Lillian I. Larsen

Lillian I. Larsen serves as Professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Redlands and holds a consortial faculty appointment at San Francisco Theological Seminary (SFTS), part of the Graduate Theological Union. Her interdisciplinary work integrates spatial analysis with historical religious studies to examine how religion shapes cultural and civic formation across geographical boundaries.

Her academic credentials include:

• Ph.D. in Religion from Columbia University
• M.Phil. in Religion from Columbia University
• M.A. from Catholic Theological Union
• M.Div. from Catholic Theological Union
• M.Ed. from University of Massachusetts Amherst
• B.S. in Mathematics from Wheaton College

Larsen's research centers on Ancient Monastic Education, Christian Monasticism, and Religious Cartography, with specialized focus on the Apophthegmata Patrum (sayings of early Egyptian monks). She pioneers spatial methodologies using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to visualize religious exchange, while also investigating Gender and Education dynamics, Graeco-Roman meal practices, and monastic wisdom traditions within their historical contexts.

Her publication trajectory reveals consistent innovation in merging historical analysis with spatial technology. The 2018 volume Monastic Education in Late Antiquity synthesizes cross-cultural educational practices in early monasticism, extending her foundational 2006 dissertation work on pedagogical parallels in desert monastic texts. This evolution demonstrates increasing methodological sophistication in using GIS to map religious knowledge transmission across geographical divides.

Professor Larsen employs Geographic Information Systems as a core research tool to develop novel visualizations of religious and cultural exchange patterns, though no formal laboratory structure is referenced in available materials.