In an increasingly precarious world, where humanity confronts existential challenges — from climate change and inequality to AI and geopolitical crises — I see my role as an instructor as one that prepares students to engage meaningfully and boldly with the world.
Astrology and Religion
In Fall 2024, I designed and taught a new course at Duke University titled Astrology of Religion, offered through the Department of Religious Studies and cross-listed with Asian & Middle Eastern Studies.
This course examines the complicated practice of “reading” the sky as one that is framed by history, ideology, power, culture, and embodied experience. It critically examines the categories—science, pseudoscience, religion, magic, spirituality—into which astrology is often placed, revealing the blurred boundaries between them.
This class also grapples with the stakes of engaging with astrology today—not only as an intellectual problem, but also as a religious and spiritual practice, a politically charged ideology, and a place of social belonging.