Michel Gardaz

Michel Gardaz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Classics and Religious Studies at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ottawa. His academic trajectory includes a PhD from the University of Ottawa (1994) and postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Chicago's Institute for the Advanced Study of Religion (1995) and the University of Sorbonne, Paris V (1996). He has conducted extensive fieldwork across Asia, the Middle East, and Africa.

Research Focus: Professor Gardaz specializes in the history of religious studies with emphasis on French Orientalism, comparative mysticism, and religions of the Silk Road and Central Asia. His work examines cross-cultural religious interactions and methodological frameworks in religious scholarship.

Teaching: He offers courses in World Religions, Buddhism, Islam, Methods and Theories in Religious Studies, and Comparative Mysticism. His weekly office hours are held on Mondays from 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

Publication Trends: Recent scholarly output (2016-2017) demonstrates a consistent focus on comparative religious analysis, historical reevaluations of Islamic chronology, methodological studies in religion, and examinations of mysticism across traditions. His works engage with global religious dynamics.