Author Bios

CONTRIBUTORS

Philip P. Arnold is a Professor in the Department of Religion and a core faculty member of Native American and Indigenous Studies at Syracuse University. He is the Founding Director of the Skä-noñh—Great Law of Peace Center (2012-15) and repurposed the “French Fort” on Onondaga Lake. He is the President of the Indigenous Values Initiative, which is a non-profit organization to support the work of the Skä-noñh—Great Law of Peace Center, the American Indian Law Alliance, and sister organizations and initiatives to educate the general public about the values of the Haudenosaunee. In 2007, he organized the Doctrine of Discovery Study Group to study the legacy of Christianity’s destruction of Indigenous Peoples. With his wife Sandra Bigtree, he co-hosts the Mapping the Doctrine of Discovery podcast and is the PI for “200 Years of Johnson v. McIntosh: Indigenous Responses to the Religious Foundations of Racism,” a 3-year (2022-24) grant from the Henry Luce Foundation. He is co-editor of the Syracuse University Press series Haudenosaunee and Indigenous Worlds and a founding member of NOON (Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation). His books are Eating Landscape: Aztec and European Occupation of Tlalocan (1999); Sacred Landscapes and Cultural Politics: Planting a Tree (edited with Ann Gold, 2001); The Gift of Sports: Indigenous Ceremonial Dimensions of the Games We Love (2012), and Urgency of Indigenous Values (Syracuse University Press, 2023).

Sandra Bigtree, Bear Clan, is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation at Akwesasne. She is a founding board member of the Indigenous Values Initiative (501C3), which fosters collaborative educational work between the academic community and the Haudenosaunee to promote the message of peace that was brought to Onondaga Lake thousands of years ago. She helped organize the “Roots of Peacemaking” educational festivals in 2006 and 2007; the “Doctrine of Discovery Conference” in 2014; and co-edited the Neighbors of the Onondaga Nation (NOON) educational booklet. She was an original Planning Committee member of Skä-noñh: the Great Law of Peace Center and currently sits on the Educational Collaborative committee. In 1984-85, she was the Administrative Assistant to the American Indian Law Support Center at the Native American Rights Fund in Boulder, CO. In 1980-82, she performed with Indigenous Peoples in the Arts theatre troupe (an affiliate of the American Indian Community House) at LaMama, NYC, and toured the northeastern US. From age 1-30, Sandy performed weekly on the radio, TV, and other venues around Central New York. The Sandy Bigtree Band was well known throughout the 1970s. In 2008, Sandy was the recipient of the Syracuse New Times “Hall of Fame” Sammy Award.

Adam D.J. Brett holds a PhD. in Religion from Syracuse University, a Th.M. and M.T.S. from Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, and a BA from Warner University. He is a Part-time Instructor at Syracuse University and an Adjunct Professor at Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU). He is the grant & event coordinator for the Doctrine of Discovery Project. He works for the American Indian Law Alliance and also on the indigenous values initiative, the Doctrine of Discovery Project. He was a nominee for the 2025 MTSU College of Liberal Arts Faculty Mentorship Award. When he is not teaching or coding, he is playing Dungeons & Dragons or watching lacrosse.

