Morgan J Curtis
PhD Candidate | Harvard University
I am a scholar of the literary and religious traditions of South Asia. Primarily my interest lies in how narrative literature serves as a site for religious or sectarian identity development or assertion, either through the content of the work itself (e.g., through polemical or parodic representations of the “other”) or through the ways communities engage with such works (e.g., through incorporation into rituals or certain interpretational practices). Under this broad umbrella are several related areas of focus in my research, including the morally formative aspects of aesthetics and representations of non-human beings, especially those deemed to be ghoulish or gruesome (e.g., the pēy in Tamil literature).
My work also expands into the modern period, accounting for textual reception histories, including the reception and deployment of premodern narratives by modern political movements and the continued adaptation of stories toward new ends. I position my research at the intersections of literary studies, religious studies, and history.
Dissertation
My dissertation seeks to rethink how scholars read specific texts that we have previously understood primarily under a sectarian rubric but that clearly had broader, cross-religious readership. Specifically, I focus on Jain author Tiruttakkatēvar’s Cīvakacintāmaṇi and its influence on later Tamil kāppiyam, especially on Kampaṉ’s Irāmāvatāram and Beschi’s Tēmpāvaṇi. The inquiry is set up to help think more productively about both the discrete texts and the literary and religious cultures in which they were composed and circulated.
Teaching
I teach a variety of courses in religious and South Asian studies as both an adjunct lecturer and teaching fellow. In my previous career, I also taught courses for graduate social work students.
Fall 2023
The Upaniṣads (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Francis X. Clooney)
Fall 2022
Buddhism and Social Justice (Smith College, Instructor of Record)
The Study of Buddhism (Smith College, Instructor of Record)
Hindu Myth and Narrative: The Epics and Puranas (UMass Boston, Instructor of Record)
Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Michelle Sanchez)
Spring 2022
MDiv Senior Seminar/MTS Research Seminar (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Michelle Sanchez)
Sex, Gender, Sexuality (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Amy Hollywood)
Finding God in a Lovely Place (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Francis X. Clooney)
Fall 2021
MDiv Senior Seminar/MTS Research Seminar (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Michelle Sanchez)
Spring 2021
Interpreting Humanity, Interpreting Religion (Harvard University, Teaching Fellow, Dr. Nicolas Boylston)
Krishna & Christ: Does it Matter? (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. Francis X. Clooney)
Fall 2020
Theories and Methods in the Study of Religion (Harvard Divinity School, Teaching Fellow, Prof. David Holland)
Fall 2012
Dynamics of Organizations and Communities (The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, Instructor of Record)
Fall 2011
Dynamics of Organizations and Communities (The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, Instructor of Record)
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (Expected May 2025)
Master of Arts (2021)
Committee on the Study of Religion | South Asian Religions
Harvard University
Master of Divinity (May 2018)
Harvard Divinity School
Master of Science in Social Work (May 2006)
Concentration: Public Policy
The University of Texas at Austin
Bachelor of Arts (August 2003)
Psychology
University of Northern Colorado
mjcurtis at fas dot harvard dot edu
Contact