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Catherine Benton
Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Assistant Professor, 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 245:  Changing Lenses: Film in Asia and America
Religion/Asia 276:  Female Religious Images in Asia
Religion/Asia 300:  Topics in Contemporary Indian Religions
Religion/Asia 314:  Pilgrimage in Contemporary India
Religion/Asia 318:  Contemporary Buddhism and Social Engagement

Employment History
TEACHING: College undergraduate

South Asian Religious Traditions, History of Religions, Cross-cultural Studies

LAKE FOREST COLLEGE, 1987 to present.  Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Assistant Professor in the Humanities, Asian Religious Traditions and Literatures:  Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Daoism; Chair, Asian Studies Program

ASSOCIATED COLLEGES OF THE MIDWEST India Studies Program, 2001, 1993, 2008.  Faculty Director of undergraduate study abroad program in Pune, India.

BELOIT COLLEGE, 1995-2000.  Visiting Assistant Professor in Asian Religions.

BARAT COLLEGE, 1996-2000.  Visiting Lecturer in Asian Religions.

BARNARD COLLEGE, 1981-1984.  Teaching Assistant, Theodore H. Gaster, Folklore. 

LEHMAN COLLEGE, CUNY, 1981-1987.  Writing; advanced English as a Second Language. 

HUNTER COLLEGE, CUNY, 1982.  World Religions.

SCHOOL FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAINING, Ahmedabad, India, 1982.  Academic Director.  Intercultural communication; guided student research.

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, American Language Program, 1980-82.  English as a Second Language (ESL); beginning and advanced levels.  

LaGUARDIA COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CUNY, 1978-79.  Beginning and intermediate ESL.


TEACHING: Adult and Secondary Education

Cushing Academy, Summer ESL Program for secondary school students, 1978.  Taught advanced English as college preparation; students from the Middle East, Japan, and Latin America.

United Migrant Opportunity Service, Madison, Wisconsin, 1977.  Developed an educational program for Mexican farmworkers and taught language skills.

Tanzanian Christian Conference Centre, Dodoma, Tanzania, 1973-74.  Devised curriculum and materials for teaching advanced English to Tanzanian adults.

Dodoma Secondary School, Dodoma, Tanzania, 1973-74.  Developed an English literature syllabus, based on the works of African writers. 


CONSULTING: Education and International Business

North Central College East Asian Studies Program.  External Reviewer.  2009

Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) Japan Studies Program.  External Reviewer.   2008.

ACM India Studies Program.  Consultant, recruitment and hiring in India.  2007-2008.

Beloit College Religion Department.  External Reviewer. 2006.

ASIANetwork, Board of Directors, 1997-2000.

ASIANetwork Development Team, 2000-2010.   Work with foundations to secure funding for ASIANetwork programs.  ASIANetwork is a national consortium of over 170 liberal arts colleges and universities.

ASIANetwork, Consultancy Program.  Consultant to liberal arts colleges regarding undergraduate Asian Studies programs.  2003 to present

Best Practices In International Education Associated Colleges of the Midwest-Great Lakes Consortial Association-Associated Colleges of the South "Global Partners Task Force on Best Practices in International Education".  2002 to 2005.

Intercultural Training.  Experientially-based pre-departure workshops, De Paul University, study abroad training for Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America.  1999 to 2005.

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.

Academic Awards
2004 Global Partners Award.  Participation in the CIEE seminar At the Crossroads: Politics, Religion and Culture in Turkey:  program of field study in central Turkey and lectures in Ankara at Bilkent University and Middle East Technical University.

2002 ASIANetwork Freeman Faculty-Student Research Award.  Research in Maharashtra, India, on the music and devotional practices of a Hindu Jyotirlinga Temple and a Sufi Shrine.

National Endowment for the Humanities 1999 Summer Seminar, Literature of Islamic Mysticism, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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

Columbia University Graduate Study Awards:

  • Research Associate, Southern Asian Institute, Columbia University, 1983 -1986.
  • Graduate Teaching Assistant, Department of Religion, Columbia University, 1980-1984.
  • National Defense Foreign Language Award (Hindi-Urdu), 1978-79 and 1979-80

Professional Organizations
American Academy of Religion
Association for Asian Studies
ASIANetwork Board of Directors 1997-2000, Development Committee 2000-2010
ACM India Studies, Faculty Advisory Board, 1988-present

Languages
Research languages:  Sanskrit, Hindi, French
Additional languages studied:  Farsi, Tamil, Swahili

Cultures (locations of research and employment)
Europe:  1971
Tanzania:  1973-74
India:  1975-1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1993, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2007, 2008, 2009
Israel: 1980-82
Turkey:  1995, 2004
Bangladesh: 1998
China:  2002, 2006, 2007
Thailand:  2007

Recent Publications

Book
God of Desire:  Tales of Kamadeva in Sanskrit Story Literature.  Book published by SUNY Press, Albany, New York, copyright 2006. 

Articles
"A Virtual Village", review of an interactive educational website, Asian Educational Media Service, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, 2007.  http://www.aems.uiuc.edu/publications/webreviews/virtualvillage.html

"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/collections/religious-sites-in-maharastra/

"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.

Web Article: "Treasures of Ellora and Khuldabad:  Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, and Jain Shrines", photographs, commentary, and music recorded in India, January 2003.
http://www.lib.lfc.edu/collections/benton/index.html, 2003.

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, "Boundaries" and "Egg", 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.

Review of Family, Gender, and Population in the Middle East:  Policies in Context for the winter 1997 issue of The American Journal of Islamic Social Sciences.

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

"Potential Effects of Implementing Motorola's Corporate Culture in Turkey," Motorola University, January 1995.

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

Public Lectures and Presented Papers

  • Caught between the Dargah and the Tablighi Jamaat:  Muslim Women in Khuldabad.  ASIANetwork Annual Conference, Chicago, 2009.
  • Behind Veils and Walls:  Religious Practice of Muslim women in Khuldabad, Lake Forest College Faculty Presentation, 2009.
  • Chinese Religious Traditions:  Confucianism and Daoism, Faith-to-Faith Adult Education, Crystal Lake, IL., 2009.
  • Meeting the Indian Kamadeva:  Desire as a Spiritual Path, North Shore Unitarian Church, Bannockburn, IL., 2008
  • Building Ties to the Spiritual Homeland:  the Construction of Sacred Space by an Indian-American Community in Chicago.  Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, Washington University, St. Louis.  2007.
  • Women in Afghanistan, History and Current Realities, Lake Forest Women's Book Group, presentation for discussion of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini.  2007
  • Discussant for International Conference on Religion, Culture, and Peacebuilding, Payap University, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 2007.
  • Stories of the Indian Kamadeva:  Desire as a Spiritual Path, Prairie Circle Unitarian Church, 2007
  • Valuing Experiential Education within the Liberal Arts, Sesquicentennial Academic Festival, 2007.
  • Using Images to Teach Asia, Image Database to Enhance Asian Studies (IDEAS) http://ideas.nitle.org/collections/religious-sites-in-maharastra/:  ASIANetwork National Conference, 2006.
  • Web Publishing in Two Models:  CONNEXIONS at Rice University and NITLE's Arab Culture and Civilization, ASIANetwork Board Meeting, 2006
  • History of Islam, presentation for discussion of Islam:  What non-Muslims Should Know by John Kaltner, for the Lake Forest Women's Book Club, 2005
  • Women and Islam, contextualizing the discussion of Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi for Lake Forest Women's Book Club, 2005
  • Walking Tour of Devon, LFC Alumni Chicago Connections Series, 2005.
  • Gods Who are Demons and Demons Who are Gods, Prairie Crossing Unitarian Church, 2005.
  • Crossing Cultures, ACM Workshop on Teaching and Learning across the Liberal Arts, 2005.
  • Cross-cultural Issues in Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri, Lake Forest Women's Book Club, 2004.
  • Cultural Values and History of Thailand, PAX Annual Meeting, 2003.
  • Treasures of Ellora and Khuldabad, website presentation of student-faculty research in India during January 2003, ASIANetwork  Annual Meeting, 2003.
  • Culture and History of Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Morocco, PAX Annual Meeting, 2002.
  • Orienting Undergraduates to Study in India, 2002 ASIANetwork Annual Conference, 2002.
  • Buddhism in China, Lake Forest College, 2001. 
  • Asian Cinema in Asian Studies, ASIANetwork Annual Conference, 2001.
  • Understanding the Faith of Islam, Woodlands Academy, 2001. 
  • Cross-cultural Training for Study Abroad Students ASIANetwork Conference, 2000 
  • Going Home Again: Bringing Research in Asia into the Classroom, ASIANetwork Annual Conference, 1999.
  • Buddhism in a Troubled World, Women's Board Lecture, Lake Forest College, 1999.
  • Story of the Prophet Muhammad, Lake Forest Friends Meeting, 1999.
  • Confucianism as a Foundation of Chinese Values, Lake Forest College, 1999.
  • The Dalai Lama as Bodhisattva,Tulku, and Statesman, Lake Forest Friends Meeting, 1998.
  • An American Zen Priest Responds to 'The Way of Alan Watts'", ASIANetwork Annual Meeting, 1998. 
  • Asian Cultures and Traditions in America, North Shore Series on International Issues, 1997.
  • Abu Kasem's Slippers and the Law of Karma, Gita Ashram of the Americas, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, 1997.
  • Pedagogically Speaking:  Indian Religion through Story Literature, ASIANetwork Annual Conference, 1996.
  • Perspectives on 'Culture Shock'. Lake Forest College, 1996.
  • Origins of the Islamic Religious Tradition, Motorola University, 1995.
  • History and Religions of China, International Orientation Resources, 1995.
  • Multiple Religious Traditions of India, International Orientation Resources, 1995.
  • Stories of Lust and Laughter: the Indian God Kamadeva,Carthage College, 1994. 
  • Hanuman in the Thai narration of the Ra-ma Story, the Ramakien, American Academy of Religion National Conference, 1992.
  • Indian Gurus and the Contemporary American Religious Scene, Perspectives on Global Issues Series, Lake Forest College, 1992.
  • Knowledge, Power, and Authority within the Indian Tradition, Lake Forest College, 1992.
  • Buddhist Perspectives on Death, Barat College, 1992. 
  • Major Concepts in Indian Puranic and Upanisadic Texts, Barat College, 1991. 
  • Death and the Process of Dying in Buddhist Texts, Barat College, 1990.
  • An Historical Glimpse of Islam, First Presbyterian Church, Highland Park, 1990.
  • Manjusri-Vajrananga: a god of desire in Bodhisattva Clothing, American Academy of Religion National Conference, 1989.

Current Research Interests

  • Oral histories of Muslim women in Khuldabad, Maharashtra, India, an historically important Sufi pilgrimage center in western India (in progress, assisted by Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Humanities Chair stipend supporting field research in India, 2009)
  • First year in the life of a Hindu Temple in suburban Chicago; how rituals, symbols, and iconography are maintained and adapted (in progress)
  • Religious sites in Turkey, China, and Thailand:  photography and analysis for web publication through IDEAS [Image Database to Enhance Asian Studies] (in progress)
  • Work with ground-breaking Thai Buddhist nuns practicing under the leadership of Dhammananda to explore the issues of Thai religious women
  • Nineteenth century British Sanskritists in Maharashtra and their publications of Indian story literature
  • Intercultural communications issues in study abroad and business contexts