Amy L. Allocco
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Elon University
2340 Campus Box, Elon, NC 27244
336.278.6484 / aallocco@elon.edu
Education
Ph.D., Emory University, 2009 (West and South Asian Religions: Hinduism and Islam)
Dissertation: “Snake Goddesses and Anthills: Modern Challenges and Women's Ritual Responses in
Contemporary South India”
Committee: Joyce Flueckiger (director), Laurie L. Patton, Paul B. Courtright, and Vasudha Narayanan
American Institute for Indian Studies Advanced Tamil Language Program, 2003 – 2004, Madurai, India
M.T.S., Harvard University, 2001 (South Asian Religions)
B.A. (with Honors), Colgate University, 1997 (Double Major: Philosophy and Religion; Asian Studies)
High Honors Thesis: “Conversion to Earth: The Ecofeminist Liberation Theology of Rosemary Radford
Ruether”
India Study Group (1995) focused on the religions, philosophies and arts of South India
Sri Lanka Study Group (1995) focused on Theravada Buddhism
Academic Appointments
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Elon University (2009 – present)
Faculty-in-Residence, Elon University Isabella Cannon International Pavilion (2010 – present)
Co-Director, Study Abroad Course in South India, Indian Lives/Indian Spaces, Maryville College (2010)
Adjunct Instructor, Maryville College (2008 – 2009)
Instructor, Wofford College (2008)
Instructor, Emory University (2003)
Teaching Assistant, Emory University (2002)
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Grants, Fellowships, and Honors
Hultquist Fellowship, Elon University (Summer 2011)
Faculty Research and Development Grant, Elon University (Summer 2011)
American Association of University Women American Fellowship for Dissertation Completion (2008 –
2009)
Emory University Writing Center Dissertation Completion Fellowship (2008 – 2009) declined
Emory University Professional Development Research Award (2008) to support translating a Sanskrit
ritual manual in India
American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Fellowship (2008) for follow-up dissertation research in India
American Institute of Indian Studies Junior Fellowship (2007) for dissertation research in India
Fund for International Graduate Research Dissertation Research Grant (2006) for research in India
Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Fellowship (2005 – 2006) declined
Fulbright Institute of International Education Fellowship (2005 – 2006) declined
Fund for International Graduate Research Pre-Dissertation Grant (2005) to support research in India
Graduate Fellowship, Graduate Division of Religion, Emory University (2001 – 2003; 2004 – 2005; 2006 –
2008)
Summer Language/Research Grant, Emory University (2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007)
National Endowment for the Humanities Teaching Grant (2003)
Emory College Online Grant (2003) for Blackboard training and course development
John and Ineke Carman Scholarship, Harvard University (2000) for promise in the study of world
religions
Thomas J. Watson Research Fellowship: “Hindu Women’s Religious Practices in South India” (1997 –
1998) for a year of independent research on Hindu women’s rituals in India and the U.K.
Asian Studies Award, Colgate University (1997) for highest GPA in concentration
Raphael Lemkin Essay Prize, Colgate University (1997) for an original research paper on the Holocaust
Konosioni Senior Honor Society, Colgate University (1996)
Humanities Research Grant, Colgate University (1996)
George Cobb Fellowship, Colgate University (1995, 1996)
Metropolitan Life Pathways Foundation Scholarship (1993 – 1997)
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Conference Presentations
“Making Mountains out of Anthills at a South Indian Goddess Temple,” Fourth South and Southeast
Asian Association for the Study of Culture and Religion Conference, Thimphu, Kingdom of Bhutan
(2011)
“Nagas in the Kali Yuga: Reverence, Fear, and Karmic Retribution,” University of Alberta, Edmonton
“Rethinking the Nonhuman: Asian, Continental, and Comparative Perspectives” Workshop (2010)
“‘With Drums We Call Him and With Our Tears We Keep Him’: Transforming Restless Spirits into
Household Deities,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC (2009)
“‘The Neem Tree is Parvati and the Peepal Tree is Shiva’: Tree Marriage as Ritual Remedy,” American
Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Montreal, QC (2009)
“Flower Showers for the Goddess: Borrowing, Modification, and Ritual Innovation in Tamil Nadu,”
Conference on the Study of Religions of India, Kalamazoo, MI (2009)
“Fertility and Auspiciousness on the Banks of the Kaveri,” Fourth Annual Tamil Conference, University of
California at Berkeley (2008)
“Living with the Goddess: Healing and Ritual Authority in South India,” American Academy of Religion
Southeastern Region Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA (2008)
“Encounters in Ethnography Today,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA
(2007)
“Burning Demons, Channeling Goddesses: Multiple Constructions of Female Hair in Tamil Possession and
Exorcism Contexts,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA (2007)
“Carrying Fire Pots for the Goddess: Mothers and Daughters in the Performance of a Vow for
Mariyamman,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA (2005)
