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• W4319069285 abstract "James (Jim) R. Lewis (November 3, 1949 - October 11, 2022) was an American scholar of religion with his most recent academic position being a Professor of Religious Studies in the School of Philosophy at Wuhan University in China. His research focused on the study of new religious movements. Indeed, Prof. Lewis was a trailblazer in this area and did an immense amount of work in legitimizing the field itself. To say the very least, he was a well-known author and world-renowned scholar. His prolific range of publications and conference papers on the study of new religions, New Age religiosity, and alternative spiritualities is testament to his intellectual capabilities and his great passion for these subjects.James began his academic life with a BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies at Appalachian State University from which he graduated summa cum laude in 1981. He then did a master’s degree in Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1987. Then, he attended the University of Wales Lampeter, graduating with a Ph.D. in Religious Studies in 2003. When he entered his first academic post as Assistant Professor at University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, in 2003, he was already an academic highflier. From Milwaukee, in 2009, he went to the University of Wales Trinity St. David where he was an Honorary Senior Research Fellow. He held visiting professorships including Courtesy Professor at the University of South Florida (Spring 2012), at the University of Gothenburg (2014–2015), and Arizona State University (2016–2017). He had been Associate Professor at the University of Tromsø, Norway from 2010 until 2013 and then remained there as Full Professor from 2017 until 2019, when he moved onward to his Professorship at Wuhan University.During his time in China, James turned his attention to Chinese new religions and founded the Wuhan Journal of Cultic Studies. In this stage of his career, he did much to bring together scholars working on similar topics in Asia, Europe, the United States and elsewhere, bridging the gap that had been identified in study of religions scholarship between “East” and “West.” His endeavors in this regard include his role on journal editorial boards, where he encouraged colleagues whom he knew personally to contribute articles, thus building networks around the world. He was on the editorial boards of ColomboArts (2017–2022), Chaos: Scandinavian Journal of Studies in History of Religions (2015–2022), Open Theology (2014–2022), Journal of Religion and Violence (2013–2022), International Journal for the Study of New Religions (2012–2022), Cultural Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Folklore & Popular Culture (2011–2022), Fieldwork in Religion (2005–2022), and formerly JASANAS: Journal of Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (2005–2011) and Marburg Journal of Religion (2001–2022). The part he played in developing the field is reflected in his editorship or guest editor role for one or more volumes of numerous different journals including Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions, Numen: International Review for the History of Religions, Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review, and Syzygy: Journal of Alternative Religions and Cultures.Jim was intrepid in the subject areas he engaged in, editing the ground-breaking book Scientology (Oxford University Press, 2009) which is a landmark academic collection on, according to the book’s blurb, “the most persistently controversial of all contemporary New Religious Movements.” His work on Scientology had a reach that went far beyond academia. James produced monographs, book chapters, and peer-reviewed articles alongside edited and co-edited collections brought out by many of the major academic publishing houses in the Humanities and Social Sciences – Brill, Palgrave Macmillan, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Routledge, Equinox, SUNY Press, University of Chicago Press, Rowman & Littlefield, and Ashgate. His publications and theoretical approaches are too numerous to even summarize here, so this is an attempt instead to appraise the diversity of themes and topics he analyzed by way of a condensed list that spans the course of his publications from the early 1990s through the following two decades: religion and violence; religion and terrorism; sects; astrology; cults in America; charismatic leaders; Theosophy; Nordic neo-shamanism; Church Universal and Triumphant; radicalization; Falun Gong; New Age spirituality in Israel; misrepresentations of the Sikh tradition in World Religion textbooks; suicide cults; Soka Gakkai; the Charlestown Nunnery; Yoga; doomsday prophecies; Millennialism; American Indian religions; Native American prophets; UFO religions; representations of Adam and Eve in pop culture; religious experiences; Satanism; Barbary captivity tales and images of Muslims; Nordic new religions; the anticult movement; psychology, religion and the legal system; conservative Christian literature on the New Age; Branch Davidians; sex, NRMs, and salvation; occult fascination in the novels of Frank E. Peretti; religious insanity; the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness; apostates; religion and the authority of science; the influence of Hinduism on the New Age movement; traditional African religions; The Family/Children of God; sacred space and time in Islam; cultural representations of Punjabi immigrants; contemporary Paganism, magical religion and modern witchcraft; religious division and schisms; elite religious movements; The Order of Christ Sophia; the invention of sacred tradition; legitimating new religions; and The Order of the Solar Temple. Added to this copious output are numerous encyclopedic and other reference works, book reviews, abundant keynotes, and other conference presentations on a whole host of topics.When news broke on social media that Professor Lewis had died, there was an outpouring of sadness from colleagues and friends on various platforms and e-lists. On Facebook, there was a steady stream of messages especially from younger scholars whom Jim had helped. People recounted how Jim encouraged them to publish their work or invited them to contribute to his innovative edited collections even though they were unknown (as yet) in the field. Thus, many academics recognized as key to our field today—whether in the study of NRMs or in study of religions more generally—were in their early career given a helping hand by Professor Lewis. More established scholars reminisced on how Jim gave them career advice, supported them somehow in entering a PhD program, or reassured and encouraged them when they felt like giving up on academia. Many of us would not be here today if not for Jim Lewis. He certainly was a mentor to me from the first day I met him, 30 May 2003, at the Alternative Spirituality and New Age Studies (ASANAS) conference in Milton Keynes, U.K. He was a kind and affable beacon of light to early career scholars and shy Ph.D. students like I was at that time. When I look around at my office bookshelves now, the name James R. Lewis is in every direction my eye moves. For me, his name is synonymous with the study of religions itself – that’s how impactful he was. We have lost a wonderful scholar and a generous, good person who will be sorely missed." @default.
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