Miki Chase

Miki Chase serves as Assistant Professor in South Asian Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison, holding the Śrī Anantnāth Endowed Chair in Jain Studies, and concurrently as Visiting Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies and South Asian Religions at Harvard Divinity School (2025–26 WSRP Research Associate). Her work bridges religious studies, legal anthropology, and gender theory.

Her research examines intersections of religion, law, and gender in Indian death practices, with specialized focus on Jain sallekhanā (fast-until-death rituals). She investigates how laywomen navigate doctrinal ideals within kinship structures and modern Indian legal frameworks, addressing communal politics, end-of-life care, and feminist perspectives on voice. Her methodology integrates ethnographic fieldwork in urban India with textual analysis of Jain scriptures.

Dr. Chase engages interdisciplinary teaching across religious studies, medical anthropology, and public health, including lectures at the International School for Jain Studies (ISSJS). Her current WSRP project "The Ambiguity of the Vow: Law, Kinship, and Gender in Pathologizing the Jain Fast Until Death" analyzes how women’s ascetic agency becomes morally precarious within domestic and legal landscapes.

Her scholarly contributions span feminist critiques of religious law, palliative care ethics, and digital communal politics. She actively participates in academic discourse through Harvard Divinity School course instruction and cross-disciplinary collaborations in South Asian studies.