Class of 2014
MA Thesis Title:
Eugenic Feminism, Religion, and the Secular: Salvific Reproduction in the Works of Victoria Woodhull, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Margaret Sanger
Where Are They Now?
Andrew earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University's Department of Religion with a Certificate in Gender and Sexuality Studies in 2020 and is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Washington University in St. Louis John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics. Andrew is currently an Assistant Professor in Religion and Health in Georgia State University.
Janaki Challa; Class of 2014
MA Thesis Title:
German-Turkish Identity and Sufism in Fatih Akin’s Gegen die Wand
Where Are They Now?
I worked at various Social Media Editor positions upon graduation, and was awarded a Fulbright in 2019 and will shortly be moving to Romania to write and serve as a lecturer in a graduate program at a university in Timisoara, a city in the far west of the country near the borders of Serbia and Hungary. I'm excited to live abroad, write, think about media, lead discussions on things I'm deeply interested in- from media theory to innovation to philosophy- and I'm also looking forward to exploring many more cultures and countries around the world in the coming months. If you told me one year ago I'd get to be part of something so inherently rooted in everything I believe in--internationalism, ideas, conversation, connection, and an ethos of peace-building--I wouldn't have believed it possible; even aside from the personal and professional, I'm glad to have such an opportunity in this cultural and political moment.
Janaki is currently working as the Strategic Response Communications Manager at Meta.
Beiyin Deng; Class of 2013
MA Thesis Title:
Death Rituals and the Possibility of Negotiations
Where Are They Now?
After finishing her work at Religions for Peace Myanmar, Beiyin traveled through Southeast Asia to investigate the cultural and religious diversity there.
Beiyin received her Ph.D. in Religious Studies at Arizona State University where she participated in the AAS-SSRC International Dissertation Workshop bringing together 12 doctoral students from multiple disciplines working on a wide variety of materials and in various regions of Asia. The title of her dissertation is "Trading Buddhas: Circulating Marble Buddhist Images Across the Sino-Burmese Border."
She recently received a position as an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia starting Fall 2024.
Jenna Johnson; Class of 2013
MA Thesis Title:
From Hillbilly Hymns to Multimedia Confessionals: Investigating the Theology of Country Music
Where Are They Now?
While Jenna worked as the Senior Editor and Editorial Manager at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade during her study in NYU, She is currently working as the Editor In Chief at Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Jacob Rosen; Class of 2013
MA Thesis Title:
History, the Tea Party, and Parallel Cultures: Politics of Religion in Twenty-First Century America
Where Are They Now?
Taught at The Beacon School during and after his study at NYU, Jacob is now the president of Launchpad Coaching .
Nathan Schradle; Class of 2013
MA Thesis Title:
Sites Unseen: The Otherkin and Unassimilable Identity Positions
Where Are They Now?
Received his PhD in Religion & Culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ashley Baxstrom; Class of 2012
MA Thesis Title:
The World-Building Web: Religious Identity Formation and Meaning-Making in the Blogosphere
Where Are They Now?
I worked as the Communication & Social Media Advisor to the UN High Level Task Force for Global Food Security Coordination Team. In addition to working on communications, branding, and media analysis, one of my main responsibilities is to lead social media for the Secretary-General's initiative: the Zero Hunger Challenge.
Now, I work as the Corporate Communications Manager at Cleveland Clinic.
Soon, I will be at Destination Cleveland as Director of Out-of-Market Media Relations
Amy Levin; Class of 2012
MA Thesis Title:
Beyond the Re-Written Word: Historiography and the Politics of American Religious Liberalism
Where Are They Now?
Having completed a Masters of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy and Practice, Amy is a Clinical Social Worker and Therapist at Feathergill and Associates in Mishawaka, IN.
Abigail Ohlheiser; Class of 2012 - Journalism Concentration
MA Thesis Title:
Anti-Islam and American: The Anti-Sharia Movement
Where Are They Now?
