Biography

Michele Desmarais
Editor
(photo by Karen Kempkes)



Dr. Michele Marie Desmarais is editor of the Journal of Religion and Film, an Associate Professor in Religious Studies, and member of the Native American Studies Faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO). Dr. Desmarais joined the Religious Studies department in Fall 2002 and was named associate editor of the Journal of Religion and Film in 2004. She was named editor in May 2008.

Dr. Desmarais' specialty is Sanskrit and Indian thought. She teaches courses on Buddhism, Hinduism, Eastern Religions, Religion and the Brain, Sanskrit, and Introduction to World Religions at UNO.

Her publications include the book, Changing Minds: Mind, Consciousness and Identity in Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtra and Cognitive Neuroscience (2008, Motilal Banarsidass).

She has also published a number of articles on religion and film including:

  • "What Are We Teaching When We Teach Religion and Film," with Dr. William L. Blizek, in Teaching Religion & Film, Greg Watkins, ed. New York: Oxford University Press (2008), and
  • "Karma and Film", "Buddhism and Film", and "Hinduism and Film" (the latter with Dr. Birud Sindhav, UNO), all in Continuum Companion to Religion and Film, Dr. William L. Blizek, ed., London: Continuum (2009).

In addition to these publications, Dr. Desmarais has over a dozen poems published in literary journals such as Contemporary Verse 2, Antigonish Review, and Prairie Fire.

Dr. Desmarais was born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia and is Métis-Canadian with Dakota (Spirit Lake Tribe) ancestry. Dr. Desmarais has a BA in Psychology from Simon Fraser University, an MA in Religious Studies from the University of British Columbia, and a PhD in Asian Studies also from U.B.C.

Dr. Desmarais' email address is mdesmarais@mail.unomaha.edu