Sally Roesch Wagner wasawarded one of the first doctorates in the country for work in women’s studies (UC Santa Cruz) and founded one of the first college-level women’s studies programs in the United States (CSU Sacramento). Dr. Wagner taught women’s studies courses for 51 years. The Founder/Director of the Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation, she taught in Syracuse University’s Honors Program and California State University, Sacramento’s Women and Gender Studies department. A major historian of the suffrage movement, Dr. Wagner was active on the national scene. She appeared on the CNN Special Report: Women Represented and CNN’s Quest’s World of Wonder. She was quoted in the New York Times, Washington Post, Smithsonian, Nation, and Time Magazine, among others. Her recent articles appeared in the New York Daily News, Ms. Magazine, the National Women’s History Alliance newsletter, and the National Suffrage Centennial Commission blog. In March 2021, the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian featured the film “Without a Whisper,” which traces Dr. Wagner’s research demonstrating the Haudenosaunee influence on the suffrage movement through her friendship with Wakerakatste, the Mohawk Bear Clan Mother. She appeared in and wrote the faculty guide for Ken Burns’ documentary, “Not for Ourselves Alone.” A prolific author, Dr. Wagner’s anthology, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, with a Foreword by Gloria Steinem, unfolds a new intersectional look at the 19th-century women’s rights movement.  Sisters in Spirit: Haudenosaunee Influence on Early American Feminists documents the surprisingly unrecognized authority of Native women, who inspired the suffrage movement. It was followed by her young readers’ book, We Want Equal Rights: How Suffragists Were Influenced by Native American Women. Among her awards, Dr. Wagner was selected as a 2020 New York State Senate Woman of Distinction, one of “21 Leaders for the 21st Century” by Women’s E-News in 2015, and she received the Katherine Coffey Award for outstanding service to museology from the Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums in 2012. Dr. Wagner passed away on June 11, 2025, at the age of 82. She was a pioneer in her field and will be sorely missed by the communities she served and those whose work she inspired.

Sebastian Modrow is an Assistant Professor at Syracuse University’s School of Information Studies. He received a doctorate in Ancient History from the University of Rostock, Germany, an Exam of the State degree (Master’s equivalent) in History and Latin from the University of Greifsld, Germany, and an MLIS and a CAS in Cultural Heritage Preservation from Syracuse University. His previous work experiences include Lecturer for Latin at the University of Greifswald, Oldfather Research Fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Teacher for Latin and history, Coordinator of Syracuse University Libraries’ Marcel Breuer Digital Archives project, Assistant Archivist, as well as Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts at Syracuse University Libraries’ Special Collections Research Center.

Sarah Nahar,PhD² in Religious Studies at Syracuse University and Environmental Studies from State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry. Her research focus is on the toilet, both the ritual and receptacle. Sarah is also a nonviolent action trainer and aninterspiritual theologian. Previously, Sarah was a 2019 Rotary Peace Fellow and worked at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center in Atlanta, Georgia. She was a founding member of the ecojustice Carnival de Resistance and has been the Executive Director of Community Peacemaker Teams. She attended Spelman College, majoring in Comparative Women’s Studies and International Studies, minoring in Spanish. She has an MDiv from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary in her hometown. Her hobbies include capoeira, community organizing, and home improvement projects.

Maeve Callan is the Simpson College Department Chair of Religion and Co-Director of the Interfaith Fellows Program and Professor of Religion.  She is the historian in her department, as well as the main “World Religions” professor. Her first book, The Templars, the Witch, and the Wild Irish (2015), published by Cornell University Press and Four Courts Press, explores Ireland’s handful of heresy trials, their role in the colonization of the island by the English, and their relationship to heresy and witchcraft prosecution in Britain and on the Continent. Her second, Sacred Sisters (2020), focuses on gender, sanctity, and power in medieval Ireland, and is the first book in Amsterdam University Press’s new “Hagiography Beyond Tradition” series. Her current project examines the intersections between religion, ethnic identity, and racism in the British Isles between 1000 and 1500. She co-directs Simpson’s Interfaith Fellows Program, which helps cultivate greater understanding and constructive engagement with religious diversity as it helps students develop leadership skills and abilities.

Wendy Felese is an Assistant Professor of American Indian and Indigenous Studies at Montana State University Billings. Her work draws from land-based methods, narrative and elder-guided inquiry, and reflexive collaboration with Native nations. Current research includes establishing links between buffalo restoration on Montana reservations and the mitigation of the effects of intergenerational trauma, as well as Indigenous innovation in several LandBack endeavors.

