Faculty

Department of Religion and Culture Faculty

Click on the tabs below for a list of the Department of Religion and Culture faculty members alphabetically and by discipline.

Full-Time Faculty (A-Z List)

Bio Item

Ananda Abeysekara , bio
Theravada Buddhism & South Asia, Postcolonial Studies & Colonialism, Buddhist Studies, Religious Studies
Bio Item

Aaron Ansell , bio
Sociocultural Anthropology, Northeast Brazil, Alternative Democracy, Political Discourse
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Amaryah Shaye Armstrong , bio
Black Studies, Political Theology, Black Feminist Theory, Continental Philosophy of Religion
Bio Item

Brian Britt , bio
Religion & Literature, Theory of Religion & Culture, Hebrew Bible, Modern Jewish Thought
Bio Item

Candace Buckner , bio
Early Christian Literature, Ancient Biography, Spatial Theory, Race & Ethnicity in the Ancient World
Bio Item

Danille Christensen , bio
Gendered & Domestic Labor, Material Culture (Foodways & Craft), Performance Studies, Cultural & Environmental Sustainability
Bio Item

Taulby Edmondson , bio
U.S. South & Appalachian Studies, Historical & Cultural Memory, Race & Whiteness, Nationalism
Bio Item

Matthew Gabriele , bio
Medieval Studies, Violence, Apocalypse, Nostalgia
Bio Item

Zhange Ni , bio
Religion & Literature, Critical Theory & Cultural Criticism, Secularism & Religion-making in East Asia, Transnational Youth Culture
Bio Item

Shaily Patel , bio
Ancient Christianity, Graeco-Roman Religions, Postcolonial Theory, Historiography
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Sarah Plummer , bio
Performativity & Objects, Puppetry, Protest Art, Art in Public Places
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Dominique Polanco , bio
Colonial Latin America, Mesoamerican Manuscripts, Bibliography & Archival Studies, Decolonism
Bio Item

Emily Satterwhite , bio
Appalachian Studies, Community-engaged Scholarship, Environmental & Climate Justice
Bio Item

Rachel Marion Scott , bio
Islamic Law & Personal Status law; Religion, Law, & Constitutionalism; Modern Islamic Political Thought; Religion & Secularism
Bio Item

Paula Marie Seniors , bio
Ethnic & African American Studies; African American & Multi-racial Radical Movements; African American & Multi-racial Theater, Film, & Dance; Gender Studies
Bio Item

Sean Sidky , bio
American Judaism; Modern Jewish History and Culture; Holocaust and Genocide; Yiddish Literature and Culture; Religion & Literature

Instructors/ GTAs

Name	Position	Office	Phone	Email
Jack Bernardi	ASPECT GTA	Lane Hall		jwbernardi@vt.edu
Aline De Souza	ASPECT GTA	Lane Hall		aliners@vt.edu
Bai Jiang	ASPECT GTA	Lane Hall		baijiang@vt.edu
Vasilije Mesarovic	ASPECT GTA	Lane Hall		cvrc11@vt.edu
Rebekah Mui	ASPECT GTA	Lane Hall		rebekahmui@vt.edu
Cara Patrick	MCPH GTA	101 Major Williams		carapat@vt.edu
Muhammed Shah Shajahan	ASPECT GTA	Lane Hall		muhammedshahs@vt.edu

Adjunct Faculty

Name	Position	Office	Phone	Email
Matthew Chalmers	Adjunct			matthewc90@vt.edu
Nina Ha	Adjunct	142 Squires Student Center		nha@vt.edu

Patrick Salmons	Adjunct	101 Major Williams		psalmons@vt.edu
Michelle (Marti) Wagnon	Adjunct	101 Major Williams		michellew@vt.edu

Affiliated Faculty

Name	Position	Office	Phone	Email
Wan-Chuan Kao	Affiliated Research Faculty			kaowc@vt.edu
Laura Robinson	Affiliated Research Faculty			laurabrobinson28@vt.edu
Alexander Perkins	Affiliated Research Faculty			aperkins4@vt.edu
Daniel Wise	Affiliated Research Faculty			dswise@vt.edu

Emeritus Faculty

Name	Position	Office	Phone	Email
Elizabeth Fine	Professor Emerita, Humanities			bfine@vt.edu
Elizabeth Struthers Malbon	Professor Emerita			malbon@vt.edu

Faculty by Specialization

Faculty Experts in the Americas

Bio Item

Emily Satterwhite , bio
Appalachian Studies, Community-engaged Scholarship, Environmental & Climate Justice
Bio Item

Dominique Polanco , bio
Colonial Latin America, Mesoamerican Manuscripts, Bibliography & Archival Studies, Decolonism
Bio Item

Taulby Edmondson , bio
U.S. South & Appalachian Studies, Historical & Cultural Memory, Race & Whiteness, Nationalism
Bio Item

Danille Christensen , bio
Gendered & Domestic Labor, Material Culture (Foodways & Craft), Performance Studies, Cultural & Environmental Sustainability
Bio Item

Amaryah Shaye Armstrong , bio
Black Studies, Political Theology, Black Feminist Theory, Continental Philosophy of Religion
Bio Item

Aaron Ansell , bio
Sociocultural Anthropology, Northeast Brazil, Alternative Democracy, Political Discourse

Faculty Experts in Asia

Bio Item

Zhange Ni , bio
Religion & Literature, Critical Theory & Cultural Criticism, Secularism & Religion-making in East Asia, Transnational Youth Culture
Bio Item

Ananda Abeysekara , bio
Theravada Buddhism & South Asia, Postcolonial Studies & Colonialism, Buddhist Studies, Religious Studies

Faculty Experts in Europe and the Middle East

Bio Item

Rachel Marion Scott , bio
Islamic Law & Personal Status law; Religion, Law, & Constitutionalism; Modern Islamic Political Thought; Religion & Secularism
Bio Item

Dominique Polanco , bio
Colonial Latin America, Mesoamerican Manuscripts, Bibliography & Archival Studies, Decolonism
Bio Item

Shaily Patel , bio
Ancient Christianity, Graeco-Roman Religions, Postcolonial Theory, Historiography
Bio Item

Matthew Gabriele , bio
Medieval Studies, Violence, Apocalypse, Nostalgia
Bio Item

Candace Buckner , bio
Early Christian Literature, Ancient Biography, Spatial Theory, Race & Ethnicity in the Ancient World
Bio Item

Brian Britt , bio
Religion & Literature, Theory of Religion & Culture, Hebrew Bible, Modern Jewish Thought

Faculty Experts in the Pre-Modern World

Bio Item

Dominique Polanco , bio
Colonial Latin America, Mesoamerican Manuscripts, Bibliography & Archival Studies, Decolonism
Bio Item

Shaily Patel , bio
Ancient Christianity, Graeco-Roman Religions, Postcolonial Theory, Historiography
Bio Item

Matthew Gabriele , bio
Medieval Studies, Violence, Apocalypse, Nostalgia
Bio Item

Candace Buckner , bio
Early Christian Literature, Ancient Biography, Spatial Theory, Race & Ethnicity in the Ancient World
Bio Item

Brian Britt , bio
Religion & Literature, Theory of Religion & Culture, Hebrew Bible, Modern Jewish Thought