Laura J. Vollmer, PhD
St. Charles, MO, USA
EDUCATION
PhD University of Groningen, Comparative Study of Religion (2017)
MRes University of Groningen, Religion and Culture (2013)
MA Washington University in St. Louis, East Asian Studies (2010)
Areas of Specialty
East Asia
History of religions (modern to contemporary)
Religion and science, health, culture, and society
Theory and method in the study of religion and knowledge
Postmodern philosophy
PUBLICATIONS
Academic Blog Posts
“Manifesting Our Dreams: Religion, Science, and Dream Culture,” The Religion Factor, 30 Sept. 2022. https://www.rug.nl/research/centre-for-religious-studies/research-centres/centre-religion-conflict-globalization/blog/manifesting-our-dreams-religion-science-and-dream-culture?lang=en.
“Awakening to the Dreams of History,” Counterpoint, 29 Mar. 2022. https://www.counterpointknowledge.org/awakening-to-the-dreams-of-history/.
“God on the Brain: Part Three,” Knowledge Unbound, 20 May 2015. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“God on the Brain: Part Two,” Knowledge Unbound, 10 Feb. 2015. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“God on the Brain: Part One,” Knowledge Unbound, 6 Nov. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“The Social Construction of Knowledge,” Knowledge Unbound, 16 Sept. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“The Discursive Construction of Knowledge,” Knowledge Unbound, 18 Aug. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“‘Religion-and-Science’: Complicating the Pairing,” Knowledge Unbound, 3 July 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“Conflict with the Conflict Thesis: Complicating the Religion-Science Dichotomy,” Knowledge Unbound, 30 May 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“Science as ‘Not Religion’: The History of the Conflict Construct (Part Two),” Knowledge Unbound, 25 Mar. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“Science as ‘Not Religion’: The History of the Conflict Construct (Part One),” Knowledge Unbound, 3 Mar. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“Complicating ‘Creationism vs. Evolution,’” Knowledge Unbound, 15 Feb. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“A View from Everywhere: Metacognition and the Limits of Reflection,” Knowledge Unbound, 11 Feb. 2014. http://www.knowledgeunbound.com (no longer online; pdf available upon request).
“Religion and Science: Relating the Relationships?” The Religion Factor, 24 Sept. 2012. http://religionfactor.net/2012/09/24/religion-and-science-relating-the-relationships/.
Articles
“Toward a Historiography of Dreams: A Discursive Perspective,” Poligrafi 28.109–10 (2023), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.35469/poligrafi.2023.414.
“The Role of ‘Spirituality’ in Religion-Secular Relational Discourse: The Case of Yoga in Britain,” Journal of Religion in Europe 13.3–4 (2021), 325–350.
Books
The Relational Structure of Discourse: The Case of Religion and Science [working title], Supplements to Method and Theory in the Study of Religion (Brill, forthcoming).
Hindu, Jain, and Sikh Faiths in America, 3rd ed. (Chelsea House, forthcoming).
Buddhist Faith in America, 3rd. ed. (Chelsea House, 2023).
Contributions to Books
With Kocku von Stuckrad, “Science,” in Michael Stausberg and Steven Engler, eds., Oxford Handbook of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2016), 450–471.
Electronic Publications
“Research Master Student” (testimonial), University of Groningen, 9 Dec. 2013. http://www.rug.nl/ggw/education/master/interviews/testimonial-rema.
