Dr. Selva J. Raj (1952-2008)

Late Chair and Stanley S. Kresge Professor of Religious Studies

Dr. Selva J. Raj was a historian of religions specializing in Hinduism, popular Christianity in India, and other Asian Religions. His research interest was in the ritual exchange among Hindus and Catholics in southern India; it was the principal focus of his field work, presentations, and publications. Other areas of research interests included popular religion, contemporary women saints, and women’s movements in contemporary India. Raj served as chairman of the Conference on the Study of Religions of India (CSRI), an international professional association for scholars committed to the academic study of Indian religions.

Education

Ph.D. History of Religions, University of Chicago, 1994
M.Ph. Philosophy, Jnana Deepa Vidyapeeth, India, 1981
B.A. Philosophy & History, University of Calcutta, 1975

Career

Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, 2005-2008
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College, 2001-2005
Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Albion College,1995-2001
Lecturer in Philosophy, Morning Star College, Calcutta,1982-1985

Books

Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia co-edited with William P. Harman, SUNY Press, April 2006 [http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61243]
[Reviewed in Journal of Asian Studies vol. 66:1 February, 2007: 275-277]
Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines co-edited with Corinne G. Dempsey, SUNY Press, October 2002 [http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=60646]
Reviewed in Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute vol. 10, no. 3 September 2004: 734-735; Asian Folklore Studies vol. 63, no. 2, 2004: 353-355; Vidyajyoti: Journal of Theological Reflection vol. 67, no. 6 June 2003: 474-476.

Journal Articles and Book Chapters

“Public Display, Communal Devotion: Procession at a South Indian Catholic Festival.” In South Asian Religions on Display: Processions in South Asia and in the Diaspora, Knut A. Jacobsen, ed. 77-91. NY: Routledge, 2008.
“The Santal Sacred Grove and Catholic Inculturation” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, 42:2 Spring 2007: 243-252.
“Cross-Cultural Environmental Lessons: An Indigenous Case-Study” co-authored with Bindu Madhok Journal of Third World Studies, 24:1 Spring 2007: 211-225.
“A Cross-Cultural Practical Moral Discourse on Human Rights” co-authored with Bindu Madhok The Journal of Human Rights vol. 5, no. 2, 2006: 205-214.
“Introduction: The Deal with Deities-Ways Vows Work in South Asia” co-authored with William Harman. In Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, Selva J. Raj and William P. Harman, eds. 1-13. SUNY Press: 2006.
“Shared Vows, Shared Space, and Shared Deities: Vow Rituals among Tamil Catholics in South India.” In Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, Selva J. Raj and William P. Harman, eds. 43-64. SUNY Press: 2006.
“Toward a Typology of South Asian Lay Vows” co-authored with William Harman. In Dealing with Deities: The Ritual Vow in South Asia, Selva J. Raj and William P. Harman, eds. 249-255 SUNY Press: 2006.
“Passage to America: Ammachi on American Soil.” In Gurus in America, C. Humes & T. Forsthoefel, eds. 123-146. SUNY Press: 2005.
“The Quest for a Balanced Representation of South Asian Religions in World Religions Textbook” Religious Studies Review vol. 31, no. 1&2 (2005): 15-17.
“Two Models of Indigenization in South Asian Catholicism: A Critique” Vidyajyoti: Journal of Theological Reflection vol. 69, no. 6 (2005): 415-430.
“Selective Indigenization: Three Faces of South Indian Christianity” Vidyajyoti: Journal of Theological Reflection vol. 69, no. 6 (2005):401-403.
“Transplanting Tradition: Syro-Malabar Catholics on American Soil,” Chakra: Tidskrift for Indiska Religioner vol. 3 (2005): 136-152.
“Santal Religion and Nature.” In Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, Bron Taylor, ed. vol. 2 (2005): 1476-1478. Thoemmes Continuum.
“Lower Income Hindu Women’s Attitude towards Abortion: A Case Study in Urban India” co-authored with Bindu Madhok, International Journal of Applied Philosophy vol. 18, no. 1 (2004): 123-137.
“Dialogue ‘On the Ground:’ The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India” Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies vol.17 (2004): 33-44.
“Ammachi: The Mother of Compassion.” In The Graceful Guru: Hindu Female Gurus in India and the United States, K. Pechilis, ed. 203-218. Oxford University Press: 2004.
“Introduction: Between, Behind, and Beyond the Lines” co-authored with Corinne Dempsey. In Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines, Selva J. Raj and Corinne Dempsey, eds, 1-7. SUNY Press: 2002.
“Transgressing Boundaries, Transcending Turner: The Pilgrimage Tradition at the Shrine of St. John de Britto,” Journal of Ritual Studies, vol. 16.no.1 (2002): 4-18; reprinted with modifications in Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines, 85-111. SUNY Press: 2002.
“Adapting Hindu Imagery: Ritual Experiments in an Indian Catholic Ashram,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, vol. 37, nos. 3/4 (2000): 333-353.
“The Ganges, the Jordan, and the Mountain: The Three Strands of Santal Popular Catholicism” Doxology: A Journal of Worship, vol.16 (1999): 17-39; reprinted in Popular Christianity in India: Riting between the Lines, 39-60. SUNY Press: 2002.

