Board of the AARWR
President
The Rev. Dr. Sakena Young-Scaggs
The Rev. Dr. Sakena Young-Scaggs
- Senior Associate Dean for Religious & Spiritual Life and Pastor of Memorial Church, Stanford University
Ph.D. in Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University, 2019. Dissertation: Afrofuturism, Womanist Phenomenology, and the Black Imagination: A Liberative Revisioning of Black Humanity
President-Elect
Roberta Sabbath
Roberta Sabbath
- University of Nevada, Las Vegas English Department Faculty
- Sabbath focuses on the cultural implications of religious practice and is author of Sacred Body: Readings in Jewish Literary Illumination (Rowman & Littlefield, Lexington Books Jewish Studies Series, 2023); editor, Vegas Strong: Bearing Witness 1 October 2017 (University of Nevada Press, 2023); editor, Troubling Topics, Sacred Texts: Readings in Hebrew Bible, New Testament, and Qur’an. (De Gruyter Press, 2021); and editor, Sacred Tropes: Tanakh, New Testament, and Qur’an as Literature and Culture (Brill Publishers, 2009).
Vice President
Alexander Warren Marcus
University of Pennsylvania, Research Affiliate at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
Franklin & Marshall, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Department
Ph.D., Religious Studies, Stanford University
MA, Jewish Studies, Graduate Theological Union
https://yale.academia.edu/AlexanderMarcus
Alexander Warren Marcus
University of Pennsylvania, Research Affiliate at the Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies
Franklin & Marshall, Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Religious Studies Department
Ph.D., Religious Studies, Stanford University
MA, Jewish Studies, Graduate Theological Union
https://yale.academia.edu/AlexanderMarcus
Chief Regional Officer
John M. Erickson
Ph.D., American Religious History, Claremont Graduate University
Vice President of Public Affairs, Communications, and Marketing for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Mayor Pro Tempore for the City of West Hollywood
Dual MA Degrees in Women's Studies in Religion and Applied Women's Studies from Claremont Graduate University in 2011 and a Ph.D. in American Religious History with a focus on LGBTQ issues in Religion in 2019 from Claremont Graduate University.
Research interests: LGBT History, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Masculinity Studies, American Religious History, Government, Policy, and Religion.
John M. Erickson
Ph.D., American Religious History, Claremont Graduate University
Vice President of Public Affairs, Communications, and Marketing for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Mayor Pro Tempore for the City of West Hollywood
Dual MA Degrees in Women's Studies in Religion and Applied Women's Studies from Claremont Graduate University in 2011 and a Ph.D. in American Religious History with a focus on LGBTQ issues in Religion in 2019 from Claremont Graduate University.
Research interests: LGBT History, Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, Masculinity Studies, American Religious History, Government, Policy, and Religion.
Student Director (voting)
Kali (Meera) Tanikella
Ph.D. Candidate, Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion, Center for Dharma Studies, Graduate Theological Union.
MA Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, CA
Adjunct Faculty, University of San Francisco, School of Education
Therapist at Rula LLC and Trihealing LLC.
Kali (Meera) Tanikella is a Ph.D. Candidate in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion at the Center for Dharma Studies, Graduate Theological Union. With a Master's in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University, she is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. Kali uses a trauma-informed, embodied pedagogical approach as an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of San Francisco, School of Education. Beyond academia, she applies her skills to various mental health traumas as a therapist at Rula LLC and Trihealing LLC, offering compassionate care and insightful therapy.
Kali (Meera) Tanikella
Ph.D. Candidate, Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion, Center for Dharma Studies, Graduate Theological Union.
MA Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University.
Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, CA
Adjunct Faculty, University of San Francisco, School of Education
Therapist at Rula LLC and Trihealing LLC.
Kali (Meera) Tanikella is a Ph.D. Candidate in Historical and Cultural Studies of Religion at the Center for Dharma Studies, Graduate Theological Union. With a Master's in Counseling Psychology from Santa Clara University, she is also a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California. Kali uses a trauma-informed, embodied pedagogical approach as an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of San Francisco, School of Education. Beyond academia, she applies her skills to various mental health traumas as a therapist at Rula LLC and Trihealing LLC, offering compassionate care and insightful therapy.