“Hungry Tuesdays and the Blessing of a Son,” American Academy of Religion Southeastern Region
Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA (2002)
Other Conference Participation
Respondent, “Women’s Leadership, Embodied Dialogue Across Religions” panel for Comparative
Studies in Hinduisms and Judaism Group at American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta,
GA (2010)
Panel Organizer, “Performance as a Site for Hindu-Christian Encounter” for Society for Hindu-Christian
Studies Annual Meeting at American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA (2010)
Discussant, They Call Me Muslim, Elon University Women’s & Gender Studies Film Series (2009)
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Respondent to The Women’s Kingdom and Tillie Olsen: A Heart in Action, American Association of
University Women Maryville Branch Women’s History Month FilmFest, Maryville College (2009)
As Co-Chair of the Religions of Asia Section for the American Academy of Religion Southeastern Region
(2010 – present) I am responsible for planning this section’s program for the Annual Meeting, which has
included the following panels:
1) “New Perspectives on Merit in Buddhist Cultures: Textual, Ritual, Material, Social and Political
Approaches,” Louisville, KY (2011)
2) Organizer and Co-Respondent, “Conceiving the Body in South and East Asian Religions,”
Louisville, KY (2011)
3) Organizer, “Asian Religions and Ecology: Conflicts, Contexts, and Contributions,”Louisville, KY
(2011)
4) Organizer and Respondent, “Multiple Models of Translation: Texts, Theory, and Theology,”
Louisville, KY (2011)
Invited Lectures
“Female Hair Unbound: Divine/Demonic Embodiment in Hindu Possession and Exorcism Rituals,”
University of North Carolina at Greensboro “Making and Remaking Subjects” Gender and Sexuality
Studies Merge Workshop (2011)
Panelist, “General Musharraf, President Musharraf: Context and Implications of Elon’s Convocation,”
Elon University (2010)
“Inconsistency, Authority, and Ethnographic Writing,” Program for Ethnographic Research & Community
Studies Brown Bag Lunch Series, Elon University (2010)
“Demons, Deities, and Female Hair in Hindu Possession and Exorcism Rituals,” Elon University Religious
Studies Departmental Colloquy (2009)
“Becoming the Goddess, Feeding the Goddess: Ethnography Among the Drummers, Priests, and
Devotees of a Snake Goddess Temple in Chennai,” Indian Council for Historical Research, Gauhati
University, India (2007)
“Naga Puja, Naga Dosham,” Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Chennai, India (2007)
“Blessings, Vows, and Possession in a South Indian Festival,” Colgate University Women’s Studies Series
(2005)
“A Year of My Own,” Colgate University Alumni Career Services Fellowship Speaker Series (2005)
“Gifting and Performed Transformation in a Sastyabda Purti Ritual,” Emory University Center for the
Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (2003)
“Hindu Women’s Religious Practices in South India,” Hamilton College; Colgate University; Vassar
College (1998)
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Guest Lectures
“Life History Interviewing: Methods and Skills,” Elon Academy Research project (2010)
“Puja: Ritual Worship in Hindu India,” Elon University India Science Education & Development Study
Abroad course (2010)
“Visual Forms and Religious Meanings of Ganga,” Elon University Religion and Art of Asia course (2009)
“Seeing the Divine in India,” Elon University India Science Education & Development Study Abroad
course (2009)
“Draupadi’s Annual Festival in South India,” Maryville College Mahabharata course (2009)
“Accounting for Religion and Gender,” presentation to Elon University India Cohort of Periclean Scholars
(2009)
“An Introduction to Hindu Deities,” Maryville College Bollywood course (2008)
“Encountering the Divine in Everyday Hinduism,” Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (2008)
“Marriage, Gender and the Indian Family,” Maryville College World Cultures: Indian Subcontinent
course (2007)
“Encountering the Gods in South Indian Hinduism,” University of West Georgia World Religions course
(2006)
“Approaches to the Study of Religion: Ethnography and Performance,” University of West Georgia
Introduction to Religion course(2006)
“Ticcatti: Caste and Gender in a Vow to Mariyamman,” Colgate University CORE India course (2005)
“Women's Oral Performances of the Ramayana,” Emory College Modern Hinduism course (2003)
“Ethnography and Tamil Rituals,” Emory College Interpreting Religions course (2002)
Publications
Book Projects In Progress
Co-editor with Brian K. Pennington, Ritual Innovation in South Asian Religions (essays due to editors in
May 2011 for submission to SUNY Press)
Snake Goddesses and Anthills: Modern Challenges and Women's Ritual Responses in Contemporary
South India (dissertation under revision as a book project)
Book Chapters
“Nagas in the Kali Yuga: Reverence, Fear, and Karmic Retribution,” in Rethinking the Nonhuman: Asian
and Comparative Perspectives, eds. Neil Dalal and Chlöe Taylor (to be submitted to University of
British Columbia Press)
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“Flower Showers for the Goddess: Borrowing, Modification, and Ritual Innovation in Tamil Nadu,” in
Ritual Innovation in South Asia, eds. Amy L. Allocco and Brian K. Penington (to be submitted to SUNY
Press).