Abby was an associate editor of The Revealer during and after her study at NYU, and has recently left The Washington Post to join MIT Technology Review as a senior editor, where she writes about internet culture.
Clint Rainey; Class of 2012
MA Thesis Title:
End Times - The Impossibility of the Religious Right in a Nation of Independent Voters and Religious Apostates
Where Are They Now?
Assistant Editor at New York Magazine. I work in the magazine's front-of-the-book section, Intelligencer; contribute to feature packages on occasion; and write about food for the food blog, Grub Street.
Ruben Sanchez; Class of 2012
MA Thesis Title:
Theoretical Reflection on The war of my life
Where Are They Now?
After receiving his PhD in the Anthropology of Communication from the Universidad Autonoma in Barcelona, Dr. Sanchez became the Coordinator of Publications of the Faculty of Education, Social Sciences, and Humanities at the Universidad de la Frontera in Chile.
Ruben currently works in content mangament in the Internal Advisory Concil at Ediciones UFRO University Press.
Fred Folmer; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
‘Heaven’s a Small Town’: The Conservative Protestant Re-materialization of an American Spatial Icon
Where Are They Now?
I received a B.A. in English and Drama from Franklin & Marshall College (Lancaster, Pa.) in 1993. After a career in trade and educational publishing, I decided to become an academic librarian, and I enrolled in the dual-degree program for librarianship that NYU offers with Long Island University. I pursued an M.A. in Religious Studies concurrently with a master's in library science from LIU, and I graduated from both programs in 2011. I worked as an adjunct reference librarian at NYU from March 2011 through December 2012. I am now the Director of Library Collections, Access and Discovery at Connecticut College in New London, Conn., where I provide research assistance and library-related instruction, and help to build and maintain the college's library collection.
Manlin Shen; Class of 2011
MA Exam Subject:
Religion as Mediation: The Semiotic and Communicative Ideologies of Christianity
Where Are They Now?
Researcher at the Institute of Ethnic Cultural Studies, Dali University in Dali, China
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Fondazione per le Scienze Religiose Giovanni XXIII at Bologna.
Peking University, PhD in Religious Studies, July 2016.
Dissertation title: Faith and Experience: A Study of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola.
Dissertation research at the Graduate Theological Union & the Jesuit School of Theology, Santa Clara University, at Berkeley, CA between 2014 and 2015.
Johanna Piazza; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Rebranding Nuns for the Digital Generation: How Religious Women are Borrowing the Celebrity Business Model to Attract New Recruits
Where Are They Now?
Jo Piazza is an award-winning journalist, editor, digital content strategist and author. She is currently writing for The Daily News.
Previously, she was the Managing Editor for Yahoo Travel.
Piazza is also the author of the highly acclaimed “Celebrity Inc.: How Famous People Make Money,” an economic case study of the Hollywood Industrial Complex and the novel Love Rehab.
Her non-fiction book If Nuns Ruled the World was published September 2014. Her novel Tech B*tch was published in May 2015 by Doubleday.
Time Magazine - August 31, 2014 - The Great Nunquisition: Why the Vatican Is Cracking Down on Sisters
New York Times - August 16, 2014 - Sister Acts
William Caldwell; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Reorientation: A Reconstruction of the Mooring-American Religious Imagination
Where Are They Now?
Received a Ph.D. from the Northwestern Department of Religious Studies in 2018
Nicole Edine; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Coming soon!
Where are they now:
Working as a Social Networking Intern at World Faith upon graduation, Nicole is now the Audience Engagement Manager at TED Conferences.
Kevser Karatas; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
The Idea of Asceticism among Medieval Jewish and Muslim Mystics
Where Are They Now?
Completed a Master's in Counseling Psychology at the University of St. Thomas
Writing at Examiner.com
Currently teaching Islamic Sciences at the Center for Turkish-American Society of Minnesota.
Elissa Lerner; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Life After Wandering: Bedouin Women at the Edge of the Desert
Where Are They Now?
Elissa is currently a Senior Editor at The Brooklyn Quarterly, and is a freelance content strategist.
Eli Lieberman; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
I am Who I am: Gay and Lesbian Orthodox Jews and the Orthodox Community
Where Are They Now?
Currently working as an Assistant Cataloging Librarian at Hebrew Union College
Jinwoo Shin; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Observing and Grasping Religious Experience Through Visual Experience and Economic Perspective
Where Are They Now?
Received a Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law in 2014 and established in the Shin Law Firm, LLC in 2017, located in Columbus Ohio.
Noah Silverman; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Coming soon!
Where Are They Now?
Noah worked as the Associate Director of the Center for Multifaith Education at Auburn Theological Seminary. He is currently the Director of Faculty Partnerships at Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago, IL.
Nesrin Unlu; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
The Transformation of Islamists in Turkey
Where Are They Now?
Completed a PhD in Religious Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Stephanie Butnick; Class of 2011
MA Thesis Title:
Present Tense - More than half a century after the Holocaust decimated Poland's Jewish population, an active new generation is leading the international effect to show a more complete picture of Poland's Jewish heritage
Where Are They Now?
Stephanie is currently the deputy editor of Tablet Magazine and co-host of Unorthodox podcast.
Yuwon Chun; Class of 2010
MA Thesis Title:
Religion We Live By: Characters and Religious Performance in Mrs. Dalloway
Where Are They Now?
Check here often for the latest updates!
Kati Curts; Class of 2010
MA Thesis Title:
Collections of the (Re)Collected: Theory and Case Studies of Knowledge Production and Transmission
Where Are They Now?
Received a PhD in Religious Studies from Yale University. Dissertation title: Assembling Fords: A Harrowing History of Religion in the Automobile Age.
Kati is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Sewanee.
Seren Gates Amador; Class of 2010
Major Interests: Death and the afterlife, as well as representations of apocalypse, and the ways that religious and secular cultures and meanings interact at these sites
Where Are They Now?
Currently in a PhD program in Religion at Syracuse University
Lecturer at Colgate University
Meredith Baldi Alford; Class of 2010
MA Thesis Title:
Moved to Speak: Religious Experience, Speech, and Action in Unprogrammed Quaker Meeting for Worship
Where Are They Now?
Teacher and Director of Professional Development and Evaluation at the George School in Newtown, Pennsylvania
Maggie Beeler; Class of 2010
MA Thesis Title:
Clarifying Mortuary Consumption in Prepalatial Crete: Stone Vessel Use and Cult Practice in the Mesara-Asterousia Region
Where Are They Now?
Completed PhD in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology from Bryn Mawr College
Adjunct Instructor of Greek and Roman Classics at the Temple University College of Liberal Arts
Jessica Norton; Class of 2009
MA Thesis Title:
The Religion of Akhenaten: How Do We Know?
Where Are They Now?
I work in the field of biomedical research, and review the data of clinical trials to ensure data integrity and protect subject safety. I worked as a Clinical Research Coordinator at NJRetina upon graduation and am currently a Lead Clinical Research Associate at Clinical Trials Resource Group.
Galina Krasskova; Class of 2009
MA Thesis Title:
Race, Gender, and the Problem of "Ergi" in Modern American Heathenry
Where Are They Now?
Galina has published over two dozen books on various topics of relevance to contemporary Heathen (Norse Polytheist) community. She is currently the managing editor of “Walking the Worlds,” a journal focusing on contemporary poly-theology. She received her Ph.D. in Theology at Fordham University. Her current research interests include early Christian monasticism, saint cultus, medieval material culture, and Latin pedagogy. She may be contacted at Krasskova@gmail.com.
Ian Sundwell-Byers; Class of 2009
MA Thesis Title:
Coming Soon!
Where Are They Now?
Completed a PhD in Religion at Claremont Graduate University
An Li; Class of 2009
MA Thesis Title:
The Body as Sacred and Mundane - In the Christianity of Tongchuan, China
Where Are They Now?
Returned to China to work in business
Lauren McCormick; Class of 2008
MA Thesis Title:
Genesis 2-3, the Adapa Myth, and Motivations for Supernatural Speech
Where Are They Now?
Completing her doctoral dissertation in Religion at Syracuse University, Lauren's research interests and recent works include Biblical studies; ancient Near Eastern studies; material culture (specifically, discerning creativity within repetitious art forms).
Kathryn Dickason; Class of 2008
MA Thesis Title:
Beyond Diversion: Medieval Dance and the Embodied Creation of Meaning
Where Are They Now?
Kathryn Dickason is a Visiting Scholar at USC in the School of Religion. Previously, she completed her PhD in Religious Studies at Stanford University and was a postdoctoral scholar at USC, with a joint appointment in the School of Religion and the Society of Fellows in the Humanities. She specializes in Western medieval Christianity (c. 1200-1450), with particular interests in performance, iconography, gender, mysticism, embodiment, dance history, French literature, Dante and medievalism. In December 2020, Dickason published her book Ringleaders of Redemption: How Medieval Dance Became Sacred with Oxford University Press.
Kathryn is currently working as a Public Relations Specialist at Simmons University in Boston.
Nicole Greenfield; Class of 2007
MA Thesis Title:
Influencing the Culture for Christ: Modern Evangelicalism in New York City
Where Are They Now?
Current: Nicole is a web editor for the New York Program at Natural Resources Defense Council, and a freelance journalist.
Knight Grant for Reporting on Religion and American Public Life. Project: The New Urban Evangelical (San Francisco, Seattle, New York City)
Knight Luce Fellowship for Reporting on Global Religion. Project: Religion, Politics, and LGBT Rights in Argentina (Buenos Aires)
Past: Managing editor, The Revealer. Editorial consultant, The Immanent Frame.
ESL/EFL instructor (NYC’s Koreatown, Pace University, Manhattanville College, Poland, Czech Republic).
Brynn Saito; Class of 2006
MA Thesis Title:
Forgive Us Our Racist Sins: American Evangelicals and the Limits of Racial Reconciliation
Where Are They Now?
Brynn Saito is the author of the poetry collection The Palace of Contemplating Departure, winner of the Benjamin Saltman Award from Red Hen Press (2013). She also co-authored, with Traci Brimhall, Bright Power, Dark Peace, a chapbook of poetry published by Diode Editions. Brynn was born and raised in the Central Valley of California to a Korean American mother and a Japanese American father. Her poetry has been anthologized by Helen Vendler and Ishmael Reed; it has also appeared in Virginia Quarterly Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Ninth Letter, Pleiades, and Drunken Boat, among other journals.
Brynn is the recipient of a Kundiman Asian American Poetry Fellowship, the Poets 11 award from the San Francisco Public Library, and the Key West Literary Seminar’s Scotti Merrill Memorial Award. She holds degrees from Sarah Lawrence College (MFA, creative writing), New York University (MA, religious studies), and UC Berkeley (BA, philosophy). Currently, Brynn is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing in the English Department at California State University, Fresno.
Leah Schnelbach; Class of 2005
MA Thesis Title:
Masculinizing Catholicism: The Transformation of the Image of the Catholic Priest in American Film, 1936-1946
Where Are They Now?
Leah is a staff writer for Sci-Fi website, Tor.com, and a fictional editor of journal for No Tokens.
Devorah Shubowitz; Class of 2004
MA Thesis Title:
The Woman Torah Scholar in the Reproduction of Traditional Rabbinic Judaism at Drisha Institute for Jewish Education
Where are they now?
