Education
- Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Rice University (2010)
- Certificate in Center for the Study of Women, Gender and Sexuality from Rice University (2010)
- M.A. in Religious Studies from Lancaster University (1997)
- B.A. in Theology and Religious Studies from Bristol University (1995)
Research Interests
Asian Religions in America, Engaged Buddhism, Religion and Psychoanalysis, American Religion
Recent Research Activities
My first monograph American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity was published in February 2019 by Yale University Press. I also co-edited Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism with Lola Williamson (SUNY Press, 2014) and The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism with Scott Mitchell (Oxford University Press, 2024). I have two books under advance contract: a co-written book with Amy Langenberg on sexual violations in American Buddhism (Yale University Press) and a book on abuse, cult discourse and the study of minority religion (University of Georgia Press).
I am part of a team of religious studies scholars working on a five year project called the Religion and Sexual Abuse Project, which has been funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. For details see religionandsexualabuseproject.org
I am also part of a two year research project on Spirituality and the Ethics of Religious Borrowing, which has been funded by the John Templeton Foundation. For details see cssh.northeastern.edu/research/projects/spirituality-and-the-ethics-of-religious-borrowing-a-sacred-writes-working-group
Professional Activities
Editor for Journal of Global Buddhism
Program Chair Committee for the American Academy of Religion
Steering Committee Member for the Buddhism in the West Group, American Academy of Religion
Publications
Books
- Ann Gleig, American Dharma: Buddhism Beyond Modernity (Yale University Press, 2019) http://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300215809/american-dharma
Edited Collections
- Ann Gleig and Scott Mitchell eds. The Oxford Handbook of American Buddhism (Oxford University Press, 2024)
- Ann Gleig and Lola Williamson,eds., Homegrown Gurus: From Hinduism in America to American Hinduism (Albany: SUNY Press, November 2013) [Link]
Articles/Essays
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"Multiple Buddhisms in Ladakh: Strategic Secularities and Missionaries Fighting Decline,"
co-written with Elizabeth Williams-Oerberg and Brooke Schedneck Religions 2021, 12(11), 932. - "#BuddhistCultureWars: BuddhaBros, Alt-Right Dharma, and Snowflake Sanghas," co-written with Brenna Artinger Journal of Global Buddhism Vol 22: 1(2021)
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"Collaboration as Care: Teaching Sexual Abuse in American Buddhism," co-written with Amy Paris Langenberg, Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 37:1 (2021)
- Teaching Buddhism and Hinduism in America as Critical Pedagogy, Spotlight on Teaching: American Academy of Religion May 2017
- External Mindfulness, Secure (Non) Attachment and Healing Relational Trauma: Emerging Models of Wellness for Modern Buddhists and Buddhist Modernism, Journal of Global Buddhism Vol. 17 2016
- Prominent Buddhist Women in the West. In Oxford Bibliographies in Buddhism. Ed. Richard Payne. New York: Oxford University Press (2015)
- Dharma Diversity and Deep Inclusivity at the East Bay Meditation Center: From Buddhist Modernism to Buddhist Postmodernism? Contemporary Buddhism: An Interdisciplinary Journal Vol 15: 2 (2014)
- From Buddhist Hippies to Buddhist Geeks: The Emergence of Buddhist Postmodernism? Journal of Global Buddhism Vol 15 (2014)
- From Tantra to Theravada: The Making of an American Buddhist Tantra, Contemporary Buddhism: An Interdisciplinary Journal Volume 14:2 November 2013
- Queering Buddhism or Buddhist De-Queering? Reflecting on Differences amongst Western LGBTQI Buddhists and the Limitations of Liberal Convert Buddhism, Journal of Theology and Sexuality Vol. 18:3 (2012)
- Wedding the Personal and Impersonal in West Coast Vipassana: A Dialogical Encounter between Buddhism and Psychotherapy, The Journal of Global Buddhism Vol 13 (2012)
- Researching New Religious Movements From the Inside-Out and the Outside-In: Methodological Reflections on Collaborative and Participatory Approaches, Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions 16:1 (August 2012)
- The Return of the Repressed: Psychoanalysis As Spirituality, Journal of Implicit Religion 15:2 (2012)
- The Culture of Narcissism Revisited: Transformations of Narcissism in Contemporary Psychospirituality, Pastoral Psychology 59: 1 (February 2010)
- The Diamond Approach: Divine Individualism or Mystical Humanism ? Fieldwork in Religion 4:1 (May 2009)
Book Sections/Chapters
- “Engaged Buddhism.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Religion. (Oxford University Press, 2021)
- “Enacting Social Change Through Meditation,” The Oxford Handbook of Meditation eds. Miguel Farias, David Brazier and Mansur Lalljee (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2020)
- Undoing Whiteness in American Buddhist Modernism: Critical, Collective, and Contextual Turns, in George Yancy and Emily McRae, ed. Buddhism and Whiteness (Philosophy of Race Series Lexington Books, 2019)
- “Embodying Nonduality: Depth Psychology in American Mysticism,” in Thomas Cattoi and David Odorisio, eds. Depth Psychology and Mysticism (Hastings: Palgrave and Macmillan, 2018)
- Embodied Desire in Buddhism: Poison and Antidote, in Kent Brintnall Macmillan Interdisciplinary Handbooks, Religion: Embodied Religion (New York: Macmillan, 2016)
- #Hashtag Meditation, Cyborg Buddhas, and Enlightenment as an Epic Win: Buddhism, Technology, and the New Social Media, in Istvan Keul, ed. Religion, Technology, and Science in South and East Asia (Routledge, 2015)
- Remembering Sri Aurobindo and the Mother: The Forgotten Lineage of Integral Yoga with Charles Flores in Mark Singleton and Ellen Goldberg, eds., Gurus of Modern Yoga (New York and London: Oxford University Press, 2013)
- “Introduction: From Wave to Soil,” co-written with Lola Williamson, in Gleig and Williamson, Homegrown Gurus.
- From Being to Becoming,Transcending to Transforming: Andrew Cohen and the Evolution of Enlightenment, in Gleig and Williamson, Homegrown Gurus.
- The Enlightened Body in A.H.Almaas's Diamond Approach, in Thomas Cattoi and June McDaniel, eds. Perceiving the Divine through the Human Body:Mystical Sensuality (Hastings: Palgrave and Macmillan, 2011)
- The Contemplative Classroom,co-written with Anne Klein in Judith Simmer-Brown and Fran Redlands, eds. Meditation and the Classroom: Contemplative Pedagogy for Religious Studies (Albany: SUNY Press, 2011)
Book Reviews
- Buddhism Beyond Borders edited by Scott Mitchell and Natalie Quli Journal of Global Buddhism Vol 16 (2015) http://www.globalbuddhism.org/jgb/index.php/jgb/article/view/164/179
Awards
Distinguished Alumna, Flame Award Religious Studies Department, Rice University 2023
UCF Research Incentive Award (RIA) 2023
UCF Teaching Incentive Award (TIP) 2022
UCF Mid-Career Refresh program, UCF 2020
Distinguished Alumna, Center for the Study of Women, Gender, & Sexuality, Rice University 2019
UCF Research Incentive Award (RIA) 2018
College of Arts and Humanities Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award 2017
University Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award 2017
UCF Teaching Incentive Award (TIP) 2017
Courses
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 93191 | REL3076 | Cults, Minority Religions, Nrm | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| 82960 | REL4180 | Religion and Medicine | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| 82938 | REL4180H | Honors Religion and Medicine | In Person (P) | Tu,Th 9:00 AM - 10:15 AM | Unavailable |
| Course # | Course | Title | Mode | Days/Times | Syllabus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12955 | REL3195 | Sex and the Sacred | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| 19668 | REL3340 | Buddhism | Web-Based (W) | 7:00 PM - 7:00 PM | Unavailable |
| 19671 | REL3930H | Hon Special Topic | In Person (P) | Tu,Th 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM | Unavailable |