Religion Department

Carol Anderson received her Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1994, and has been chair of the Department of Religion since 2005.  She teaches courses in the Religions of South Asia, Islam, and thematic courses in feminism, same-sex, and post-colonial approaches to the study of religion.  Her first book focused on the teaching of the four noble truths in Pali Buddhism, and is titled Pain and Its Ending:  The Four Noble Truths in Theravada Buddhism (1999).  She has co-edited a volume in honor of her teacher in Sri Lankan, Professor W. S. Karunatillake, Embedded Knowledges:....  She has published a number of articles on women in South Asian religions, Theravada Buddhism, and is currently working on a project that explores non-normative sexuality in the Pali Buddhist canon.

Dr. Gandhi is on Sabbatical for the 2013 Winter term.

Jeffrey Haus received his Ph.D. in Modern Jewish History from Brandeis University in 1997.  His teaching focuses on the history of the Jewish people in Europe and America.  He is the author of Challenges of Equality: Judaism, State, and Education in Ninteenth-Century France (Wayne State University Press, 2009), as well as several articles exploring the history of French Jewry.  He also served as guest-editor for issue of the CCAR Journal commemorating the bicentennial of the Paris San Hedrin (Winter 2007).  His current research examines the relationship between Jews and money in modern France.

Dr. Haus is the chair of the History Department and the director of Jewish Studies.

For more information on the Jewish Studies Program, please contact him at (269)-337-5789 or jhaus@kzoo.edu.

Dr. Haus will be on sabbatical for the 2012-13 academic year.

Dr. Petrey teaches courses in ancient Christianity and ancient Judaism, including the sacred texts that comprise the Bible for both traditions.  His teaching and research explore themes of how Jewish and Christian identity are formed, both with respect to one another as well as in the context of the broader Greek and Roman religious and social environment of antiquity.  Dr. Petrey also teaches and researches on the body, gender, and sexuality in antiquity.  This interest covers the multiple ways in which the body and sexuality are understood and gender is constructed. His dissertation was titled, "Carnal Resurrection: Sexuality and Sexual Difference in Early Christianity."  Dr. Petrey contributes courses in the Jewish Studies Program and is the Director of  Women, Gender, and Sexuality.

Photo: Visualeyes Photography

Visiting Instructor:  Winter & Spring Quarters