We welcome Dr. Yasmine Flodin-Ali as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, focusing on Modern Islam and Race.  She recently completed her PhD in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and holds a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School.  Flodin-Ali’s research focuses on the history of Muslims and racial identity in the modern world. She primarily works on Islam in the US but also has an expertise on Islam in South Asia. She will be teaching “Introduction to Islamic Civilization” and “Islam, Law, and Politics” in the fall term. Dr. Flodin-Ali is deeply involved in a public humanities work on the history of Muslims in the US. Check out her scholarship and teaching at https://www.flodinali.com/

Our second hire is not new to the department or the university.  We are delighted that Dr. Margarita Delgado Creamer who has been with us for several years as visiting and part-time faculty will be joining us full-time as Teaching Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, focusing on Asian religion. She will teach in-person courses and online courses as part of the CGS Online program.  In the fall, she is teaching two courses online, “Religions of Asia” and a new course on Asian religious perspectives on bioethics.  She will also be teaching a course on “Religion in Pittsburgh” which will involve visits to religious sites around the city. Dr. Delgado has a reputation as one of the best teachers at Pitt and we are excited that she will be joining us full-time, allowing us to expand our already extensive Asian religion offerings and expand the on-line component of our curriculum.