“Tradition and Change,” review of Livia Kohn, ed., Daoist Body Cultivation: Traditional Models and Contemporary Practices (Three Pines Press, 2006), Amazon, 26 Mar. 2011. http://www.amazon.com/review/R1BIK6TCT0RCMR/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“The Blossoming of Buddhism and Cognitive Science,” review of Zara Houshmand, Robert B. Livingston, and B. Alan Wallace, eds., Consciousness at the Crossroads: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Brainscience and Buddhism(Snow Lion Publications, 1999), Amazon, 6 Feb. 2011. http://www.amazon.com/review/R35NA7ZTDN0TER/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“Building Bridges between Buddhism and Science,” review of Jeremy W. Hayward and Francisco J. Varela, eds., Gentle Bridges: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on the Sciences of Mind, (Shambhala Publications, 1992), Amazon, 6 Feb. 2011. http://www.amazon.com/review/R3NVDODE6URT0C/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“Medicinal Mind: Healing Emotions in Religion and Science,” review of Daniel Goleman, ed., Healing Emotions: Conversations with the Dalai Lama on Mindfulness, Emotions, and Health (Shambhala Publications, 2003), Amazon, 1 Feb. 2011. http://www.amazon.com/review/R1JY81KN40P8PV/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“Topical Treasure,” review of Francisco J. Varela, ed., Sleeping, Dreaming, and Dying: An Exploration of Consciousness with the Dalai Lama (Wisdom Publications, 1997), Amazon, 1 Feb. 2011. http://www.amazon.com/review/R14TA2M7A4AEMJ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“Halloween Hodgepodge,” review of Jack Santino, ed., Halloween and Other Festivals of Death and Life (University of Tennessee Press, 1994), Amazon, 17 Oct. 2010. http://www.amazon.com/review/R2RUDI36CBG40U/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“The Inspiration of Evil,” review of The Rite: The Making of a Modern Exorcist, by Matt Baglio (Doubleday Religion, 2009), Amazon, 23 Sept. 2010. http://www.amazon.com/review/R28AOBWMIZBF93/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“Experiencing Magic,” review of The Anthropology of Magic, by Susan Greenwood (Berg, 2009), Amazon, 18 Aug. 2010. http://www.amazon.com/review/R2T3JOLV9N5OD0/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
“The Ambiguity of Religion, Science, and the Occult,” review of Magic, Mystery, and Science: The Occult in Western Civilization, by Dan Burton (Indiana University Press, 2004). Amazon, 17 Aug. 2010. http://www.amazon.com/review/R2MAV6C8BAKBJL/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm.
Reviews
Review of Albert H. Tricomi, Clashing Convictions: Science and Religion in American Fiction, Reading Religion, 15 Feb. 2019. https://readingreligion.org/books/clashing-convictions.
OTHER WRITING EXPERIENCE
Freelance Copy, Language, and Line Editor independently contracted by Stanford University Press, the University Press of Mississippi, McFarland, and numerous individual authors (2014–present).
Copy and Line Editor and Editorial Assistant for Journal of Religion in Europe (Sept. 2011–June 2013; Jan. 2017–Dec. 2021).
Copy and Line Editor and Proofreader for Vienna Journal of East Asian Studies (Sept. 2013–Apr. 2014).
Copy and Line Editor and Proofreader for Numen: International Review for the History of Religions (Nov. 2012–Dec. 2013).
Encyclopedia Entries
Frank K. Flinn and M. Darrol Bryant, eds., Religion and Culture, vol. of Religions and Society (Facts on File, unpublished), ISBN: 9780816076673 0816076677, total 125 entries:
