PhD University of California, Santa Barbara, 2007
MA University of Colorado, 2001
BA Colorado College, 1996
Academic Focus
Islam; South Asia; the body; violence/non-violence; rel. & modernity; digital religion; contemplative traditions, Islam & Sufism in North America
Dr. Sijapati's research and teaching areas are religion & modernity, religious violence & non-violence, identity, revivalism & authority, space/place, the body, digital religion. She specializes in Islam and Muslim cultures, Sufism, South Asia, and North America.
She is on the advisory committees for Peace & Justice Studies minor and International & Global Studies major, and oversees the Values and Ethics component of the Public Policy major w/ Prof. Gary Mullen.
Beyond the college, she currently serves on the International Advisory Board for the University of Nepal, the first liberal arts university proposed for Nepal. She is also a research advisor for the NYC-based Muslim environmental group Faithfully Sustainable and is actively involved with the non-profit Green Muslims in Washington DC/NOVA area.
Select peer-reviewed publications:
2022: “‘The Body Is a Tool for remembrance’: Healing, Transformation, and the Instrumentality of the Body in a North American Sufi Order”. Body and Religion 5 (1):96–115. https://doi.org/10.1558/bar.22888
2022: "Islamic Meditation: Mindfulness Apps for Muslims in the Digital Spiritual Marketplace" in Cyber Islam, ed. Robert Rozehnal (Bloomsbury Press)
2021 book: Muslim Communities and Cultures of the Himalaya: Conceptualizing the Global Ummah. Co-editor with Jacqueline H. Fewkes. (London & New York: Routledge Press).
2021: "Diversity, Continuity, and Disjuncture: Approaching Multivocal Perspectives on Being Muslim in the Himalaya," co-author with JH Fewkes in Muslim Communities and Cultures of the Himalaya (London & New York: Routledge Press).
2019: "Sufi Remembrance Practices in the Meditation Marketplace of a Mobile App" In Anthropological Perspectives on the Religious Uses of Mobile Apps. Fewkes J. (ed) (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan)
2018: "Preparing for the House of God: Nepali Muslim Narratives of the Hajj," Himalaya 38, no. 2: 106-116.
2017: “Muslim Belonging in Hindu South Asia: Ambivalence and Difference in Nepali Public Discourses,” Society and Culture in South Asia3, no. 2 (August 2017): 198-219.
2016 book: “Modern Religiosities and Religious Modernities: Views from the Himalaya,” in Religion and Modernity in the Himalaya, eds. M A Sijapati and J V Birkenholtz (London: Routledge).
2016: Religion and Modernity in the Himalaya. Co-ed. with J V Birkenholtz (London: Routledge).
2016: “From Heavy Beads to Safety Pins: Adornment and Religiosity in Hindu Women’s Pote Practices” co-author with T Harris. Material Religion: The Journal of Objects, Art and Belief. 12:1, 1-25.
2012: “Mawdudi’s Islamic Revivalist Ideology and the Islami Sangh Nepal,” Studies in Nepali History and Society17, no. 1: 41-61.
2011 book: Islamic Revival in Nepal: Religion and a New Nation (London: Routledge). (Paperback & South Asia editions, 2012).
2011: “Muslims in Nepal: The Local and Global Dimensions of a Changing Religious Minority,” Religion Compass 5, no. 11: 656-65.
*for full list see C.V.
Courses Taught
Today we often associate religion with conflict, but what about religion as a source of peacemaking? This course studies peace movements and global peacemakers across a variety of religious and non-religious conflicts, political settings, and cultures to examine the role that religion can play in peacemaking. What methods work for resolving conflict? How is peace achieved? How does religion play in to conflict resolution? To answer these questions we will study the human dimension of conflict resolution through attention to the lives of iconic peacemakers –such as Thich Nhat Hanh, Pope Francis, Shirin Ibadi, the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, and Dorothy Day-- and their religious backgrounds, the religious influences in their lives, and the religious dimensions of their politics, strategies, inner spiritual lives, and social movements they created. For the last section of the course we turn to three critical issues today—immigration, wartime violence against women, and religious extremism—and study religiously informed efforts towards solutions.
What do you think of when you hear the words Muslims and Islam? In this seminar we sift through competing claims about Islam to look deeper into the realities of the diverse and complex world of this religion through the voices of Muslims themselves, giving particular attention to American Muslims. Through novels, films, art, sacred texts, biographies, guest speakers, and a site visit to Islamic centers and mosques in Washington D.C., we will explore such questions as: what is Islam? Who speaks for Islam? Why do some people claim Islam is a religion of peace, and others that it is a religion of violence? How and when did Islam come to America? What are the challenges faced by American Muslims today? Is there one proper way to be a Muslim? What are the guiding values in Muslim social and cultural life across the globe? In exploring these questions we will learn from a diverse array of Muslim voices today about the realities and complexities of this religion.
