معرفی
Jessica Vantine Birkenholtz is an Associate Professor in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and Asian Studies at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research focuses on South Asian gender ideologies, Hindu religious practices in Nepal, and intersections of religion, secularism, and modernity. She leads projects on Nepali goddess traditions and LGBTQ+ identities through a religious lens.
Her work combines ethnography with textual analysis, highlighted by her award-winning book *Reciting the Goddess* (2018), which explores the Svasthani Vratakatha’s role in Nepali Hindu identity. Supported by an NEH grant, her current projects include translating this text and studying third-gender communities in Nepal.
- Awards: 2019 American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence in Textual Studies
- Grants: NEH Scholarly Editions and Translations Grant
- Labs/Teams: Active in interdisciplinary Himalayan Studies research networks
Her research bridges historical and modern contexts, emphasizing how ancient religious texts inform contemporary gender and identity politics in Nepal.
