The following Religion faculty members are currently accepting doctoral students across three areas of study, in the particular research areas named below. Applicants for the PhD program should name one or more of these individuals as possible advisors. All other Religion faculty (including Lecturers, Professors of the Practice, and Affiliated Faculty) may participate in mentoring students by serving on examination or dissertation committees.
Applicants are welcome to contact the following faculty members during the application process to discuss particular areas of study. All other questions about the doctoral program in Religion should be directed to the Director of Graduate Study, Professor Cavan Concannon.
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Janet Hoskins
Transnational Asian and Pacific religions; new religious movements; religious syncretism; visual and material cultures of religion; religions of Vietnam, Indonesia and California
Sonya Lee
Chinese Buddhist art and archaeology; material culture of the Silk Road; art and ecology; conservation of religious monuments; history of collecting and displaying religious artifacts in museums
Lori Meeks
Buddhist literature and intellectual history of Japan; Buddhist monasticism; women, gender, and religion; religious and social history of Japan; women’s history in East Asia; Japanese literature culture
Duncan Williams
Buddhism; Japanese religions; American Buddhism; Buddhism and the environment; Japanese American history and religion; Japanese American incarceration and internment; critical mixed race studies
Jessica Zu
Modern Yogācāra (the school of consciousness-only), Buddhist social philosophy, comparative studies of Indian and Chinese Buddhist revivals in the 20th century, modern Pure Land, intellectual history, China studies
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David Albertson
History of Christianity (medieval and early modern Europe); medieval religious thought; Christian mysticism; religion and visual studies; historical theology; philosophy of religion
Lisa Bitel
History of Christianity (late antique and medieval Europe); premodern religions of Europe (including “paganism”); visual and material religion; visions, apparitions, and the supernatural
Sheila Briggs
Gender in the history and thought of Christianity; early Christianity (ancient slavery); religion, science and technology; Post-Enlightenment religion in Europe.
Cavan Concannon
New Testament; Paul; early Christianity; religions of the ancient Mediterranean; Roman and early Christian archaeology
Kelsey Moss
Early modern Christianity, Religion and Race; Latin American Religions
Diane Winston
American religious history; American evangelicalism; religion and media; American spirituality; American religion and politics
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Sherman Jackson
Classical Islamic law, theology, and intellectual history; modern Islam in the West; Muslim communities in America; religion, race, and immigration; religion, liberalism, and democracy; Muslim radicalism; religion and secularism
Jessica Marglin
History of non-Muslims in the Islamic world; Jewish history and Jewish studies; Jewish-Muslim relations; law in the modern Middle East; Mediterranean studies
Arjun Nair
Sufism; Islamic philosophy and theology; Arabic-Islamic intellectual history (classical to early modern); History of Qur’anic exegesis; Arabic and Persian mystical literature
Contact Us
Administrative Assistant II
Linda Wootton
wootton@usc.edu
Project Specialist
Johnna Tyrrell
johnnaty@usc.edu
USC School of Religion
825 Bloom Walk, ACB 130
Los Angeles, CA 90089
religion@usc.edu
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Sheila Briggs
sbriggs@usc.edu
Director of Graduate Studies
Cavan Concannon
concanno@usc.edu