Erin Nourse

Erin Nourse is an Associate Professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Theology at Regis College, Regis University, Denver, Colorado, where she has taught since 2015. She contributes to the First Year Experience program and teaches courses including Religion and the Human Quest, First-Year Writing Seminar, Faith and Justice in World Christianity, African Diaspora Religions, Interfaith Justice and Peacemaking, Ritual, and Method and Theory in the Study of Religion.

Dr. Nourse earned her Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 2014. Her doctoral research established the foundation for her ongoing ethnographic work in religious studies.

Her research focuses on:

• African and Malagasy religious practices
• Ritual studies, particularly birth and initiation ceremonies
• Ethnographic methodologies in lived religious contexts
• Religious pluralism and hybridity in port cities
• Gender dynamics in religious traditions
• Interfaith collaboration and peacemaking

She has conducted extensive fieldwork in Madagascar (Diégo Suarez), China, and Uganda, examining how women navigate ancestral practices in religiously diverse environments where ethnic and faith traditions intersect.

Dr. Nourse's publications explore religious hybridity in African contexts, with emphasis on Malagasy birth rituals and women's roles. Her work demonstrates consistent focus on ritual transformation, ancestral veneration, and the negotiation of religious identity in pluralistic societies, particularly through ethnographic case studies from northern Madagascar.

No scientific awards were documented in the provided materials.

As an educator, she mentors students through specialized coursework in religious studies and global justice frameworks. Her current research is supported by ongoing fieldwork in Madagascar, with future projects planned for Denver's interfaith landscape. She actively develops curricula integrating global religious perspectives with social justice applications.

Her research team operates primarily in Diégo Suarez, Madagascar, conducting ethnographic studies of ritual practices, with plans to expand to Denver-based interfaith initiatives examining urban religious diversity through comparative frameworks.