December 2024-
The Department of Religion is deeply saddened by the passing of our esteemed emeritus faculty member, Professor Paul B. Courtright. Paul served as a chair for the Department of Religion from 1986 to 1996 and was a leading scholar studying South Asian religions, particularly Hinduism. His work focused on religious change in nineteenth-century India and visual cultures in colonial India. He authored Ganesa: Lord of Obstacles, Lord of Beginnings (Oxford, 1985) and co-edited From the Margins of Hindu Marriage: Essays in Gender, Culture, and Religion (Oxford, 1995), among other contributions to the Encyclopedia of Religion. In honor of his legacy, the Paul B. Courtright Prize is awarded annually for excellence among majors in the Department of Religion.