This First-Year Seminar explores the meanings and manifestations of yoga from ancient India to 21st century America and Europe, introducing students to the study of religion in a global context and to the philosophy and practice of yoga. We begin with a study of classical texts, the Bhagavad Gita and the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali for the foundations of yoga philosophy and practice. We then explore contemporary issues pertaining to varying applications of yoga: yoga and social justice movements (i.e. yoga in prisons; the Wounded Warrior Veterans project); court cases surrounding the First Amendment, religious freedom, and yoga in US public schools; yoga and Indian nationalism and masculinity; debates about cultural appropriation and the 'whitewashing' of yoga; and the economics of the global yoga wellness industry. Coursework will include a variety of primary and secondary text readings, films, a yoga asana and meditation ‘lab’, a field trip, and visits from guest speakers.
An intensive seminar experience in which students in the final semester of their GS major will have an opportunity to interact, learn, and bond as a cohort. The capstone will meet once a week for 2.5 hours, during which time students will undertake a common core of coursework related to Globalization as an interdisciplinary field of study. A major objective of the capstone is the completion of an individual capstone project or thesis which reflects a synthesis of the student’s regional studies, thematic tracks, study abroad experience, and capstone-related independent research. Students will be expected to present oral and written presentations of their work in a public forum.
Introduction to basic elements entailed in the study of religion such as sacred space, sacred time, ritual, pilgrimage, cosmology, ritual, scripture, and the afterlife. Course explores case studies from various cultural traditions throughout the world.
Examines the role of the body in religion cross-culturally. Examines the role of religious practices and discourses in creating, regulating, and conceptualizing the human body across religious cultures and societies. Explores how bodies serve as both agents and objects of religious practice, and the body as a site through which everyday life and politics are negotiated. Looks at dietary laws and practices, sartorial practices, healing traditions, body modifications, fasting and asceticism, death rituals, marriage and reproduction, depictions of the body in art and myth, and rites of passage. Explores gender and sexuality as part of the complexity that is the body and embodiment in varying cultural contexts. Draws on case studies for Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Judaism, Indigenous traditions, and alternative religions.
Survey of the Hindu religious tradition from its origins in the Vedic period to the present. Gives attention to Hindu social formations and cultural expressions through an examination of core texts and practices. Focuses on central themes of sacrifice, liberation, devotion, and action, and examines ritual practices, gods and goddesses, temples, pilgrimage, and contemporary guru movements.
An introduction to religious traditions of India, Tibet and Nepal and the cultures and societies of these religions, particularly Buddhism, Hinduism and Islam. Explores changes in these religions brought on by globalization and modernity, and examines primary texts, histories, practices, beliefs, and founding figures. Approaches the worldviews and claims of these religions in various reflective, critical ways.
Survey of the origins and development of Islamic beliefs and practices from inception to the present. Course examines the growth and development of the cultural, political, legal, theological, and mystical aspects of Islam from the early to the modern periods. Course readings emphasize primary source material.
Survey of the mystical tradition in Islam known as Sufism, from its origins in medieval Iraq to its role in contemporary Islamic societies. Course focuses on how the Sufi pursuit of unity with, or annihilation in, God relates to the core monotheistic beliefs of Islam. Sufi theories and practices are studies through primary source materials and special attention will be paid to issues of orthodoxy, heresy, and anti-social behavior in the history of Sufism.
Course focuses on key issues within the diverse world of global Islam such as gender, justice, colonialism, orientalism, Islamic law, violence, reform and piety movements, and human rights. Topics are examined through the study of autobiographies, religious texts, films, literature, historical writings, and art and architecture.
Critical examination of relationship between society and religion. Course relies upon theories offered by key thinkers in the study of religion to reveal religious phenomena in the contemporary world as inherently social and as having tremendous impact upon all social structures. Critical reading and writing is emphasized. REL 327 and PP 327 are cross-listed.
Examines Islam in its diverse forms within South Asia-a region that is home to more Muslims than any other region of the world. The course explores various individual and collective expressions of Muslim belief and practice (Sunni, Shi`i, and Sufi) from our earliest records to the present day. Attention will be given to the historical development of Islam in the region, religio-political movements, popular ritual and devotion, and Islamic mysticism through the study of religious and historical texts, biographies, visual art, and novels. Prerequisite: REL 270 or HIST 208 or permission of the instructor.
What do the world’s religions say about violence and non-violence? This course examines how varying religions define, understand, participate in, promote, or condemn violence. When is violence justified, according to different religions, and when is it not? When and how is religion a force for peace? Do some religions actively promote violence? Do others actively promote non-violence? Do some do both? This seminar explores these and other questions by examining the theologies. histories, scriptures, practices, philosophies, and symbols from world religions regarding violence and peace. Students will also learn theories and explanatory models applied by scholars of religion to answer the questions above. Particular emphasis is given to thinkers and activists in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia, and North America. REL 362 and PP 362 are cross-listed.
Intensive culminating research experience for Religious Studies majors. Seminar is designed around particular topics or areas or debate, which provide unifying themes for students' research projects. Course guides students as they develop their understanding of the study of religion and of religious studies theories, methods, debates, and key issues of inquiry. Requirement for the major. Prerequisite: Declaration of the religious studies major or minor and completion of three 200-level courses. Should be take in the senior year. Beginning with class of 2020, Religious Studies 260 will be a prerequisite.