Encyclopedia Entries

“Mata Amritanandamayi” in Peter Clarke (ed.) Encyclopedia of New Religious Movements, Routledge (2005): 28-29.
“Ammachi” in Phyllis Jestice (ed.) Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, ABC-CLIO (2004): 47-48.
“St. John de Britto: The Marava Saint” in Phyllis Jestice (ed.) Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, ABC-CLIO (2004): 141-142.
“St. Antony of Uvari” in Phyllis Jestice (ed.) Holy People of the World: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, Vol. 1, ABC-CLIO (2004): 61.

Book Reviews

Hindu God, Christian God: How Reason Helps Break the Boundaries between Religions by Francis X. Clooney, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 71, n. 4. December 2003, 926-930.
Christian Pluralism in America: The Indian Christian Immigrant Experience by Raymond Brady Williams, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, vol. 68, n.1, March 2000, 202-205.
Women in Religion, Teaching Theology and Religion, February 1998 vol.1, no.1, p. 63.
Hinduism by Cybelle Shattuck, International Journal of Hindu Studies (forthcoming).
Christianity and World Religions by Hans Kung, Religious Studies Review, October 1999, vol.25, no. 4, p. 393.
Mission and Tamil Society: Social and Religious Change in South India by H. Bugge, Religious Studies Review, January 1998, vol. 24, no.1, p. 123.
Recent Conference Presentations
“Syncretism Revisited: The Ritual Life of South Indian Catholics,” 19th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Leiden, Netherlands, June 27-30, 2006.
“Practical Moral Discourse and Human Rights for Women: A Cultural Case-Study” co-presented with Bindu Madhok,19th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Leiden, Netherlands, June 27-30, 2006.
“‘Material Dialogue’ in Catholic Lay Religion in South India” Conference on the Study of Religions of India, Loyola University Chicago, June 8-11, 2006.
“The Tsunami and Hindu-Christian Conflict” Midwest American Academy of Religion, Dominican University, River Forest, IL, March 31-April 1, 2006.
Invited public lecture titled “Made in India: A Different Face of Catholic Christianity” Christianity in India Conference, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, March 23-24, 2006.
“Transmitting Tradition to the Younger Generation” Conference on Children, Youth, and their Education in Globalizing India, Varanasi, India, December 22-24, 2005.
“The Impact of Tsunami on Religious Practice” Second International Conference on Religions and Culture in Indic Civilization, Delhi, India, December 17-20, 2005.
“Religion and Money: An Ethnographic Profile of a South Indian Catholic Festival” National Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Philadelphia, November 19-22, 2005.
“Online Rituals: How a Traditional Religion Negotiates Contemporary Cyber Challenge” National Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Philadelphia, November 19-22, 2005
“Modern Constructions of the Miraculous in a South Indian Catholic Shrine” Conference on the Study of Religions of India, Albion College, June 9-12, 2005.
“Modern Indian Christianity: A Profile in Religious Autonomy,” Annual Meeting of the Midwest American Academy of Religion, De Paul University Chicago, April 8-9, 2005.
“Religion and Violence: Recent Incidents of Hindu-Christian Conflict,” The 19th World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Tokyo, Japan, March 23-30, 2005.
“A Cross-cultural Moral Discourse on Human Rights for Women,” co-presented with Bindu Madhok, 14th Annual Meeting of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, San Antonio, February 23-27, 2005.
“Revealing and Creating through Miracles: The Ethnographic Encounter with the Wondrous in South Indian Christianity,” National Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, November 20-23, 2004
“Stop in the Name of God: Wayside Shrines in South Indian Christianity” National Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Antonio, November 20-23, 2004.
A Practical Cross-Cultural Human Rights Discourse for Women” co-presented with Bindu Madhok at 31st Annual Richard R. Baker Philosophy Colloquium, University of Dayton, Ohio, October 28-30, 2004.
“Swadhina: Promoting and Sustaining Women’s Freedom in Rural India” 33rd Annual Conference on South Asia, University of Wisconsin-Madison, October 14-17, 2004.
“Deity Hunting and Temple Crossing: The Ritual Tradition at the Shrine of St. Antony in South India,” 18th European Conference on Modern South Asian Studies, Lund University, Lund, Sweden, July 6-9, 2004
“Re-defining Indian Womanhood in the Face of Globalization,” co-presented with Bindu Madhok, Asia Network Annual Meeting, Lisle, Illinois, April 3, 2004.
“Teaching Indian Christianity in America: Problems and Possibilities,” Annual Meeting of the Midwest American Academy of Religion, DePaul University, Chicago, April 1-2, 2004.
“Asanam Meal: A Ritual Leveling of Differences in South Indian Christianity” 56th national meeting of the Association for Asian Studies, Town & Country Hotel, San Diego, CA, March 4-7, 2004.
“Re-defining Indian Womanhood: A Case-Study of Two Women’s Organizations,” co-presented with Bindu Madhok, International Association of Asian Studies, Houston, February 16-21, 2004