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Catherine Benton
Senior Lecturer, Religion
Chair, Asian Studies
Director, Economics and Business Internships

Phone 847-735-5174
E-mail benton@lakeforest.edu
Web http://library.lakeforest.edu/collections/benton/

Specialization
South Asian Religion
Hindu and Buddhist Story Literature
Sanskrit Story Literature
Intercultural Education

Interests
Religious Story Literature
Sufi Traditions in South and West Asia
Intercultural Communications Issues
Experiential Education

Education
Ph. D., Columbia University
M.A., Columbia University
M.I.A., School for International Training
B.A., Southern Illinois University

Courses Taught
Religion 110:  Religious Values in Cultural Context
Religion/Asia 214:  Introduction to Hinduism
Religion/Asia 215:  Introduction to Buddhism
Religion/Asia 216:  Introduction to Chinese Religion
Religion/Asia 276:  Female Religious Images in Asia
Religion/Asia 300:  Topics in Contemporary Indian Religions
Religion/Asia 314:  Pilgrimage in Contemporary India

Professional Organizations
American Academy of Religion
Association for Asian Studies
ASIANetwork Board of Directors 1997-2000, Development Officer 2000-2007
ACM India Studies, Faculty Advisory Board, 1988-present

Awards
Global Partners Faculty Seminar (2004):  Politics, Religion and Culture in Turkey.  Field study in central Turkey, Bilkent University, and Middle East Technical University.

ASIANetwork Student-Faculty Research (2002), Maharashtra, India.  Music and devotional practices at a Hindu Jyotirlinga Temple and a Sufi Shrine.

National Endowment for the Humanities Seminar (1999), Literature of Islamic Mysticism, UNC at Chapel Hill.

Lake Forest College Summer Research Award, 1988-1992, Pune, India.  Research and translation of Sanskrit story literature texts.

Columbia University:  Research Associate, Southern Asian Institute; Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Religion; National Defense Foreign Language Award, Hindi-Urdu

Selected Publications
God of Desire:  Tales of Kamadeva in Sanskrit Story Literature.  Book published by SUNY Press, Albany, New York, copyright 2006.  http://www.sunypress.edu/details.asp?id=61182

Religious Sites in Maharashtra:  Buddhist, Hindu, Jain, and Muslim, academic photography collection with accompanying metadata, published on the IDEAS (Image Database to Enhance Asian Studies) website, 2005.   http://ideas.nitle.org/coll_lfc.htm

History of the ASIANetwork Development Team:  2000-2005, ASIANetwork Exchange, Vol. XII, No. 3, Spring 2005.

Review of The Buddha by John Strong for Education About Asia, Volume 9, Number 2, Fall 2004.

Website: Treasures of Ellora and Khuldabad:  Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, and Jain Shrines, 2003 at:  
http://library.lakeforest.edu/collections/benton/data/research/Ellora/index.html
 
Reviews of Asian religion articles for Gender and Society, 2003-2004. 

Film Reviews for Asian Educational Media Service:  “Salaam Shalom:  the Jews of India”, Fall 2001; “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana”, Winter 2002.

Articles for the Encyclopedia of Women and World Religion, New York:  Macmillan Publishing, 1999

Bangladeshi Business Culture:  Doing Business Internationally and Regionally, Motorola University, 1997.

Teaching Indian Buddhism with Hermann Hesse's Siddhartha -- or Not?, Education About Asia, Winter 1997.

Many Contradictions:  Women and Islamists in Turkey, The Muslim World, April 1996, vol 86:2, pp. 106-129.

The Impact of Turkish Business Culture on Technology Transfer, Motorola University, February 1996.

Consulting
ASIANetwork Consultancy Program.  Asian Studies programs at liberal arts colleges.  2003 to present

Beloit College Religion Department Review.  External reviewer, 2006.

Best Practices in International Education.  Associated Colleges of the Midwest task force on standards for international education within the liberal arts.  2002 to 2006.

ASIANetwork Development Team.  Research and grantwriting to secure consortium funding for liberal arts Asian Studies programs.  2000 to present.

Motorola University, Center for Culture and Technology.  Training and development programs for managers working in China, India, and Turkey. 1995-1997

International Orientation Resources.  Training programs for India, China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Hong Kong. 1995 to 2004

Kalamazoo College Religion Department.  External reviewer, 1992

Selected Lectures

  • Teaching Asia with Images:  Image Database to Enhance Asian Studies (IDEAS) http://ideas.nitle.org/coll_lfc.htm: 
  • History of Islam in the context of Islam:  What non-Muslims Should Know by John Kaltner.
  • Gods who are Demons and Demons who are Gods:  Hindu Religious Tradition
  • Cultural Values and History of Thailand
  • Treasures of Ellora and Khuldabad:  Hindu and Muslim Religious Traditions of Maharashtra, India  http://www.lib.lfc.edu/collections/benton/
  • Orienting Undergraduates for Study in India
  • Bringing Research in Asia into the Classroom
  • Buddhism in a Troubled World
  • Story of the Prophet Muhammad
  • Confucianism as a Foundation of Chinese Values
  • Dalai Lama as Bodhisattva, Tulku, and Statesman
  • An American Zen Priest Responds to ‘The Way of Alan Watts’
  • The Indian God Kamadeva: Stories of Lust and Laughter
  • Hanuman in the Thai narration of the Rama Story, the Ramakien