Danielle S. Nagle is the recent past Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation Executive Director. She is inspired by Gage’s philosophies on the relationships between women, science, and the earth. Danielle looks forward to pushing the possibilities for public education and social change in the context of historic house museums. She earned a Ph.D. in Environmental Science from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry in 2021 and is the author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles.

Renée Barry earned an MS in Environmental Studies from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, as well as a BA in Environmental Humanities from Sterling College. They completed a Research Fellowship with the Erie Canal Museum and recently earned the role of Museum Assistant at the Matilda Joslyn Gage Museum and Center for Social Justice Dialogue. Additionally, they are currently an Artist in Residence at EcoGather. Each month, they share their latest work and a brief statement about the offering. A collection will continue to build over the year, populating EcoGather’s website with free art that is intended to be accessible to all.

Telma Alencar, MA Social Anthropology, is a Ph.D. candidate at York University, Canada. Telma’s research focuses on identifying the intersections of the Doctrine of Discovery with the destruction of one of the world’s most important ecosystems - the Amazon forest, through the ongoing violence against indigenous people in Brazil for the exploitation of natural resources for profit. Telma’s research draws on neocolonialism studies as a theoretical framework, also focusing on intersections between Christianity and Global Capitalism. Their aim is to shed light on the Doctrine of Discovery’s effects and legacy related to the Global South, specifically to Brazilian Indigenous communities.

Eglutė Trinkauskaitė is a full-time faculty member in the Humanistic Studies department at the Maryland Institute College of Art. She earned her PhD, MPhil, and MA in Religion from Syracuse University and her BA in Religion from Hunter College, City University of New York. Her teaching and research interests focus on indigenous and ethnic traditions, the natural environment, and globalization. Her latest writing explores complex layers of culture and religion in post-Soviet Lithuania. Her current book project, The Swarming Dead, focuses on the continued vitality of indigenous religion and its imprint on modern Lithuania and its diaspora. She has taught at Syracuse University, Hamilton College, and Nazareth College of Rochester, New York. She is an active member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR) and the Association for the Advancement of Baltic Studies (AABS).

Ellen B. Cutler received her Master’s from Boston University and did additional work in art history at the University of Delaware-Newark. Now retired, she is a freelance writer and editor, with a particular interest in the history and culture of Lithuania. She lives in East Boston, Massachusetts, and is currently preparing abiography of the artist Gary Horn for publication.

Shrutika Lakshmi is a 4 th year PhD Candidate in department of Religion at Syracuse University with a dissertation titled Sacred Scripts, Broken Lines: Rethinking Hindu Marriages in the US Diaspora. This project if being advised by Prof. Joanne Punzo Waghorne. Prior to attending Syracuse University, she earned an M.Phil. from B.R Ambedkar University Delhi, India with a dissertation titled Politics of Time-Use Pattern in the Manava-Dharmaśāstra, a Master’s from Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, India and a BA with honors in History from Miranda House, Delhi University, India. When she is not studying or working on her dissertation, Shrutika enjoys travelling and documenting lived experiences of people around the world. She is an ethnographer at heart who enjoys meeting and talking to people.

Shrutika is a food connoisseur hence her life also revolves around making food and meeting over food. She is a firm believer in the power of food in bringing people together from different cultures and borders. You can find her on social media @myreligiousphd, Shrutika_thephdgurl and on LinkedIn, Research Gate and HASTAC Commons with the user name: Shrutika Lakshmi.

Pranay Somayajula is a Washington, D.C.-based writer, political educator, and anti-imperialist organizer whose work focuses on politics, culture, identity, as well as other related topics. He runs the blog “Culture Shock” and is the host of “Return to Bandung” — a podcast that explores questions of imperialism, resistance, and internationalist solidarity throughout history and into the present day. Pranay has a BA in political science and international affairs from the George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs, and an MSc in human rights from the London School of Economics. He currently serves as the Organizing and Advocacy Director at Hindus for Human Rights (HHR). As a writer and researcher, his interests include diaspora, (inter)nationalism, anticolonial politics, and the many lives and afterlives of empire.

Michael E. Chaness is an Assistant Professor at State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego. He teaches courses in Anthropology and Native American Studies. Prior to this appointment, he had experience teaching courses in Philosophy, Anthropology, and Religious Studies at a variety of Colleges and Universities throughout New York State – including The College of Saint Rose, Syracuse University, Nazareth College, Utica College, and Keuka College. While attending graduate school, he began to collaborate with Onkwehonwe peoples. Throughout his graduate studies, he worked simultaneously at the Onondaga Nation School, and the relationships he cultivated at ONS led directly to many years of (ongoing) informal fieldwork. These experiences have provided him with the methodological framework, on-the-ground opportunities, and personal confidence necessary to teach courses that engage students with contentious issues surrounding immigration and exceptionalism, contact and colonization, gender and genocide, race and religious freedom. His scholarship explores the intersections between Jewish American and Native American identity creation through the prisms of blood and land, philosophy and theology, gender and genocide, religion and ritual. He has dedicated his professional career to collaborating with traditional Native elders, teaching in the university system, and supervising Native youths (K-8).

Roberta Hurtado is the Associate Professor of Latina/e/o/x Literature and Culture at State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego and the inaugural Director of the newly launched Latino and Latin American Studies (LLAS) program at Oswego. She was also the inaugural Fellow of the James A. Triandiflou '88 Institute for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Transformative Practice for the Spring 2023-Spring 2024 terms. Her work explores knowledge that emerges from flesh experiences—both on the personal and communal levels, as well as across and between generations—and how it is represented in art as a method to promote healing and liberation. Her book, Decolonial Puerto Rican Women’s Writings; Subversion in the Flesh, is part of Palgrave Macmillan’s “Literature of the Americas” series. It is also a ranked finalist in the 2020 International Latino Book Awards Women’s Issues category. Hurtado’s work has been published in journals such as Label Me Latina/o, Chiricú, and Journal of Critical Latina Feminisms. She resides in Upstate New York, where her current research projects include studies in sexuality, Puerto Rican Women’s Literature, and trauma.

Ritu Radhakrishnan’s research focuses on how underlying philosophies of curriculum and forms of curriculum (explicit, implicit, and null) shape students’ learning experiences. She is interested in how students negotiate issues of race, class, and gender and the relations of power that may be revealed within forms of curriculum. Included in this focus is the role of the teacher and/or instruction; specifically, how the curriculum is enacted through instruction and how it is perceived by the students. She often focuses on the ways in which students’ agency and voice are shaped by the ways in which they interact with these forms of curriculum. Additionally, she is interested in how including arts, aesthetic education, and technology can serve as an agent for social justice through creating a more integrative and holistic curriculum.

Celinet Duran Jimenez is an Assistant Professor at State University of New York (SUNY) Oswego. She earned her PhD and MPhil in Criminal Justice at John Jay College (CUNY) as well as an MS in Criminal Justice at Michigan State University. She is also a freelance Data Manager at the Edward W. Hazan Foundation and a Co-Principal Investigator for the U.S. Extremist Crime Database.

Elaina Berlin is a second-year PhD student in the Department of History at the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY Albany), where she works under the advisement of Dr. Maeve Kane. Her research interests center on Indigenous history, ethnohistory, and the intersections of anthropology and archival practice in the study of Native communities and settler colonialism. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from SUNY Oswego in 2022. A native of Adams, New York, Berlin brings a strong foundation in fieldwork and archival research to her doctoral training. She has conducted guided fieldwork and archival research on the Miami nation in Indiana under the mentorship of Dr. Kane, an experience that continues to shape her scholarly approach and methodological commitments. Berlin’s academic work reflects a commitment to community-engaged, historically grounded research that bridges disciplinary boundaries between history and anthropology, with particular attention to Indigenous sovereignty, memory, and the ethics of archival representation.