Natalie Gummer

Natalie Gummer is a Professor of Religious Studies & Critical Identity Studies at Beloit College, holding the Edwin F. Wilde, Jr. Distinguished Service Chair. She earned her Ph.D. in the Committee on the Study of Religion at Harvard University (2000), with earlier degrees from the University of Washington and University of Toronto. Her research focuses on textual practices in premodern Mahāyāna Buddhism, exploring ritual uses of texts, oral performance, and translation. She examines how Mahāyāna literature offers critical insights into ethical and philosophical debates. Her current book project, Performing the Buddha’s Body, reinterprets Sanskrit Mahāyāna sūtras as ritual speech acts that embody the Buddha’s performative presence.

Dr. Gummer teaches courses on comparative religious ethics, Buddhist literature, Sanskrit, and study-abroad programs. Her work bridges literary and ritual studies, challenging conventional scholarly approaches to religious texts by emphasizing their performative, transformative purposes. Recent publications include essays on sūtra temporality, performative language, and sacrificial ritual dynamics in Mahāyāna texts. She has edited volumes like The Language of the Sūtras and contributed to interdisciplinary projects linking Buddhist literature with contemporary theory.

Awarded the Distinguished Service Chair, Gummer’s scholarly contributions span ritual theory, translation practices, and critical pedagogy. Her research has been presented globally at institutions like the University of Oxford and Hebrew University. She actively mentors students in decolonial knowledge practices and interdisciplinary approaches to religious studies.

Her academic networks include the Mangalam Research Center for Buddhist Languages and collaboration with scholars across Asia. Current projects explore Mahāyāna sūtras as ritual technologies reshaping temporal and spatial frameworks, with implications for rethinking religious text interpretation. She also engages in public humanities through lectures and academic presentations on Buddhist literary theory.