Thomas B. Coburn is a Religious

scholar A scholar is a person who pursues academic and intellectual activities, particularly academics who apply their intellectualism into expertise in an area of study. A scholar can also be an academic, who works as a professor, teacher, or researc ...

and a former

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

of Naropa University, serving 2003-09. Coburn also served as a faculty member in the Graduate Religious Studies program, although he did not teach for the program during his tenure. He is currently a visiting scholar at Brown University. Coburn served from 1996 to 2002 as the vice president of the university and dean of academic affairs at St. Lawrence University in

Canton, New York Canton is an incorporated Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in St. Lawrence County, New York, St. Lawrence County, New York (state), New York. The population was 11,638 at the time of the 2020 census. The town contains two Administr ...

. He was also the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies and had served on the faculty since 1974. Dr. Coburn is an author specializing in South and

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

and the Islamic world. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

tradition of the great goddess, having written both ''Encountering the Goddess: a translation of the Devi-Mahatmaya and a Study of its Interpretation'' and '' Devi Mahatmya, The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition''. Coburn contributed to writings about the art of teaching in ''Leading from Within: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Lead''.Intrator, Sam M. and Megan Scribner. ''Leading from Within: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Lead''. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007 Dr. Coburn also spent time as the director of the New York State Independent College Consortium for Study in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, was a visiting faculty member on the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Semester at Sea Semester at Sea (SaS) is a study-abroad program which was founded in 1963 and managed by the Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE) in Fort Collins, Colorado. Colorado State University is the current academic sponsor and the program is condu ...

and spent a year as a visiting scholar at the

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, gov ...

. Coburn holds a BA from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, and a MTS and PhD in comparative religion from

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Books and articles published

*Coburn, Thomas B.
Encountering the Goddess: A translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation
'. State University of New York Press, 1991. () *
Devī Māhātmya, The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition
', South Asia Books, 2002. () *''Scripture' in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life'', ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', 42,3 (September 1984): 435-460.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coburn, Thomas Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Amherst, Massachusetts Princeton University alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni Harvard Divinity School faculty Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Naropa University Hindu studies scholars