James W. Laine

Jim Laine serves as the Arnold H. Lowe Professor of Religious Studies at Macalester College, specializing in the religions of Asia and Islam while teaching a Catholicism course featuring local ethnographic fieldwork. His career spans decades of research on Indian religious traditions and the intersection of religion with political power structures.

His educational foundation includes:

• BA from Texas Tech University (1974)
• MTS from Harvard University (1977)
• PhD from Harvard University (1984)

Laine's research centers on South Asian religious systems, with deep expertise in Hinduism (particularly Mahabharata narratives and Shivaji's historical legacy) and Islam in Indian contexts. His scholarly trajectory evolved from textual analysis of Sanskrit and Marathi sources toward broader examinations of religion's role in global power dynamics, culminating in MetaReligion. Current work focuses on yoga's philosophical and practical dimensions within Indian traditions.

Publication trends reveal a clear progression from region-specific studies of Indian religious history to cross-cultural analyses of religion-state relationships. Early works dissected epic narratives and medieval Hindu-Muslim political interfaces, while later research adopted a panoramic view of how religious frameworks legitimize or challenge authority across civilizations. This shift reflects both scholarly maturation and pragmatic responses to real-world constraints, such as the controversy surrounding his Shivaji research.

While specific advising records and grant funding details aren't documented in available materials, Laine maintains active scholarly engagement through field research in India and curriculum development integrating local religious practices into classroom instruction.