FEATURED AUTHOR
Robert Ellwood
As a retired professor of religious studies from the University of Southern California, I have geratly enjoyed having the opportunity to revise and update Introducing Japanese Religion, a college level textbook. The new edition includes material on religious responses to the Fukushima disaster, and augmented information on the very colourful popular religion of Japan. I sincerely hope many students find this Asian society as fascinating as do I.
Biography
Born in Illinois, I began my professional career as a priest in the Episcopal church in 1957, starting out in a small parish in Nebraska. After a few years, wanting wider experience, I became a chaplain in the U.S. Navy, serving largely in Oklnawa and Japan. This awakened an interest in Japanese culture and world religions generally. In 1963 I subsequently started graduate work in history of religion at the University of Chicago, writing my dissertation on a medieval Shinto text. From 1967 to retirement in 1997 I taught in the School of Religion of the University of Southern California, chiefly in South and East Asian religions.Education
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B.A. University of Colorado, Boulder, 1954;
M.Div., Yale Divinity School, New Haven, CT 1957
Ph.D. University of Chicago Divinity School, 1967
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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My research has been in Japanese religion; American religion, especially new religious movements; and in history of religion theory.
Personal Interests
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Beyond professional interests, I enjoy reading history and science, particularly astronomy; and my life in retirement in Ojai, C A, with my spouse, Gracia Fay, three cats, and two grown children who live in the area.
Books
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