Speakers Bureau
The Boniuk Center has compiled a Speakers Bureau of graduate students in Rice's Religious Studies Department to bring up-and-coming scholars to the community. The Center vouches for the academic credentials of these speakers, which does not constitute agreement or endorsement of their opinions and viewpoints. We bring you these speakers with the conviction that academic knowledge is advanced by differences of opinion. Any organization or group wishing to invite these speakers should contact them directly and in so doing inquire about their opinions and viewpoints in advance. An honorarium of $100-250, commensurate with experience, is recommended.
Israel W. Ahimbisibwe
Israel Ahimbisibwe was born and grew up in Uganda/East Africa and is
currently a fifth year PhD student in the Religious Studies Department
of Rice University studying Hebrew Bible. The title of his dissertation
is "Sinai and Its Transformative Nature." After attending college and
teaching Chemistry and Biology in High School for two years, he wanted
to work full time for the Anglican Church and so he was trained at
Seminary for three years and subsequently ordained as an Anglican
priest. He was later invited by the Church leadership in Uganda to
pursue further academic training in order to be able to educate others.
He won an International scholarship at Princeton Theological Seminary
for graduate studies and later, another scholarship for a Masters
degree at Harvard University Divinity School. Israel has also studied
at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel.
Lecture Topics
- Sinai Covenant: Transforming the Culture of Blood Revenge in Rwanda
- Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History
- Sinai Covenant and Its Connection to Justice (mishpat)
- Sinai and ancient Near Eastern Law Codes
- Prophecy and Prophetic Law Suits
- The European Missionary Enterprise in Uganda
- African Religions and Cultures
Contact Information:
ahimbsra@rice.edu
713-301-5457
Dustin Atlas
Dustin Atlas was raised in a small town in Ontario, Canada, the
offspring of an out-of-place hippie and an atheist Jew. His
undergraduate work at York University was in Philosophy and the
Humanities. He received his M.A. at the University of Western Ontario
in Critical Theory, with an emphasis upon aesthetic and religious
thought. His Masters attempted to develop a temporal theory of the
grotesque out of Kierkegaard's pseudonymous works. Currently his focus
is on the history of Jewish thought and philosophy, with special
attention being paid to the post-Kantian work of Hermann Cohen and
Martin Buber.
Lecture Topics
- Negative Theology as a Mode of Tolerance
- Religions as Houses Without Doors: using Martin Buber to bridge
irreconcilable differences through a mutual exploration of shared, and
unshared, pain
- One Party Among Many: cyncism and 'being chosen'
- The Religious Dimensions of Skepticism
- Why So Shrill? The new-athiests and their opponents; using Nietzsche to return to a truly critical and engaged athiesm
Contact Information:
dna1@rice.edu
713-409-3995
Benjamin Brochstein
Benjamin Brochstein, J.D. is a 4th generation Houstonian with
professional experience as a big firm accountant, civil litigator,
computer programmer, venture investor and yoga teacher. He has
currently completed his coursework toward a PhD in the Religious
Studies department at Rice and is preparing for comprehensive exams in
the spring. Benjamin is an advanced yoga practitioner and teacher, with
years of experience in daily Zen meditation. His current research focus
is the Western expressions of energetic healing and the relationship
between spirituality and physical health, while marinating interest in
both Judaism and Buddhism.
Lecture Topics
- Universal Life Force Energy – Anecdotes of Touch and Energy cures
from the most ancient texts to the cutting edge of complementary
medicine today
- Treatment or Healing: The relationship between societies’ structure
and the phenomenon of healing: truth claims, the social order, and how
religion, science and medicine treat disease
- Varieties of Yoga – An analysis of the various yoga practices
taught today and how yoga’s multi-faceted permeation into Western
culture has changed both yoga and western culture
- Introduction to Spirituality – what is Spirituality and how is it
different from Religious? An examination of the types and varieties of
experiences that people consider to be spiritual
- The History of Mystery – a survey of various expressions of religious esotericism from ancient Egypt to today
Contact Information:
benjamin@brochstein.com
713-252-1952
Ann Gleig
Ann Gleig grew up in Liverpool, England and was educated in Catholic Public schools. She graduated from Bristol University with a major in Theology and Religious Studies, focusing on Buddhist and Hindu mysticism and philosophy. She then attended Lancaster University where she received an M.A. with distinction in Religious Studies. Her Masters thesis was on Jung, Taoism and feminist approaches to religion. She is currently a 6th year graduate student in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University and is writing her dissertation on the American assimilation and transformation of Asian religions with a focus on Buddhism and Hinduism. She has taught Introduction to Asian Religion, Asian Religions in America and Introduction to Buddhism at the University of Houston. She has also taught Introduction to Buddhism at Rice.
