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In this episode of the Engaged Jain Studies podcast, Arihanta Institute professor Cogen Bohanec, MA, PhD speaks with Dr. Nathan Loewen, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama, whose work bridges philosophy of religion, critical theory, and global-critical pedagogy. Their conversation begins by examining higher education as a form of global soft power and the ethical responsibilities scholars carry when navigating the political dimensions of knowledge production. Together, they explore how scholars of religion can cultivate methodological self-awareness while resisting intellectual imperialism, Eurocentrism, and the lingering structures of Orientalism.
Dr. Loewen then reflects on his methodological approach shaped by Derrida’s deconstructive ethics and his leadership in the Global-Critical Philosophy of Religion project. The discussion explores his major works—including Beyond the Problem of Evil (2018), Diversifying Philosophy of Religion (2024), and the forthcoming Engaging Philosophies of Religion (2025)—and considers how the emerging field of Engaged Philosophy of Religion expands the discipline toward more pluralistic, dialogical, and ethically grounded frameworks. The episode concludes with reflections on the value of the humanities, the promise of digital pedagogy for intercultural dialogue, and the challenge of balancing critical rigor with compassion and ethical awareness.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & LINKS
- Nathan R. B. Loewen – Department of Religious Studies at The University of Alabama
- Subscribe to the Arihanta Institute Newsletter
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ABOUT OUR PODCAST GUEST
Nathan Loewen is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He earned his PhD in Modern Philosophy of Religion at McGill University’s School of Religious Studies. His work focuses on philosophy of religion, critical theory, and global-critical approaches to religious studies. In 2018, Dr. Loewen published Beyond the Problem of Evil: Derrida and Anglophone Philosophy of Religion, where he read Derrida’s oeuvre to rethink the topic of evil within the philosophy of religion. In 2024, Loewen published Diversifying Philosophy of Religion with Agnieszka Rostalska. Engaging Philosophies of Religion was published in 2025 with Gereon Kopf and Purushottama Bilimoria. Forthcoming projects include: Artificial Intelligence in 5 Minutes (Equinox, 2025), Philosophies of Self: a Cross-Cultural Introduction (Bloomsbury Academic, 2025)) and Theodicies of Empire: Legitimations of Political Economies and Regimes (Springer, 2029).
ABOUT OUR PODCAST HOST
Cogen Bohanec currently holds the position of Assistant Professor in Sanskrit and Jain Studies at Arihanta Institute where he teaches various courses on Jain philosophy and its applications. In addition, he is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Claremont School of Theology (CST) where he teaches Sanskrit and Gujarati, and he has taught numerous classes on South Asian Culture & Religions and Sanskrit language at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley. Dr. Bohanec specializes in the Jain and Hindu traditions, comparative dharma traditions, philosophy of religion, theo-ethics (virtue ethics, and environmental and animal ethics in particular), and Sanskrit language and literature, and has numerous publications in those areas, particularly in the fields of Jain and Hindu Studies amongst other disciplines. He has a PhD in “Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion” with an emphasis in Hindu Studies from GTU, where his research emphasized ancient Indian languages, literature, and philosophical systems. He also holds an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies at GTU where his research primarily involved translations of Pāli Buddhist scriptures in conversation with the philology of the Hindu Upaniṣads. He is the author of Bhakti Ethics, Emotions and Love in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Metaethics (Lexington, 2024), an interdisciplinary study that frames traditional Hindu themes of ecotheology, ecofeminist theology, feminist care ethics, within a framework of virtue ethics in conversation with a bhakti-based psychology of emotions. Currently he is largely engaged in publication and research on various aspects of the Jain tradition, emphasizing translations and analyses of Jain Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Gujarati texts, but is also publishing academic works on various topics within the Hindu tradition.
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