Michael Roemer :: Profile

Dr. Michael K. Roemer - Curriculum Vitae

Michael Roemer

Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

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NQ 131
(765) 285-4373

Fax: 285-8980

Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306

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Dr. Michael K. Roemer is an alumnus of The University of Texas at Austin, where he received a Ph.D. in the Sociology of Religion (2008) and an M.A. in Asian Cultures and Languages (2004). At Ball State, Roemer teaches East Asian Buddhism (RELST 290), Japanese Religions (RELST 390), and Sex, Power, & Rituals in East Asia (RELST 420), Religion, Health, and Mortality (RELST 280), and Introduction to Religion in Culture (RELST 160). This summer (2010) he will introduce a new Immersive Learning course that is student-driven and will include a 2-week tour of shrines and temples in Japan. Students will use their experiences in Japan to develop a virtual Shinto shrine and Buddhist temple on Second Life and a Website on Japanese religions. Dr. Roemer is the faculty sponsor of S.O.M.A., Ball State’s Religious Studies Student Organization. Dr. Roemer’s research interests include rituals in Japan (especially Kyoto’s Gion Festival and household rites), Buddhism in East Asia, and links between religion, health, gender, and aging. Recent publications include book chapters in the Sociology of Religion’s Religion and the Social Order series (2006) and in Atheism and Secularity, v. 2 (2009, Praeger Press) and an article in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (June 2007) and two in the Review of Religious Research (2009; forthcoming). He has recently completed a chapter for The Handbook of Contemporary Japanese Religions (Brill, forthcoming) entitled “Japanese Survey Data on Religious Practices and Beliefs in the 21st Century.” Works in progress include manuscripts from his dissertation that address links between Japanese religiosity and well-being.