Patricia (PJ) Johnston

Area: Religion and Culture in Asia Field of Concentration: South Asian Religions Status in Program: Nearing Comps Advisor: Fred Smith Education: M.T.S. cum laude, Nashotah House Theological Seminary (2004) Graduate research in Biblical Studies and Philosophy of Religions (1996-2001) B.A. magna cum laude with college honors in Philosophy and Religious Studies, Drake University (1996) Fellowships and Awards: Alice Marguerite Blough Distinguished Essay Award (2008) Stanley Fellowship Grant for Sanskrit language study in Nepal (2008) Crossing Borders summer travel grant (2008) Stanley Fellowship Grant for Sanskrit language study in India (2006) Crossing Borders Fellow (2006-present) Dale Miller Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion (1996) Inducted into Phi Beta Kappa (1996) Research Interests: Comparative Theology (Christian-Buddhist and Christian-Hindu); Indo-Tibetan Buddhism; Indian Philosophy (esp. Madhyamaka); Philosophical Hermeneutics (Heidegger, Gadamer); Greek Philosophy (Presocratics, Plato, Neoplatonism); Ritual (esp. Anglo-Catholic Liturgies and Devotions); Western Appropriations of Asian Religions; Biblical Languages and Literature; Methods and Theories in the Study of Religion (especially the constructed character of scholarly categories such as "religion" and particular "religions" and the way in which these constructs both inhibit historical understanding and limit constructive philosophical work across boundaries). Languages (in order of proficiency): English, Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Latin, Biblical Hebrew, German, Spanish Teaching Experience: TA for Classical Mythology, Introduction to Buddhism, Chinese Religions, Judeo-Christian Tradition, and Religion and Society Publications, Conferences, and Talks: “Classical Athens and the Delphic Oracle: Divination and Democracy - Hugh Bowden” in Religious Studies Review 32 (4), 257–257. “Passions and Moral Progress in Greco-Roman Thought – Edited by John T. Fitzgerald” in Religious Studies Review 35 (1), 51. Two additional book reviews and one chapter (in press). Proposed and organized the following academic events: "How to Read a Sacred Text in the Secular Academy" (conference at the University of Chicago Divinity School, March 29, 2001) and "Reading Buddhist Texts Theologically" (lecture by Paul J. Griffiths at the University of Iowa Department of Religious Studies, April 22, 2005). Delivered research paper "Faith, Deconstruction, and Deutero-Isaiah" at Upper Midwest Regional Society for Biblical Literature (Spring 1998).