VITA

Thomas Parkhill
Department of Religious Studies
St. Thomas University
Fredericton, New Brunswick
E3B 5G3

Educational Background

1980 McMaster University (Religious Studies), Ph.D.

1974 McMaster University (Religious Studies), M.A.

1971 University of Vermont (Religion), B.A. (magna cum laude)

Teaching Experience

1998- Professor, St. Thomas University

1986-1998 Associate Professor, St. Thomas University

1980-1986 Assistant Professor, St. Thomas University

1978-1980 Lecturer, St. Thomas University

1971-74; 1975-77 Teaching Assistant, McMaster University

Publications

books

Weaving Ourselves into the Land: Charles Godfrey Leland, "Indians," and the Study of Native American Religions. Albany: SUNY Press, 1997.

The Forest Setting in Hindu Epics: Princes, Sages, Demons. Lewiston, NY: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1995.

articles, book chapters

"What's Taking Place: Neighborhood Ramlilas in Banares", in Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context, Bradley R. Hertel and Cynthia Ann Humes eds. Albany: SUNY Press, 1993.

"`Of Glooskap's Birth and of his Brother Malsum, the Wolf': The Story of Charles Godfrey Leland's `purely American creation'", American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 16:1, 1992: 45-69.

"Going to the Forest: the case of the Pandavas", Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, February 1987.

"From Trifle to Story: A Study of Nala and Damayanti", Journal of the American Academy of Religion, June, 1984.

book reviews

Book Note on June Helm, Prophecy and Power Among the Dogrib Indians, Studies in Religion, 25/4, 1996, 513.

Book Review of Åke Hultkrantz, Shamanic Healing and Ritual Drama: Health and Medicine in Native North American Religious Traditions, Studies in Religion. 23:3(1994): 375-76.

Book Review of Jordan Paper, Offering Smoke: The Sacred Pipe and Native American Religion, Studies in Religion, 20:1, 1991, 119-121.

Book Note on Ruth Holmes Whitehead, Stories from the Six Worlds: Micmac Legends, Studies in Religion, 19:3, 1990, 378-79.

other

Contributor to Voices and Echoes: Canadian Women's Spirituality. Jo-Anne Elder and Colin O'Connell, editors. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier Press, 1997, 248-49.

Contributor to The Harper Collins Dictionary of Religion. Jonathan Z. Smith, general editor. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1995. [entries include: Corn (Green) Ceremonies, Fishing/Whaling Rites, Manitou, Medicine Man, Nonliteracy, Oral Tradition, Road of Life]

Towards a Code of Etiquette: Interfaith Dimensions of Canadian Multiculturalism. co-editor with Abdul Lodhi and Melynda Jarratt. Fredericton, N.B.: Atlantic Human Rights Centre, 1990.

citations

Of "What's Taking Place: Neighborhood Ramlilas in Banares" in Carol A. Bailey, A Guide to Field Research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Pine Forge Press, 1996, 45.

Of "From Trifle to Story: A Study of Nala and Damayanti" in Paul Bowlby, "Kings Without Authority: The Obligations of the Ruler to Gamble in the Mahabharata", Studies in Religion, 20:1 [1991]: 9, n23.

Of a letter and "`Of Glooskap's Birth and of his Brother Malsum, the Wolf': The Story of Charles Godfrey Leland's `purely American creation'" in Joan A. Lester, History on Birchbark: The Art of Tomah Joseph, Passamaquoddy. Providence, RI: Haffenreffer Museum of Anthropology, Brown University, 1993.

Of "`Of Glooskap's Birth and of his Brother Malsum, the Wolf': The Story of Charles Godfrey Leland's `purely American creation'" in Andrea Bear Nicholas, "Acquin, Gabriel" in Dictionary of Canadian Biography, XIII: 1901-1910, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994, 3-5; n.

Of "`Of Glooskap's Birth and of his Brother Malsum, the Wolf': The Story of Charles Godfrey Leland's `purely American creation'" in Sam D. Gill and Irene F. Sullivan, Dictionary of Native American Mythology, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1992, 103, 395.

Of Book Review of Jordan Paper, Offering Smoke: The Sacred Pipe and Native American Religion in Jordan Paper, "Réponse / Rejoinder: Methodological controversies in the study of Native American religions," Studies in Religion, 22:3 [1993]: 365-377; passim.

