Prabhavati C. Reddy

Prabha Reddy is a historian of religion whose teaching and research interests lie in classical, premodern and contemporary periods of South Asia. She taught a variety of courses at Northwestern University that focus on comparative religions of South Asia and Hinduism. She is currently writing a book entitled, Temple Hinduism: Custodianship, Cultural Politics, and Religious Identity in South India.

Reddy's research interests focus on the interaction of religion, culture, and society. She explores a range of issues that look at constructive processes of Hindu traditions in India and America, history of Indian pilgrimage centers, structural frameworks and phenomenology of rituals and festivals. Her interdisciplinary research examines representations of cultural conflicts, contested religiosity, and cultic imagery in art and visual culture. In the area of women studies, Reddy explores the issues of oral traditions in performance, female gurus and asceticism, and women writings in medieval and modern Telugu literature.

Dr. Reddy teaches now in the Religion Department at George Washington University. She plans to teach courses on Asian religions, Religion and Politics in South Asia, Religion and Violence in South Asia, Religious Pluralism in America, archaeology of South Asia, religion and body in Hinduism, material religion and culture, and studies in pilgrimage and ritual.