Jennifer Ortegren
Assistant Professor of Religion
- Office
- Munroe Hall 205
- Tel
- (802) 443-5638
- jortegren@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- Spring Term: Mondays and Wednesdays 1-2pm, Tuesdays 11-12pm, and by appt. Please sign up at calendly.com/jdortegren
- Additional Programs
- Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Religion South Asian Studies Minor
Professor Ortegren joined the Religion Department in the fall of 2016 as an Assistant Professor of South Asian Religions after receiving her Ph.D. from the Graduate Division of Religion at Emory University. Her current research focuses on the relationship between religious and class identities among upwardly mobile Hindu and Muslim women in Udaipur, Rajasthan, India. Her research and teaching interests include women in religion, ethnographic and anthropological approaches to the study of religion, ritual and narrative practices, urbanization in South Asia, and the role of religion in emerging global middle class communities.
Courses Taught
FYSE 1002
Writing Women's Relig Worlds
Course Description
Writing Women's Religious Worlds
In this course we will examine how we can understand and recognize what “counts” as religion—perhaps in new ways—by focusing on the religious lives of women. Our primary texts will be ethnographic studies of women in various religious traditions around the world, including Hindu women in North India, Muslim women in Egypt, and a Vodou priestess in New York. We will examine how women construct their religious identities and negotiate religious authority as public leaders, ritual experts, and healers, and consider how what women say about their own lives and practices may challenge our assumptions of what religion “is” or “does.” We will also consider the ethics of ethnographic approaches to studying religion, particularly in terms of the “self” and “other,” as students develop their own ethnographic practices and writing.
Terms Taught
Requirements
FYSE 1539
Religion and Food
Course Description
Religion and Food
In this course we will examine religion and the construction of religious identity, morality, and community through food and cooking practices. We will consider how “rules” about what, when, and with whom one can or cannot eat shape religious traditions, values, and communities, and how these rules inform our very sense of what “counts” as religious. We will engage with practices from Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and students will conduct independent research about specific practices of their own choosing, which may fall outside of these traditions. 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
Requirements
INTD 1239
Race,Capitalism,Decolonization
Course Description
Race, Capitalism, Decolonization
What does decolonization mean in the present context? What does race have to do with capitalism and profit, exploitation and dispossession? In this course we will consider the intersections of race and capitalism in shaping contemporary epistemologies, institutional practices, and lived experiences in local and global contexts. We will consider how present-day formations of race and capitalism are related to histories of imperialism and the global extraction of labour and resources. (Pass/Fail)
Terms Taught
Requirements
RELI 0100
Introduction to Religion
Course Description
Introduction to Religion
Why is religion a significant element in human life and affairs? What roles does religion play in the lives of individuals and communities? And what is religion anyway? Drawing on Western and Asian traditions, we will take a comparative approach to these questions, examining how religious traditions can differ and converge. Throughout the course, we will introduce the basic vocabulary and analytical tools of the academic study of religion. We will also consider how both scholars and practitioners make sense of religion and debate its role in societies past and present. 3 hrs. lect./disc
Terms Taught
Requirements
RELI 0140
Current
Hindu Traditions of India
Course Description
Hindu Traditions of India
In this course we will identify and examine key themes and issues in the study of Hindu religious traditions in India, beginning with the defining of the terms Hinduism, religions, and religious. We will primarily focus on the ways Hindu religious traditions—texts, narratives, and practices—are performed, received, and experienced in India. Essential aspects of Hindu religious traditions will be examined, including: key concepts (darsan, dharma, karma and caste), key texts (the Bhagavad Gita and the Ramayana), and major religious deities (Shiva, Devi and Vishnu). The course will also cover contemporary Hindu-Muslim encounters, and the emerging shape of Hinduism in the American diaspora. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
RELI 0254
Islam in South Asia
Course Description
Islam and Hinduism in South Asia
Islam has played a significant role in shaping the culture and politics of South Asia, from the seventh century to the present. In this course we will consider the historical, socio-cultural, religious, and political impact of Islam in South Asia. We will begin with the introduction of Islam into the South Asian landscape, covering a range of historical moments, including the Delhi Sultanate, the rise of Mughal rule, colonial interactions, and the development of new nation states. We will then examine Islam as it is lived, practiced, and experienced in contemporary South Asia, focusing on themes such as mysticism and sainthood; issues of gender; and Hindu-Muslim encounters. 3 hrs. lect./disc.
Terms Taught
Requirements
RELI 0384
Current
Women, Religion, & Ethnograpy
Course Description
Women, Religion, and Ethnography
In this course we will focus on ethnographic scholarship regarding women in various religious traditions. We will begin with questions of feminist ethnography as proposed by Lila Abu-Lughod and then read a range of ethnographies focusing on women in different contexts, including a female Muslim healer in South India, Kalasha women in Pakistan, Bedouin Muslim women in Egypt, and Catholic nuns in Mexico. We will focus on how gendered and religious identities are constructed and intertwined, and what ethnography contributes to the study of both religion and gender. A prior course in Religion, Anthropology, or Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies is recommended. 3 hrs. sem. (National/Transnational Feminisms)
Terms Taught
Requirements
RELI 0500
Current
Upcoming
Independent Research
Course Description
Independent Research
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught
RELI 0700
Current
Upcoming
Senior Project in Religion
Course Description
Senior Project
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught
RELI 0701
Current
Upcoming
Senior Thesis in Religion
Course Description
Senior Research for Honors Candidates
Approval required
Terms Taught
RELI 1055
Women Rel Conflict South Asia
Course Description
Women, Religion, and Conflict in South Asia
This course examines religious conflict in contemporary South Asia with a focus on women. The course will begin with an introduction to the religious landscape of South Asia, including historical interactions between Hindus and Muslims, contemporary conflicts, and women’s roles in mediating conflict from Indian villages to urban Pakistani apartment complexes. Guiding questions will be: How are issues of women, gender, and religion framed in narratives of conflict? How, if at all, do women experience or interpret religious conflict differently than men? What are women’s roles in navigating, mediating, and/or transforming conflict in local contexts? In the latter half of the course, students will develop a research agenda on a specific topic of interest, to be presented in class.
Terms Taught
Requirements