Religious Studies Faculty

Esther Chung-Kim Esther Chung-Kim, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Religious Studies B.A. Drew University, M.Div. Princeton, Ph.D. Duke University Teaching: Poverty, Wealth and Social Change - Examines the greatest thinkers on the topic of poverty and wealth and contemporary implications. The European Reformations - Examines religious, political and social developments in late medieval to early modern Europe. Christianity and Politics in East Asia - Examines the historical relationship between religion and politics in China, Japan and Korea. History of World Christianity - Examines the key figures, events and turning points in the history of the largest religion in the world. Poverty, Religion and Social Change - Examines the role of religion in shaping social change around poverty and welfare issues. Research: Religion Conflict, Religion and Poor Relief; Poverty and Wealth during the Renaissance and Reformation, Religious Authority and Leadership in the Reformation, Religious Debates over the Eucharist, Reception of the Early Church Fathers, History of the Bible and its Interpretation. esther.chung-kim@cmc.edu (909) 607-3880
Gastón Espinosa Gastón Espinosa, Ph.D. Arthur V. Stoughton Professor of Religious Studies U.C. Santa Barbara (Ph.D), Dartmouth College (Fellow), Harvard University (Master's), Princeton Seminary (Master's) Teaching: American Religions; U.S. Latino Religions; Religion & Film; Religion, Politics & Global Violence; Religion & Civil Rights Movement; Religion, Race, and Politics Research: American Religions; U.S. Latino Religions; Religion & Politics; Pentecostal/Charismatic Movements; Sociology of Religion gaston.espinosa@cmc.edu (909) 621-8395
Gary Gilbert Gary Gilbert, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Religious Studies B.A., Haverford College; M.A., Ph.D., Columbia University Teaching: Jewish studies, particularly Judaism in the Second Temple and early rabbinic periods,Origins of Christianity and its development before the time of Constantine Research: Involvement of gentiles in Jewish social and religious life,Influence of Roman political thought on the development of early Christianity,Jewish/Christian relations gary.gilbert@cmc.edu (909) 607-1877
Cynthia Humes Cynthia A. Humes, Ph.D. Associate Vice President and Chief Technology Officer / Associate Professor of Religious Studies A.B., Grinnell College; M.A., Ph.D., University of Iowa Teaching: Method and Theory in Religious Studies,South Asian Religions,Goddess Traditions,Models of Hindu Leadership Research: Gender and Religion, Modern Hindu Goddess Worship, History of Hinduism in America cynthia.humes@cmc.edu (909) 607-8713
Daniel Michon Daniel Michon, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Religious Studies Bowdoin College, BA John Carroll University, MEd University of California, Santa Barbara, MA and PhD Teaching: South Asian Culture and Religion, Religion and Modernity, Digital Humanities Research: Religion and Material Culture India Digital Humanities, Archaeology, and the Production and Representation of Virtual Places Indo-Portuguese Contact dmichon@cmc.edu (909) 607-0837
Jamel Velji, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Religious Studies B.A., Haverford College; M.A. McGill University; Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara Teaching: "The End of the World as We Know it" (a comparative examination of apocalypticism); Islamic Thought; Islamic Empire and Political Philosophy; Dreams, Visions and the Afterlife in Islam; Contemporary Issues in Islamic Studies; Religion of Islam Research: Islamic apocalypticism and eschatology; Islamic intellectual history; Shiism; coffee and its reception history jamel.velji@cmc.edu

Visiting Faculty

Chloe Martinez, Ph.D. Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies and Fellow in Sikh Studies B.A. Barnard College; M.A. and Ph.D. University of California, Santa Barbara; M.A. Boston University; M.F.A. Warren Wilson College Teaching: Religions of South Asia; Sikhism; Hinduism; Jainism; Buddhism; Islam in South Asia; Asian American Religions; Ramayana; Devotional Worlds of South Asia; Religious Autobiography; Poetry and Religion; Creative Writing Research: Religion and Literature in South Asia; Medieval North India; Devotional traditions; Rajasthan and Punjab; Autobiography and Hagiography; Asian American Religions; Poetry and Religion. cmartinez@cmc.edu