Swift Hall 207
1025 E. 58th St.
Chicago, IL 60637

Tel: (773) 702-8239
Fax: (773) 702-8223
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Wendy Doniger

Mircea Eliade Distinguished Service Professor of the History of Religions in the Divinity School; also in the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations, the Committees on the Ancient Mediterranean World and Social Thought, and the College

M.A., Ph.D. (Harvard University)
D.Phil. (Oxford University)

Wendy Doniger's research and teaching interests revolve around two basic areas, Hinduism and mythology. Her courses in mythology address themes in cross-cultural expanses; her courses in Hinduism cover a broad spectrum that, in addition to mythology, considers literature, law, gender, and psychology. Cross-cultural offerings have included courses about death, dreams, evil, horses, sex, and women. Among her many books published under the name Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty are three Penguin Classics: Hindu Myths: A Sourcebook, Translated from the Sanskrit; The Rig Veda: An Anthology, 108 Hymns Translated from the Sanskrit; and The Laws of Manu (with Brian K. Smith). She has also published Siva: The Erotic Ascetic; The Origins of Evil in Hindu Mythology; and several books with the University of Chicago Press: Women, Androgynes, and Other Mythical Beasts; Dreams, Illusion, and Other Realities; Tales of Sex and Violence: Folklore, Sacrifice, and Danger in the Jaiminiya Brahmana; and Other Peoples' Myths: The Cave of Echoes. Under the name Wendy Doniger, she has published Splitting the Difference: Gender and Myth in Ancient Greece and India; The Bedtrick: Tales of Sex and Masquerade; The Implied Spider: Politics and Theology in Myth; a new translation of the Kamasutra (with Sudhir Kakar); and The Woman Who Pretended to Be Who She Was. In progress are Hinduism: An Alternative History (for Penguin), a translation of the last four books of the Mahabharata and a novel, Horses for Lovers, Dogs for Husbands.

"Many Gods, Many Paths: Hinduism and Religious Diversity," Religion and Culture Web Forum, February 2006.

"The Mythology of Self-Imitation in Passing: Race, Gender, and Politics," Religion and Culture Web Forum, December 2004.

“Masquerading as One's Self: A Revealing Study of Self-Impersonation in Literature," Religion and Culture Web Forum, April 2003.

Wendy Doniger's blog On Faith is at http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/onfaith/wendy_doniger/.