Transnational Hinduism

My research considers religion embedded within the context of history and geography. In particular, I look toward the ways in which Hindu ideas and practices circulate outside of India, with a focus on the United States. As a historian of religions, my work engages deeply with US history, immigration policy, ethnic communities, and the production of cultural and religious identities. This has led me to the study of how Indian Hindu communities work for the continuation and adaptation of their inherited traditions. It also led me to the study of how Hindu ideas and practices are circulated and appropriated by those who have adopted aspects of Hindu traditions. From contestations over representation in textbooks to multicultural celebrations of the Hindu festival of Holi, the United States is a rich field in which to think through both the conflictual and solidarity-building territories of religion in modernity.

Hinduism in the United States is an extraordinarily rich field opening avenues for pursuing questions of identity, community, representation, law, religion, spirituality, cultural retention, cultural appropriation, immigration, and the arts. My scholarship engages both Indian Hindus living in the US diaspora and populations of predominantly white adopters who seek solace and find inspiration in Hindu ideas, rituals, and practices.

In this rich and diverse field, I published the following related edited volume, translation, and articles :

Lucia, Amanda and Maya Warrier, (eds.) A Cultural History of Hinduism in the Age of Independence (1947 – 2017). Vol. VI of A Cultural History of Hinduism. London: Bloomsbury, in press.

Lucia, Amanda and Michael Alexander. 2021. “Aum Shalom: Jews, Gurus, and Religious Hybridity in the City of Angels.” pp.189-203 in Religion in Los Angeles: Religious Activism, Innovation, and Diversity in the Global City, edited by Richard Flory and Diane Winston. New York: Routledge University Press.

Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “An Unlikely Tīrtha: Making a Gaudiya Vaishanava Space Sacred among the Mormons.” Journal of Vaishnava Studies. Vol. 27. No. 1: 171-183.

Lucia, Amanda. 2018. “Hinduism in America.” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion in America, (print edition), edited by John Corrigan. New York: Oxford University Press, 105-125.

Lucia, Amanda. 2017. “Hinduism in America” The Oxford Encyclopedia of Religion in America, (online edition), edited by John Corrigan, January 26.

Lucia, Amanda. 2017. “Divali in the White House?” Oxford University Press Blog. October 18.

Lucia, Amanda and Jennifer Scheper Hughes, Jim K. Lee, and S. Romi Mukherjee. 2015. “California’s New Religion of the Streets.” BOOM: A Journal of California. December 23.

 Lucia, Amanda. 2015. “The Playful Seduction of Colors: Chanting ‘Hare Krishna’ by Accident.” October 24.

Lucia, Amanda. 2015. “How ISKCON took Hinduism to the US Heartland.” Scroll.In. January 16. (~23K views, also reposted HERE.)

Huffer, Amanda. 2010. “Female Immigration as a Catalyst for Ritual Practice: A Social History of Hinduism in the United States.” Journal of Hindu Studies. 3(2): 189-215.

Huffer, Amanda. 2007. Translation of selections from the Sadhvi Shakti Parishad’s (a subsidiary of the VHP) Mātramāhāśakti. (Hindi original.) Available at the Regenstein Library. The      University of Chicago.

I’ve also given the following related public talks:

2017. “From John Lennon to Mark Zuckerberg: Imaginings of India in American Counter/Culture,” Spirit of Women Dinner, United Church of Christ, Claremont, CA.

2017. “American Multiculturalism: Promises and Actualities,” La Sierra University, Riverside, CA.

2016. “Asian Immigration and Religion in the United States,” The 40th Annual Meeting of the Council of Thai Bhikkhus in the U.S.A., Suddhavasa Temple, Riverside, California.

2015. “Does Ethnicity Trump Religion?” The Returns of Religion, Religion in Diaspora and Global Affairs Conference, UCHRI, Collège d’études mondiales/FMSH/EHESS, Paris, France.

2014. “Mormons Playing Holi at the Hare Krishna Temple: Cultural Representation, Proselytization, and the Productive Spaces of Festival,” American Anthropological Association, Washington DC

2011. “Swami Vivekananda and the 1893 World’s Parliament of Religions,” Austin College, Sherman, Texas.

2011. “Swami Vivekananda and the World’s Parliament of Religions,” The Art Institute of Chicago.

2011. “Hindu Religiosity in America,” Rotary Club of Delphi, Delphi, Indiana.

2010. “Ordinary Women, Goddesses, and Gurus: Post-1965 Diversification of Vivekananda’s Hinduism.” Hindus in India and America: Hinduizing America; Globalizing India Conference, University of Chicago.

2009. “From the Serampore Mission to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC): A History of “American Hinduism,” TAPSA Seminar, University of Chicago.

2009. “From the Serampore Mission to the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC): A History of “American Hinduism,” Annual Conference on South Asia, Madison, WI.

Photo credits: Top row and second row: Creative Commons 2.0; Third row: photo credit, Amanda Lucia; Bottom row left: photo credit, Cristina Rosetti; Bottom row middle and right: photo credit, Amanda Lucia.