Honors and Awards

1998 Choice Outstanding Academic Book, 1997: Weaving Ourselves Into the Land...

1997 St. Thomas University International Travel Grant

1996 St. Thomas University 1996 Scholarship Award

1994 SSHRCC Aid to Small Universities: Social Justice, Values and Ethics Research Grant (with three colleagues) for a Women and Religion Project.

1994 St. Thomas University-SSHRCC Research Grant to complete manuscript research at the Library of Congress as part of Weaving Ourselves into the Land research.

1993 St. Thomas University-SSHRCC Research Grant to research and prepare a manuscript on readings in Native American Religions (with Dr. Earle Waugh), declined.

1985 St. Thomas University-SSHRCC Research Grant to research Native American Religions, University of Colorado

1984 St. Thomas University-SSHRCC Research Grant to research ramlilas in North India

1982 St. Thomas University-SSHRCC Research Grant to research Native American Religions, University of Colorado

1980 St. Thomas University-SSHRCC Research Grant to review the current bibliography on Nala and Damayanti.

1971-74; 1975-77 McMaster Benefactors' Scholarship

1971-74; 1975-77 McMaster Teaching Fellowship

1971 Phi Beta Kappa

Professional Activities

Paper presented (with Dr. Dorothy Turner) to Inkshed XV, the annual meeting of the Canadian Association for the Study of Language and Learning, near Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, May 7-10, 1998, "Who's Learning What?: teaching and learning cultural differences".

Paper presented to the Twentieth Annual Denton Conference on Implicit Religion, Denton Hall, Ilkley, Yorkshire, England, May 9-11, 1997, "Grey Owl's 'Indians' and place-based religiousness".

Member, Editorial Advisory Board for Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses, three-year term, 1997-2000.

Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, St. Catherines, ON, May 25-28, 1996, "Religious Place Setting: the case of the Wannabee 'Indians'".

Panel organizer and member, Conference on Northern New England in the Nineteenth Century; Cultures: Folk, Popular, Ethnic, Artistic, Literary, Political, Washburn Humanities Center, Livermore Falls, Maine, June 6-8, 1996. Panel title: "Power and Story: Nineteenth Century Interactions Among Native and not-Native Cultures;" paper title: "Charles Godfrey Leland's Aryan Indians."

Organizer (with three colleagues), Inkshed 11 Working Conference, Canadian Association for the Study of Language and Learning, Fredericton, May, 1994.

Paper presented to the St. Thomas University community in a "Research Conversation": "Weaving Ourselves into the Land: the Case of the Wannabee 'Indians.'" December, 1993.

Panel member, The Goals of Undergraduate Departments of Religious Studies, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Annual Meeting, Ottawa, June, 1993.

Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Charlottetown, June, 1992, "Studying `Indian Religion': Charles Godfrey Leland's Haunts and Story".

Elected member of the Executive of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, 1989-1991.

Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Victoria, June, 1990, "The Story He Told; the Myth He Made: Charles Godfrey Leland and the `Indians'".

Workshop leader, Knowledge in the Making: Celebrating Diversity in Writing, English, and Other Content Courses, College Composition and Communication Conference: half-day workshop, March 1990.

Panel member, Finding Identity in Community: Crafting Knowledge Through Collaborative Inquiry and Writing Panel, College Composition and Communication Conference, March 1990.

Session chair, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, May- June, 1991, Kingston.

Panel chair, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, May-June, 1989, Quebec City.

Panel chair, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, May-June, 1988, Windsor.

Panel member, Atlantic Departments of Religious Studies Meeting: "Teaching Introductory Courses in Religious Studies," April, 1988.

Panel member, Writing Under the Curriculum Panel, College Composition and Communication Conference: "Inkshedding in Religious Studies: Underwriting Collaboration," March, 1988.

Panel chair, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, December, 1987, Boston.

Panel chair, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion Annual Meeting, May-June, 1987, Hamilton.

Workshop conducted at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Winnipeg, June 1986, "Inkshedding".

Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Montreal, June 1985, "CoEvolution in the Maritimes: A Perspective on Micmac and Maliseet Religions".

Chair, Programme Committee, Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Annual Meetings, 1983 (Vancouver) and 1984 (Guelph)

Elected member of the Executive of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, 1982-1984.

Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Halifax, May 1983, "Busy Being Born: A Study of Nala and Damayanti".

Paper presented to the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Saskatoon, May 1979, "Thresholders of the Woods: the tapas-doers of the Ramyana and Mahabharata".