Lecture Topics
- Buddhism (all forms)
- Asian Religions (Taoism, Confucianism, Shinto, Sikhism)
- Hinduism
- Asian Religions in America
- New Age and Alternative Spiritualities (Mind, Body and Spirit)
- Mysticism
- American Religion
- Psychology of Religion (Freud, Jung, Object Relations, Attachment Theory, Intersubjectivity)
- Religion and Gender
- Religion and Sexuality
- Religious Pluralism (thinking about how to respect the diversity of religions)
Contact Information:
agleig@rice.edu
281-857-1236
Margarita Simon Guillory
Raised in Mobile, Alabama by a family that stressed the importance of education, Margarita Simon Guillory graduated from Emory University with a degree in Chemistry. During her tenure as a Physics, Chemistry, and Astronomy teacher in H.I.S.D., Margarita became deeply interested in world religions in general and African American religion in particular. This passion for both religion and teaching led her to Rice University where she is currently a fourth year graduate student in the religious studies program studying African American religions and psychology of religion.
Lecture Topics
- African American Religions: History, Beliefs, and Rituals
- African American Spiritualist Churches: History, Beliefs, and Rituals
- Sexism and Heterosexism in the Black Church
- Intersections: An Introduction to Black and Womanist Theology
- Historical Formation of Black Theology
- We Have a Voice: African American Women in the Black Church
- Religious Sensibilities in Hip-Hop
Contact Information:
mls2@rice.edu
832-630-1648
Andrea Jain
Andrea R. Jain, M.A., is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at Rice University with special training in Indian Religions and Psychology of Religion. Her primary areas of interest are the categories of gender, sexuality, and the body in Indian religious traditions, both in India and the West. Alongside her doctorate, she is earning a Graduate Certificate in the Study of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Rice. She is also a lecturer in the Religious Studies program at the University of Houston. Andrea is from Dallas, TX where she did her undergraduate degree at Southern Methodist University. Her majors were Psychology, Philosophy, and Religious Studies.
Lecture Topics
- Asian Religions (including but not limited to Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Daoism, Confucianism)
- Gender/Sexuality and Religion
- Social Sciences and Religion
- New Religions (including but not limited to Scientology, ISKCON)
Contact Information:
arjain@rice.edu
Brian Nichols
Brian Nichols was born and raised in Lake Charles, Louisiana and attended Catholic schools through high school. Early exposure to Cajun food and culture has left him with an enduring taste for spicy food and live music. He studied philosophy, literature and history at Duke and studied abroad in Greece with College Year in Athens. After graduation in 1994 he spent the better part of seven years traveling in Asia and studying the culture, history and religion of countries such as Japan, Korea, Thailand, India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. While teaching English in Singapore he met his wife, an artist from mainland China, and they married in 2001.
Since entering the Ph.D. program in Religious Studies at Rice University, Brian has given presentations on topics related to Buddhist philosophy and history at several national and international conferences and has taught five semesters of Asian Religions at the University of Houston. This year is Brian’s eighth year at Rice and by the end of it he will have defended his dissertation: a study of the history and restoration of an important Buddhist monastery in Southeastern China. His dissertation sheds light on the history of Buddhism in that region as well as the restoration of religious practice in China since the reforms initiated in 1978. His research in China has been supported by a grant from the Asian Cultural Council and Fulbright Fellowship which have allowed him to spend 17 months in China pursuing his research and developing valuable insight into contemporary Chinese religion and culture.
Brian’s training and experience provide him with an unusually broad understanding of Buddhism as well as other Asian religious traditions. In addition to his studies and experience in Asia, he has also initiated a study and meditation group in Lake Charles known as the Dharma Circle, which has provided him with insight into the questions and concerns of Americans new to Buddhism.
Lecture Topics
- Buddhist Thought and Practice
- Buddhist Monasteries in Contemporary China
- Religion in Contemporary China
- What is Buddhist Meditation?
- Confucian Thought and Practice in East Asia
- Japanese Shinto
- The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali
Contact Information:
bjn@rice.edu
(86) 1596-080-2687
Claire Villarreal
Claire Villarreal was raised in Fort Worth, TX and came to Rice University as an undergraduate in 1995, where she double majored in English and Religious Studies. After graduating in 1999, she traveled several times to Asia for prolonged periods of study and practice in Buddhist traditions. Between travels, she taught middle and high school English. From 2004-2007 she also taught meditation in Fort Worth before returning to Rice for graduate work. A third year graduate student in the Religious Studies Department, Claire is studying Tibetan Buddhism and comparative religion.
Lecture Topics
- History and/or Practice of Buddhism
- Meditation
- Tibetan Buddhism
- The Dalai Lama
- Thai Forest Buddhist Practice
- Comparative Religious Traditions
- Religious Pluralism
- Death and Dying in the Buddhist Traditions
Contact Information:
ecvilla17@gmail.com
(817) 903-0135