Professor Emeritus, Theology and Religious Studies
- Professor Emeritus, Theology and Religious Studies
- • PhD, McMaster University, Religious Studies
- • MA, University of San Diego, Religious Education
- • BA, State University of New York at Albany, Philosophy
Lance E. Nelson, PhD, is professor emeritus in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. He specializes in Hindu religious history, focusing on classical systems of Hindu theology, the relation between Hindu religious practice and environmental concern, and Hinduism in Southeast Asia, especially Balinese Hinduism.
Scholarly Work
Nelson’s primary area of scholarship is in medieval Hindu theology, particularly Advaita Vedanta and Gaudiya Vaishnavism and their respective Sanskrit commentarial traditions. His publications in this area include the essays “Krishna in Advaita Vedanta: The Supreme Brahman in Human Form,” in Krishna: A Sourcebook (Oxford, 2007), “Theological Politics and Paradoxical Spirituality in the Life of Madhusudana Sarasvati,” in the Journal of Vaishnava Studies (2007), “The Ontology of Bhakti: Devotion as Paramapurusartha in Gaudiya Vaishnavism and Madhusudana Sarasvati,” in the Journal of Indian Philosophy (2004).
Nelson has also done considerable work on the relation between religion and environmental awareness, with emphasis on the Hindu tradition. His publications in this area include his edited volume, Purifying God’s Earthly Body: Religion and Ecology in Hindu India (State University of New York Press, 1998), as well as the essays “Cows, Elephants, Dogs, and Other Lesser Embodiments of Atman: Reflections on Hindu Attitudes towards Nonhuman Animals,” in A Communion of Subjects: Animals in Religion, Science, and Ethics” (Columbia University Press, 2006) and “Reading the Bhagavad Gita from an Ecological Perspective,” in Hinduism and Ecology: The Intersection of Earth, Sky, and Water” (Harvard University Press, 2000).
Nelson is a board member and past-president of the Society for Hindu-Christian Studies.
Many of Dr. Nelson's publications are available online via SelectedWorks and Academia.edu. Please email him if you need a copy of an article not on those sites.
Areas of Interest
During his teaching career, Dr. Nelson regularly taught THRS 112 Introduction to World Religions, THRS 203 World Religious and Environmental Concern, and THRS 312 The Hindu Tradition. He taught a variety of other departmental offerings as well, including courses in Buddhism and Asian spirituality. In addition, he team-taught numerous courses for the Honors Program, including Love and Spirituality: Medieval Visions East and West and Sound and Spirit in Monsoon Asia. Nelson also taught comparative religious ethics in the M.A. in Peace and Justice program in its intial years and study abroad courses in Oxford, London, Hong Kong, the Dominican Republic, India, and Bali, Indonesia.