Received a PhD in Cultural Anthropology at Indiana University and working on turning her dissertation, "Interpretation without Representation: Jewish Women's Sacred Text Study in New York Egalitarian Communities", into a book.
Devorah is currently working as an Assistant Director at Theater for the New City.
Sarah Dougan; Class of 2004
MA Thesis Title:
Coming Soon!
Where Are They Now?
Completed a degree at NYU Steinhardt and is surrently an Associate Director of Admission at Fordham University.
Rosanne Morici; Class of 2004
MA Thesis Title:
From Martyrdom to Suicide: Representing World War II in Soviet Cinema
Where Are They Now?
Professional lecturer in the Department of Theology in Georgetown University
Received a PhD in Religion from Syracuse University
Simon Joseph; Class of 2003
MA Thesis Title:
Ascetic Renunciation and the Jesus Tradition
Where Are They Now?
Simon J. Joseph, Ph.D. is an award winning filmmaker, biblical scholar and author. Dr. Joseph received a Ph.D. in Religion/New Testament from Claremont Graduate University in 2010. He is currently an adjunct Professor at California Lutheran University and a lecturer in Early Christianity in the Interdepartmental Program for the Study of Religion at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Crystal Lubinsky; Class of 2002
MA Thesis Title:
The Holy Apostles and the Holy Transvestites: An Intertextual Look at the Hagiographies of Saint Marinos and Saint Matrona
Where Are They Now?
Received a PhD in Ecclesiastical History from the University of Edinburgh in 2012.
Published Nov. 2013:
Removing Masculine Layers to Reveal a Holy Womanhood: The Female Transvestite Monks of Late Antique Eastern Christianity
Crystal is currently a Full Time Lecturer and Director of Religious Studies Program at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth
Carl Marsak; Class of 2002
MA Thesis Title:
A New Advent/The Re-collection and Re-inscription of Desire in Feminist and Postmodern Philosophy of Religion: Issues and Consequences
Where Are They Now?
Carl is a Professional Member of IEA and the Founder and Director of The Enneagram Center of Ashland.
Eduard Iricinschi; Class of 2001
MA Thesis Title:
Pairing and Comparing in Religious Studies: Searching for a Definition of Religion in the Writing of I.P. Culianu
Where Are They Now?
Eduard received a PhD in Religion from Princeton University. He has been a Polonsky Postdoctoral Fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute in Israel and is currently a Postdoctoral Researcher at Ruhr-Universität Bochum.
Gail Armstrong; Class of 2001
MA Thesis Title:
Coming soon!
Where Are They Now?
Gail received a PhD in Religion from Brown University, and is currently working as a marketing consultant at Great Mind Schools.
Meredith Fahey; Class of 2001
MA Thesis Title:
Eschatology and the Gospel of Luke: Redactional Techniques Used by the Author of Luke to Transform Eschatology into Ecclesiology
Where Are They Now?
Check here often for the latest updates!
Elizabeth McKay; Class of 2000
MA Thesis Title:
The Western Schism and the Struggle for Reparation
Where Are They Now?
Check here often for the latest updates!
Robert Sagerman; Class of 2000
MA Thesis Title:
Imagistic Motifs in Sefer Ha-Bahir's Earliest Stratum and the Iconographic Program of the Dome of the Rock's Interior Mosaics
Where Are They Now?
Robert received a PhD in Hebrew & Judaic Studies from New York University. He is currently working as an artist and has has solo exhibition across America.
Nathaniel James Morehouse; Class of 1999
MA Thesis Title:
Macabre Devotions, Burial and Christian Sanctity in Pre-Reformation England: The Relationship between the Holiest Christian Locations and Human Remains
Where Are They Now?
Nathaniel received a PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Manitoba, and is a Adjunct instructor at Lakeland Community College and a Adjunct Professor at John Carroll University.
Willow Biwer; Class of 1998
MA Thesis Title:
Women in Koan Study: An Investigation into the Ambivalence of Buddhist Gender Neutrality
Where Are They Now?
