Institute Announcements

Literature Scholar Aishwarya Lakshmi Named Boniuk Institute Executive Director

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Aishwarya Lakshmi to Executive Director of the Boniuk Institute. In this expanded role, she will provide organizational leadership alongside Director Elaine Howard Ecklund to realize the mission and vision of the Boniuk Institute.

Aishwarya's background--spanning English literature, postcolonial studies, women's and gender studies, academic leadership, strategic programming and partnership-building--reflects the deeply interdisciplinary nature of the Institute's work. Her breadth of experience and ability to connect scholarship with meaningful public engagement will be invaluable to this next chapter in the life of the Institute.

Read more about Aishwarya Lakshmi

Welcoming Faculty Advisors

The Boniuk Institute is pleased to announce its 2026-20267 Faculty Advisory Board

Representing a wide range of disciplines across Rice University, board members provide Institute leadership with valuable insights and ideas on academic and strategic matters related to our work and initiatives. We are grateful for the expertise and perspectives they bring--and extend our sincere thanks to outgoing members Sherwin Bryant, Niki Clements, and Alexandra Kieffer for their valuable service to the Institute.

Meet Moses Biney: 2026-2027 BI Graduate Scholar

If you are a regular reader of the Boniuk Institute Newsletter, then Moses's name will not be new to you. A long-time participant in our Reading Religion Salon, and a member of our extended research team, Moses was recently named one of ten inaugural recipients of the Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future Program, an initiative of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Now, we are pleased to welcome Moses Boniuk Institute Graduate Scholar for the 2026-2027 academic term. A doctoral student in sociology at Rice University, Biney studies religion, immigration, health, and culture, with a particular focus on the experiences of African immigrants in the United States. Through the Institute's Graduate Scholar Program, he will continue to contribute to research and outreach initiatives while receiving intensive training in qualitative data analysis, academic writing, and engagement with Rice faculty and senior scholars. We look forward to the insight and expertise Moses will bring to our work!

Read more about Moses Biney

BI Research Scholars Awarded National Funding

The Boniuk Institute is celebrating Moses Biney (2026-2027 BI Graduate Scholar) and Akpan Ubong-Abasi (2025-2026 BI Graduate Scholar) who both received 2026 Constant H. Jacquet Research Awards from the Religious Research Association. These awards support promising research in the social scientific study of religion.

Biney received an award for “Religion, Medicine, and Health Decision-Making among Ghanaian Immigrants in the United States.” Drawing on interviews and participant observation, his study explores how Ghanaian immigrants navigate religious and medical understandings of illness and make health-related decisions.

Ubong-Abasi’s project, “The Intersection of Religious Individuality and Racialized Citizenship in the Religious Identity of 1.5 and Second-Generation African Immigrants,” examines how younger generations of African immigrants negotiate and reimagine religious identity, race, citizenship, and belonging in the United States.

We are delighted to see their important work recognized and look forward to their continued contributions to the study of religion, immigration, health, identity, and belonging and are thrilled to count their talents and expertise as part of the Boniuk Institute research family.

Read more about Jacquet award recipients>>>