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Position

Associate Professor

 

Academics

Ph.D. McMaster, 2005
M.A. University of Calgary, 1986
B.A. (Hons), University of Calgary, 1984

 

Contact

Office: 5031 Arts and Administration
Telephone: (709) 864-4538
Email: pdold@mun.ca

Research Interests

My research focuses on representations of females in Hindu Sanskrit texts. In particular, I study Hindu Goddess-centered narratives connected to the Kamakhya temple and pilgrimage site in Guwahati, Assam.

Current Research

I am currently working on a monograph based on my work on the Mahābhāgavata Purāṇa, a goddess-centered text from the northeast of the South Asian subcontinent. I am also involved in research relating to sexual abuse in religious institutions and I have incorporated some of that research in teaching RELS 1001, CRW in Religion and Violence and into events and activities with the Pathways Foundation of NL and ACTSCAN (Advocates for Clergy Trauma Survivors of Canada).

Courses Taught

RELS 1000 Religions of the World
RELS 1001 CRW Religion and Violence
RELS 1060/1061 Sanskrit Language Study I and II
RELS 2400 Buddhism
RELS 2410 Hinduism

RELS 2801 Gender and Sexualities in Asian Religions

RELS 3415 Gods and Goddesses of Hinduism
RELS 3411 The Ramayana: A Hindu epic and performance Tradition

RELS 6120 and 4001 Studies in Religious Texts

I have offered specialized graduate level courses in Sanskrit Epics, Tantra, Women in Hinduism, and Post-colonial interpretations of South Asian Religion.

I have developed RELS 1000 as an online course.  First online offering was in Winter 2021.

Student Supervision

M.A. Theses

Russell, Caitlin (MA 2020). Research topic: Understandings of the Widow in the St. John’s Hindu Community.

Cairns, Rebecca (MA 2020). Dharmic Environmentalism: Hindu Traditions and Ecological Care.

Amoah, Harriet (MGS 2019; co-supervised with Eric Tenkorang (Sociology)). Ghanaian Women's understanding of Intimate Partner Violence in Child Marriage.

Keating, David (MA 2016). Inside Muller's Workshop: Max Muller's Collaboration with Nanjo Bun'yu and Kasahara Kenju on the Translation of Buddhist Texts from Japan.

Anyemedu, Akua (MGS 2016; co-supervised with Eric Tenkorang (Sociology)).  Knowledge and perceptions of Domestic Violence Services among Women in Ghana.

Hughes, Micheline (MA 2014). Scapegoat, Sacrifice, or Saviour: An Examination of the Outsider in the Mahabharata.

Ford, Jessica (MA 2012). Fire: The Elemental Nature of Draupadi.

MPhil Humanities: 

Kulkarni, Abhijeet (MPhil 2020; tutor). Bad Faith of Hinduness: A Dalit Paradigm.

Publications

2017

• Anyemedu, Akua; Tenkorang, Eric; and Dold, Patricia, "Ghanaian women's knowledge and perceptions of services available to victims of intimate-partner violence." Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 2017:1:1-25.

2014

• “Divine Domesticities in Hindu Theism: Introduction,” Religious Studies and Theology: Special Issue on Hinduism 33:1:1-6.

2013

• "Re-imagining Religious History through Women's Song Performance at the Kamakhya Temple Site." In Reimagining South Asian Religions: Essays in Honor of Professors Harold G. Coward and Ronald W. Neufeldt. Eds: Michael Hawley and Pashaura Singh. Leiden: Brill. 133-154.

2011

• "Pilgrimage to Kamakhya through text and lived religion: Some forms of the Goddess at an Assamese Temple Site." in Hinduism in Practice. Ed: Hillary Peter Rodrigues. London: Routledge. 46-61.

Recent Presentations

2020

• "HSS 101 Religious Studies in the 21st Century: the Interplay of Religion, Culture, Everyday life." Hosted by Janet Harron, Memorial Alumni Affairs.

2019

• “A New Space For Clericalism? “Religion” in a Decision from the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador.” Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Vancouver BC.
• with Gemma Hickey, MGS student "Field Notes: Gemma and Pat Visit the Vatican. Text and Context Symposium, VII, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University.

2018 

• “Limiting Religion: The Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador Decision in John Doe v. The Roman Catholic Episcopal Corporation of St. John’s,” Text and Context Symposium VI, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University.
• “Claiming Text and Voice: Women’s Hymns and the Kamakhya Temple Site, Assam India,” Silenced Voices Speak: A Panel Discussion, Suncor Energy Hall, Memorial University.

2015

• “A Tantric Bhakti: Mahavidya Nam of Women Residents of the Kamakhya Temple Site,” Text and Context Symposium, Department of Religious Studies, Memorial University.