Inquisitive Informationist at Stratfor
Catherine Clyne; Class of 1998
MA Thesis Title:
Ecce Hommo: Animals, Creation, and Logos
Where Are They Now?
Assistant Editor at Sourcebooks and editor-in-chief of Satya since 1999.
Wendy Scranton; Class of 1998
MA Thesis Title:
Islamic Eschatology: The Quranic Evolution of the End Times
Where Are They Now?
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Jennifer Bobbe; Class of 1997
MA Thesis Title:
Death Ritual: Buddhism and Tibet Coalesce
Where Are They Now?
Jennifer is a Technical Product Manager at Institute for Intergrative Nutrition, and a meditation teacher at Intergrated Peace Arts.
Shane DeLeers; Class of 1997
MA Thesis Title:
Analysis of Sectarian Bias as Found within the Saddharmaratnavaliya and the Jatakamala
Where Are They Now?
Worked as an associate editor at the Institute of International Education, Shane is currently working as the Director of Marketing and Branding at Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc.
Christine Keller; Class of 1997
MA Thesis Title:
Dreamwork and the Nature of Mind in Tibetan Buddhism
Where Are They Now?
Christine worked in corporate technology management and consulting services and is currently an Adjunct professor of History and Philosophy at SUNY Old Westbury and the Executive Director at the Sangha Education Center.
Anthony Lambert; Class of 1997
MA Thesis Title:
The Trinity at the End of the Millennium: Aspects of Modern Anti-Trinitarianism
Where Are They Now?
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Ann Everds; Class of 1996
MA Thesis Title:
Coming Soon!
Where Are They Now?
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Gina Cogan; Class of 1995
MA Thesis Title:
Legitimation Strategies of Sinhalese Dasasilmattawas
Where Are They Now?
Studied in Columbia University for her PhD in Religion upon graduation
Worked as a Assistant Professor of Asian Religions at Boston University 2005-2015
Author of The Princess Nun - Bunchi, Buddhist Reform, and Gender in Early Edo Japan
Carl Pasquale; Class of 1995
MA Thesis Title:
Christian Judaism: A Study of Jews and Greeks in the New Testament
Where Are They Now?
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Claude Robert; Class of 1995
MA Thesis Title:
The Soteriology of Sound in Hinduism
Where Are They Now?
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Madhuri Yadlapati; Class of 1995
MA Thesis Title:
A Modern Justification of Human Subjectivity: An Exposition of the Death of God According to Friedrich Nietzsche and Thomas Altizer
Where Are They Now?
Stephanie Miller; Class of 1994
MA Thesis Title:
Soul to Soul: An Explanation of Feminism and the Brahma Kumaris
Where Are They Now?
Stephanie Miller is the Director of Public Relations/Senior Principle at HOK
Megan Concannon; Class of 1993
MA Thesis Title:
Coming soon!
Where Are They Now?
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Antonia Gorman; Class of 1993
MA Thesis Title:
Women's Image of God
Where Are They Now?
Antonia wrote for Satya and pursued her PhD in Theology at Drew Univeristy.
Marjorie Gursky; Class of 1993
MA Thesis Title:
Kingship and Religion in the Mesha Stela: The Relationship between Politics and Religion in Moabite Society as Compared to Israelite Society
Where Are They Now?
Margie is the Assistant Principal at Temple Beth David
Martin Rowe; Class of 1993
MA Thesis Title:
Turning the Tables Towards a Feminist Vegetarian Theology of Liberation
Where Are They Now?
Martin is the co-founder of Satya, Lantern Books, and later, Lantern Publishing & Media. He is currently the Executive Director of the non-profit Culture & Animals Foundation, where he has been serving on the board since 2016.
Edward O'Dougherty; Class of 1990
MA Thesis Title:
Coming soon!
Where Are They Now?
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