“Confucianism”; “Confucius”; “Daodejing”; “Daoism”; “emperor worship”; “Enlightenment”; “exorcism”; “Five Pillars of Islam”; “Five Relations”; “Four Noble Truths”; “Genghis Khan”; “Gobind Singh, Guru”; “Golden Temple”; “Guanyin”; “guru”; “Hades”; “Hanuman”; “healing”; “Hermes”; “heroes”; “hijra”; “Honen”; “horoscope”; “immortals (Chinese)”; “Indra”; “Ise Jingu”; “Isis”; “Jainism”; “Jerusalem”; “jihad”; “jinja”; “Jupiter”; “Kaaba”; “Kabbalah”; “Kali”; “kami”; “karma”; “Kukai”; “lama”; “Laozi”; “legend of the Grail”; “Lotus Sutra”; “lotus, symbolism of”; “magic”; “Mahabharata”; “Maharishi Mahesh Yogi”; “Mahavira”; “mandala”; “mantra”; “mappo”; “Mara”; “matsuri”; “maya”; “meditation”; “Mencius”; “mindfulness”; “moksha”; “Mozi”; “mudra”; “mysticism”; “Nagarjuna”; “Nanak, Guru”; “near death experience”; “New Age religions”; “New Religions”; “Nichiren”; “nirvana”; “Noble Eightfold Path”; “numerology”; “Nut”; “occult”; “oracle bones”; “Otto, Rudolf”; “pagoda”; “Pitaka”; “prayer beads”; “reincarnation”; “religions of China”; “Sai Baba of Shirdi”; “Samhain”; “samsara”; “sangha”; “Sarasvati”; “satori”; “shakti”; “shamanism”; “Shankara”; “Shinran”; “Shinto”; “Sikhism”; “Soka Gakkai”; “Southeast Ceremonial Complex”; “Spiritualism”; “sutra”; “tapu”; “Theosophy”; “Thor”; “Tirthankaras”; “Tlaloc”; “torii”; “Transcendental Meditation”; “Tripitaka”; “Tuatha De Dannan”; “Tylor, Edward Burnett”; “UFO”; “Upanishads”; “vampire”; “Vedanta”; “Vedas”; “Venus”; “Viracocha”; “Vishnu”; “Vivekananda”; “Vodun”; “witchcraft”; “women”; “Xunzi”; “Yggdrasil”; “Yijing”; “yinyang”; “yoga”; “Zen”; “Zeus”; and “Zhuangzi.”
Frank K. Flinn, M. Darrol Bryant, and David E. Guinn, eds., Religion and Politics, vol. of Religions and Society (Facts on File, unpublished), ISBN: 9780816076697 0816076693, total 71 entries:
“Arthashastra” [with introduction to primary text excerpts]; “atheism and the state”; “Audi, Robert”; “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)”; “Buddhism and the state” [with introduction to Jatakas excerpts]; “Buddhist economics”; “Buddhist Peace Fellowship”; “Carter, Stephen”; “Castellio, Sebastian”; “communitarianism”; “Confucianism and law”; “Confucianism and the state” [with introduction to Daxue excerpts]; “constitutional morality”; “constitutional protection of religion”; “Dalai Lama”; “Daoism and the state” [with introduction to Daodejing excerpt]; “Dharma”; “Dworkin, Ronald”; “East Asia”; “Engaged Buddhism”; “Enlightenment”; “Fabian socialism”; “feminism”; “Five Precepts (Buddhism)”; “globalization”; “Hinduism and the state”; “Jainism and the state”; “laïcité”; “Laws of Manu” [with introduction to primary text excerpts]; “Milton, John”; “multiculturalism”; “Naked Public Square”; “neo-colonialism”; “Perry, Michael”; “pluralism”; “Rawls, John”; “Satyagraha”; “secular/secularism”; “sexual orientation”; “Shintoism and the state” [with introduction to Kojiki excerpts]; “Sikhism and the state” [with introduction to Adi Granth excerpts]; “socialism and religion”; “Southeast Asia”; “Thich Nhat Hanh”; and “women’s rights and religion.”
Dissertations and Theses
“The Relationality of Religion and Science: Toward a New Discourse-analytical Framework” (PhD diss., University of Groningen, 2017).
“Relating ‘Religion’ and ‘Science’: The Religiosity of Science” (MRes thesis, University of Groningen, 2013).
“Change Your Mind: Neuroplasticity and Buddhist Transformation” (MA thesis, Washington University in St. Louis, 2010).
“Return Home to This Enlightenment: A Comparison of the Child and the Sage in the Daodejing” (BA honors thesis, Washington University in St. Louis, 2007).
LANGUAGES
English (native/expert)
Mandarin Chinese (advanced)
Classical Chinese (advanced)
REFERENCES
Valerie Jones
Senior project editor, University Press of Mississippi
Email: [email protected]
Titus Hjelm, PhD
Former managing editor, Journal of Religion in Europe
Email: [email protected]
Anne Koch, PhD
Author and former managing editor, Journal of Religion in Europe
Email: [email protected]
