nathan rein

Religion, religious studies, protestant reformation, religion and violence

Nathan Rein is an asssistant professor of religious studies at Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania.

Paul Waldau

Religion, Law, Anthropology, Policy Studies, Philosophy, Education

Dr. Waldau is Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine, which includes the country's most advanced graduate program in the study of nonhuman animals, policy, and cultural values. Paul has a Doctor of Philosophy degree from University of Oxford. He also has a Juris Doctor degree from UCLA Law School and a Master's Degree from Stanford University in Religious Studies. He is the author and editor of several books—The Specter of Speciesism: Buddhist and Christian Views of Animals published by Oxford University Press in 2001, and the forthcoming A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics to be published by Columbia University Press. He publishes widely, a recent example of which is the article in the prestigious Encyclopedia of Religion on 'Animals.' Paul teaches ethics courses at the veterinary school, and currently is teaching the 'animal law' course at Harvard Law School. He is also the Co-chair of the Animals and Religion Consultation at the American Academy of Religion, and the founder and president of the Religion and Animals Institute.

Stephen Healey

Religious-ethical and social implications of genomics (with a colleague), Working on a book-length treatment of religion and conflict analysis, Religious-ethical and social implications of the internet

Stephen Healey is an Associate Professor at the University of Bridgeport. He directs the Program in World Religions and participates in the Univeristy's Honors Program.

John B. Switzer

Completing doctoral dissertation on interreligious learning through the Institute of Religious Education & Pastoral Ministry at Boston College, and applying for a tenure-track position in historical theology at Spring Hill College ("the Jesuit College of the South, " Mobile, Alabama).

John B. Switzer is completing the PhD in theology and education from Boston College. Having lost most of his hair, he is struggling to make meaning from the experience of being a middle-aged male embarking upon a relatively new career in higher education. His soon-to-be-defended doctoral dissertation is on the topic of interreligious literacy. His foundational thesis argues that if it ever was, it is now no longer acceptable--or wise--for religious institutions to teach about their religion alone. Believers must be formed by and informed of their own religious tradition, to be sure, but the effort to sponsor and support a particular religious identity is best accomplished within a context of interreligious dialogue marked by authentic and preemptive acts of hospitality.