Sherry Fohr
Dr. Sherry Elizabeth Fohr, Curricular Director of the Interfaith Studies Program, received her BA from Ithaca College, and MA and PhD in religious studies from the University of Virginia. She studied the Hindi language for one year in India, the Urdu language for six months in Pakistan, and received a Fulbright-Hays Fellowship to conduct one year of ethnographic research in India in the Jain community.
After teaching adjunct at Mary Baldwin College, she taught for four years at Wofford College where she received a “Teacher of the Year” award from the Blue Key Honor Society in 2005. Her courses are highly interdisciplinary and include ancient scriptures, anthropological information, politics, and modern events relevant to the study of religion. Women and religion is one of her teaching interests as well as the study of modern religious issues. Her courses include the world religions survey course as well as upper level courses about Asian religions, some of which are cross-listed with anthropology.
Selected Publications & Presentations
Jainism: A Guide for the Perplexed. London: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2015.
“Jain Satis in Prayer and Worship,” Prayer and Worship in Dharma Traditions: Ritual and Communion in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, and Sikh Practice, ed. Rita Sherma & Purushottama Bilimoria, (FORTHCOMING).
“Jain Women,” Religion and the Future of Women, ed. Arvind Sharma. Albany: State University of New York Press, (FORTHCOMING).
“Karma, Austerity, and Time-Cycles: Jainism and Radical Life-Extension.” Religion and the Implications of Radical Life Extension, ed. Derek F. Maher and Calvin Mercer. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009.
“Contemporary Jain Satı-Narratives.” Southeast Review of Asian Studies 29 (2007), pp. 209-217.
“External Rules and Restrictions: Female Jain Renouncers.” In Peter Flügel, ed., Studies in Jain History and Culture: Doctrines and Dialogues. London: Routledge, February 2006.
“Jainism.” In Thomas Riggs ed., Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices, Thomson Gale, 2005.
“Why are there more Jain Nuns than Monks?” Virginia Review of Asian Studies 4 (Fall 2002), pp.123-136.