Heaven’s Gate

As part of my graduate work I studied the new religious movement called Heaven’s Gate. I have published severala analyses of the historical and cultural origins of its belief system in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, as well as chapters in several books. My research on Heaven’s Gate is somewhere between a past and present project: every time that I think that my work on Heaven’s Gate is a past project, someone asks me to write a new book chapter on the group! I have several more essays on the group in the pipeline, and will hopefully be writing a book on the group soon.

New Goloka Temple

Between 2002 and 2005 I engaged in an ethnographic and historical study of New Goloka temple, a branch of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON, or the Hare Krishnas). New Goloka represented many of the demographic changes within ISKCON, as the group experienced growth in the membership of Indian immigrants, families, and the aging of its earlier American converts. I presented several conference papers on New Goloka at the American Academy of Religion.

Henry Steel Olcott

Henry Steel Olcott (1832-1907) was a colorful journalist, scientific agriculturalist, proponent of Spiritualism, co-founder of Theosophy, and eventually defender of Sri Lankan Buddhism. In 2005, I presented a conference paper on Olcott’s attempts to define Buddhism as the ideal scientific religion for the modern world. My work on Olcott is currently on the “back burner,” but his work remains an interest of mine.

Spiritus Christi

Spiritus Christi is a socially-engaged Catholic community in Rochester, New York, which has splintered from the Roman Catholic hierarchy. Originally Corpus Christi parish, the members of the community pushed the envelope of Catholic social awareness and eventually were forced to leave the Church. I have both presented conference papers and published an article on the history of Spiritus Christi. (“The Other Catholic Church,” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 19 [Fall 2003]).”