Courses Taught (in chronological order)

At McMaster University (as a Teaching Assistant):

World Religions, Religion and Contemporary Problems, and Early Christianity

At St. Thomas University:

Religious Experience East and West, Native American Rituals;

Mysticism East and West (team-taught);

Writing 100, (multidisciplinary, university-wide course);

Native American Religions, Micmac and Maliseet Religions, Religious Traditions of India, Religious Traditions of China and Japan, Work Parables, Earth Parables, Introduction to Religious Studies;

Scholars as Myth-makers: the case of Native American Religions, Scholars as Myth-makers: the case of Micmac and Maliseet Religions (as "Special Topics" courses);

Truth in Society, the Aquinas Programme (team-taught, multidisciplinary, experimental first-year, three-credit programme, with two colleagues from other disciplines);

Introduction to Ritual Studies I and II, Religious Studies: Scope and Methods.

New Religious Movements: "cults" in the New Age, Health, Healing and Religions

Research Interests

sunnet [male circumcision] in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus

Buffalo Child Long Lance, Grey Owl, and Ernest Thompson Seton and the invention of the stereotype of the "Indian;" Edward S. Curtis: the implications of his photography and film-making for the study of Native American religions; "Indianists" ("Indian" hobbyists) in Great Britain;

neotraditionalism among Micmacs and Maliseets

University Service

1997-98 Acting Chair, Religious Studies Department

President's Committee on Information Technology

Academic Senate

1996-97 Committee on Academic Staff

President's Committee on Information Technology

Library Representative, Religious Studies Department

Religious Studies Department Tenure Committee

Aquinas Programme

"Flat Structure" Working Group: University Governance

1995-96 Acting Chair, Religious Studies Department

Academic Senate

Aquinas Programme

Standing Grievance Committee (two months only)

1994-95 Library Representative

Religious Studies Department Tenure Committee, (chair)

Aquinas Programme

1993-94 Acting chair, Religious Studies Department

Academic Senate

Joint Senate/Board Committee on the Future and Growth of St. Thomas University

Aquinas Programme (planning)

1992-93 Chair, Religious Studies Department

Academic Senate

Native Studies Chair Search Committee

Philosophy Department Chair Search Committee Senate Review Coordinating Committee

Joint Senate/Board Committee on the Future and Growth of St. Thomas University

1991-92 Sabbatical Leave

1990-91 Guest Lecture Committee, co-chair

Chair, Religious Studies Department

Academic Senate

Senate Nominating Committee

Search Committee for Chair in Romance Languages

Joint Senate/Board Committee on the Future and Growth of St. Thomas University (mission statement)

1989-90 Guest Lecture Committee

Standing Grievance Committee

Senate Nominating Committee

Chair, Religious Studies Department

coordinator, with Dr. Abdul Lodhi, of the National Symposium on Interfaith Dimensions of Canadian Multiculturalism [convocation, 1989]

Academic Senate

1988-89 Guest Lecture Committee

Standing Grievance Committee

Chair, Religious Studies Department

Academic Senate

1987-88 Guest Lecture Committee

Standing Grievance Committee

Chair, Religious Studies Department

Academic Senate

1986-87 Guest Lecture Committee

Standing Grievance Committee

Religious Studies Department Curriculum Review Committee

1985-86 Guest Lecture Committee

Native Student Council, Faculty Consultant and Spring Gathering Coordinator

1984-85 Sabbatical Leave

1983-84 Senate Student Services Committee

Committee on Academic Staff

Native University Students and Friends, Treasurer and Spring Gathering Coordinator

1982-83 Faculty Fund Committee, Chair

Native Indian University Student Association, Faculty Advisor Senate Student Services Committee

Religious Studies Department Chair Search Committee

1981-82 Guest Lecture Committee

Standing Grievance Committee, Chair

Native Indian University Student Association, Faculty Advisor Faculty Fund Committee, Chair

1980-81 Dalai Lama Workshop Coordinator

Standing Grievance Committee

Faculty Fund Committee

Orientation Steering Committee

Refugee Student Committee

Guest Lecture Committee

Search Committee for the Chair of the Philosophy Department

President's Committee to investigate the feasibility of a Woman's Studies Programme at St. Thomas University

1979-80 Senate Extension Services Committee

Refugee Student Committee, Coordinator

Senate Subcommittee on Frosh Curriculum

1978-79 Religious Studies Department Rank, Tenure, and Promotion Committee

Senate Extension Services Committee