Thomas B. Coburn is a Religious scholar and a former president of

Naropa University Naropa University is a private university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1974 by Tibetan Buddhist teacher Chögyam Trungpa, it is named for the 11th-century Indian Buddhist sage Naropa, an abbot of Nalanda. The university describes itself as B ...

, serving 2003-09. Coburn also served as a faculty member in the Graduate Religious Studies program, although he did not teach for the program during his tenure. He is currently a visiting scholar at

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

. Coburn served from 1996 to 2002 as the vice president of the university and dean of academic affairs at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York. He was also the Charles A. Dana Professor of Religious Studies and had served on the faculty since 1974. Dr. Coburn is an author specializing in South and East Asia and the Islamic world. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

tradition of the great

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In many known cultures, goddesses are often linked with literal or metaphorical pregnancy or imagined feminine roles associated with how women and girls are perceived or expected to behave. This includes themes of s ...

, having written both ''Encountering the Goddess: a translation of the Devi-Mahatmaya and a Study of its Interpretation'' and ''

Devi Mahatmya The ''Devi Mahatmya'' or ''Devi Mahatmyam'' ( sa, देवीमाहात्म्यम्, devīmāhātmyam, Glory of the Goddess) is a Hindu philosophical text describing the Goddess as the supreme power and creator of the universe. It is ...

, The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition''. Coburn contributed to writings about the art of teaching in ''Leading from Within: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Lead''.Intrator, Sam M. and Megan Scribner. ''Leading from Within: Poetry that Sustains the Courage to Lead''. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2007 Dr. Coburn also spent time as the director of the

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

State Independent College Consortium for Study in India, was a visiting faculty member on the University of Pittsburgh Semester at Sea and spent a year as a visiting scholar at the Harvard Divinity School. Coburn holds a BA from Princeton University, and a MTS and PhD in comparative religion from Harvard University. He grew up in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

Books and articles published

*Coburn, Thomas B.
Encountering the Goddess: A translation of the Devi-Mahatmya and a Study of Its Interpretation
'. State University of New York Press, 1991. () *
Devī Māhātmya, The Crystallization of the Goddess Tradition
', South Asia Books, 2002. () *''Scripture' in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life'', ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', 42,3 (September 1984): 435-460.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Coburn, Thomas Year of birth missing (living people) Living people People from Amherst, Massachusetts Princeton University alumni Harvard Divinity School alumni Harvard Divinity School faculty Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Naropa University Hindu studies scholars