“Naga Worship,” in Introducing Hinduism (Religion in Focus Series), ed. P. Pratap Kumar (London:
Equinox, forthcoming) – in progress.
“Ritual Negotiation and Collaboration in a Vow to Mariyamman” in Loksamskritibijnan: Sikader Sandhan
(Folkloristics: In Search of Root), ed. Sk. Makbul Islam (Kolkata: Bangiya Sahitya Samsad, 2008).
Articles
“Cacophony or Coherence: Ethnographic Writing and Competing Claims to Ritual and Textual
Authority.” Method & Theory in the Study of Religion 21 (2009): 3-14.
Other Published Work
“Tradition Immediate and Nourishing” in The Colgate Scene 27:4 (1999).
Book Manuscript Review Work
Oxford University Press (2010)
Professional Leadership
International Connections Committee, American Academy of Religion (2010 – present)
Board Member, Society for Hindu-Christian Studies (2010 – present)
Steering Committee, Comparative Studies in Hinduisms and Judaisms Group, American Academy of
Religion (2010 – present)
Co-Chair, Religions of Asia Section, American Academy of Religion Southeast Region (2010 – present)
Journal Editorial Board, Indian Folklore Explorer (2007 – present)
Other Professional Experience
Selected Participant, American Institute of Indian Studies “Transforming Your Dissertation into a Book”
Workshop (2010)
Participant, American Academy of Religion “Three Religion Majors Meet in a Café …” Leadership
Workshop (2009)
Research Assistant and Participant, American Academy of Religion/Ford Foundation "Contesting
Religions/Religions Contested" Project (2004)
Participant, American Institute of Indian Studies Workshop on Islam in South Asia, New Delhi (2003)
Convener, Emory University Graduate Symposium on the Religious Traditions of West and South Asia
(2002 – 2003)
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Research Assistant and Presenter, Hindu Marital Arrangements Workshop and Book Project, Center for
the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion, Emory University (2002 – 2003)
Research Assistant and Participant, American Academy of Religion/Ford Foundation "The Study of
Religion in a Global Context" Project (2002)
Selected Participant, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Sawyer Seminar “Religious Conflict in South Asia
and Nigeria” (2002)
Selected Participant, Wabash Center Seminar “Competing Jihads: War & the Religious Imagination”
(2002)
Teaching Experience
Undergraduate Courses Taught at the 100-Level
Religion in a Global Context; World Religions; Introduction to Sacred Texts
Undergraduate Courses Taught at the 200-Level
Hindu Traditions; Religions of the World; Travel-Study Abroad Course: Indian Lives/Indian Spaces
Undergraduate Courses Taught at the 300-Level
Hindu Textual Traditions: Sacrifice, Duty, and Devotion; Women in Islam: Veneration, Veils, and Voices;
Women, Religion, and Ethnography, Hindu Goddesses: From Myths to Movies; World Cultures: The
Indian Subcontinent
Undergraduate Courses Taught at the 400-Level
Ghosts, Demons, and Ancestors in Asian Religions (Spring 2012)
Undergraduate Research Projects Directed
Hannah Dowling, “New Conceptions of Motherhood: Context and Implications of Embryo Adoption” –
capstone project for independent Women’s and Gender Studies major (Fall 2010 and Spring 2011, 8
semester hours)
Brett Evans, “Animal Rights Beliefs within an American Diaspora Jain Community” (Fall 2010, 4 semester
hours)
Areas of Teaching Competence
Hindu Traditions; Religion in South Asia; Women and Religion; Ethnography and Performance Studies;
Ritual Theory; History and Approaches to the Study of Religion; Contemporary Islam, Gender, and
Muslim Women’s Practices; Asian Healing Practices and Traditions
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Study and Research in India
1995
Semester-long study abroad course through Colgate University (6 months)
1997 – 1998
Independent research project under a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship (12 months)
Summer 2002 Tamil language tutorials and ethnographic research (3 months)
Summer 2003 Tamil language tutorials and ethnographic research (3 months)
2003 – 2004
American Institute of Indian Studies Academic Year Advanced Tamil Language Program
(9 months)
Summer 2004 Ethnographic research (6 weeks)
Summer 2005 Pre-Dissertation ethnographic research (6 weeks)
2006 – 2007
Dissertation research (14 months)
Summer 2008 Ethnographic research and Sanskrit translation project (1 month)
Summer 2011 Ethnographic research for book project (6 weeks)
Languages
Tamil (advanced reading, writing, listening, and speaking ability)
Sanskrit (reading proficiency)
French (reading proficiency)
Professional Societies
American Academy of Religion
Society for Hindu-Christian Studies
Conference on the Study of the Religions of India
Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion