Christopher Jain Miller, PhD
Visiting Professor, Engaged Jain Studies
Christopher Jain Miller, the co-founder and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Arihanta Institute, completed his PhD in the study of Religion at the University of California, Davis. He is a Visiting Researcher at the University of Zürich’s Asien-Orient-Institut and Visiting Professor at Claremont School of Theology where he teaches in the remotely available Masters Degree track focusing on Engaged Jain Studies. His current research focuses on Modern Yoga and Engaged Jainism. Dr. Miller is the author of a number of articles and book chapters concerned with Jainism and the practice of modern yoga. He is the author of Embodying Transnational Yoga: Eating, Singing, and Breathing in Transformation (Routledge 2024) and co-editor of the volumes Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Studies of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY, Forthcoming) and Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age (Lexington 2020).
Cogen Bohanec, PhD
Visiting Assistant Professor, Engaged Jain Studies
Cogen Bohanec is an Assistant Professor of Jain Studies at Arihanta Institute, a Visiting Assistant Professor at Claremont School of Theology, and he has taught numerous classes on South Asian Religions and Sanskrit at the Graduate Theological Union (GTU) in Berkeley. Dr. Bohanec specializes in comparative dharma traditions, philosophy of religion, and Sanskrit language and literature, and has numerous publications in those areas. He has a PhD in “Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion” with an emphasis in Hindu Studies from GTU, where his research emphasized ancient Indian languages, literature, and philosophical systems. He also holds an MA in Buddhist Studies from the Institute of Buddhist Studies at GTU. He is the author of Bhakti Ethics: The Role of Emotions and Love in Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava Metaethics (Lexington, Forthcoming) and co-editor of the volumes Contemplative Studies & Jainism: Meditation, Prayer, and Veneration (Routledge, 2023) and Engaged Jainism: Critical and Constructive Studies of Jain Social Engagement (SUNY, Forthcoming).
Jonathan Dickstein, PhD
Visiting Assistant Professor, Engaged Jain Studies
Jonathan Dickstein is an Assistant Professor of Jain Studies at Arihanta Institute and Visiting Assistant Professor at Claremont School of Theology. He specializes in South Asian Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Comparative Religious Ethics. Dr. Dickstein received his doctoral degree in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he wrote his dissertation on ancient Indian animal taxonomies and their relevance for religious ritual and dietary practice. His current work focuses on Jainism and contemporary ecological issues, and accordingly extends into Critical Animal Studies, Food Studies, and Diaspora Studies. Dr. Dickstein has published in a wide array of interdisciplinary journals on topics such as veganism and politics, yoga and diet, Jain veganism, and the ethic of nonviolence (ahimsa). He considers himself a scholar-practitioner, having spent many years not only in libraries but also in public advocating for justice for both humans and nonhumans alike.