Advisory Board of the AARWR
Photo Credit: Kimberly Esslinger
Past President (non-voting)
Marie Cartier
Marie Cartier
- Ph.D., Religion with an emphasis on Women and Religion, Claremont Graduate University
- Author of the critically acclaimed book Baby, You Are My Religion: Women, Gay Bars, and Theology Before Stonewall (Routledge 2013)
- Senior Lecturer in Gender and Women’s Studies and Queer Studies at California State University Northridge, and in Film Studies at University of CA Irvine
Regional Representative - Arizona (non-voting)
Souad T. Ali
Souad T. Ali
- Associate Professor at Arizona State University
- Head of Classics and Middle East Studies and Director of Arabic Studies
- Author of A Religion, Not A State: Ali ‘Abd al-Raziq’s Islamic Justification of Political Secularism (University of Utah Press 2009)
Regional Representative - Hawaii/Pacific Islands (non-voting)
Regional Representative - Northern California (non-voting)
Valerie Miles-Tribble
Ph.D., Walden University, Minneapolis, MN
D.Min., San Francisco Theological Seminary / Graduate Theological Union
Professor of Ministerial Leadership & Practical Theology at Berkeley School of Theology / GTU
Publication: Change Agent Church in Black Lives Matter Times: Urgency for Action
Specialty Areas: Womanist Theology / Ethics, Public Theology, Leadership Development & Org Change, and Practical Theology.
Valerie Miles-Tribble
Ph.D., Walden University, Minneapolis, MN
D.Min., San Francisco Theological Seminary / Graduate Theological Union
Professor of Ministerial Leadership & Practical Theology at Berkeley School of Theology / GTU
Publication: Change Agent Church in Black Lives Matter Times: Urgency for Action
Specialty Areas: Womanist Theology / Ethics, Public Theology, Leadership Development & Org Change, and Practical Theology.
Student Representative - Southern California (non-voting)
Diversity and Inclusion Advocate (non-voting)
Queer Advocate (non-voting)
Anjeanette LeBoeuf
Anjeanette LeBoeuf
- Ph.D., Women Studies in Religion, Claremont Graduate University
- Research interests: Popular Culture and Religion, South Asian Religions with emphasis on Hinduism, and Feminist and Queer Theory
- She is a permanent contributor to the academic blog FeminismandReligion.com
Women's Caucus Liaison (non-voting)
Janice Poss
Ph.D. Candidate, Claremont Graduate University, Women's and Gender Studies in Religion
M.A. Pastoral Theology, Loyola Marymount University
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Senior Coordinator, Pat Reif Memorial Lecture at CGU.
Poss is a comparative, interreligious scholar concentrating on women’s issues in Roman Catholicism and Tibetan Buddhism. She teaches on Thematic Bible Topics and the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate.
Research Interests: Intersection of aesthetics, ethics, feminism, praxis, social justice, activism, international peace-building and women’s leadership.
Her recent article, "Women Healing the Globe, Preserving the Tibetan Plateau," published in the Journal of Feminist Theology honors Rosemary Radford Ruether's eco-feminist work,Women Healing Earth. For the last five years, she has worked on the Women in Religion project -- co-sponsored by the AAR/SBL Women's Caucus and Wikipedia -- bringing notability to underrepresented women to the Wikipedia platform.
Janice Poss
Ph.D. Candidate, Claremont Graduate University, Women's and Gender Studies in Religion
M.A. Pastoral Theology, Loyola Marymount University
BFA, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Senior Coordinator, Pat Reif Memorial Lecture at CGU.
Poss is a comparative, interreligious scholar concentrating on women’s issues in Roman Catholicism and Tibetan Buddhism. She teaches on Thematic Bible Topics and the Vatican II document, Nostra Aetate.
Research Interests: Intersection of aesthetics, ethics, feminism, praxis, social justice, activism, international peace-building and women’s leadership.
Her recent article, "Women Healing the Globe, Preserving the Tibetan Plateau," published in the Journal of Feminist Theology honors Rosemary Radford Ruether's eco-feminist work,Women Healing Earth. For the last five years, she has worked on the Women in Religion project -- co-sponsored by the AAR/SBL Women's Caucus and Wikipedia -- bringing notability to underrepresented women to the Wikipedia platform.
Student Representative - Arizona/Nevada (non-voting)
Avalon Jade Theisen
M.A. in Religious Studies at Arizona State University, 2023.
Theisen focuses on religious environmental nonprofit organizations in the United States. She serves as graduate teaching assistant at Arizona State University, educator at Athena's Advanced Academy, book reviews coordinator at the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, and intern at the United States Department of State Office of International Religious Freedom.
Ph.D. student in Religious Studies at Arizona State University.
Avalon Jade Theisen
M.A. in Religious Studies at Arizona State University, 2023.
Theisen focuses on religious environmental nonprofit organizations in the United States. She serves as graduate teaching assistant at Arizona State University, educator at Athena's Advanced Academy, book reviews coordinator at the Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, and intern at the United States Department of State Office of International Religious Freedom.
Ph.D. student in Religious Studies at Arizona State University.
Conference Manager (non-voting)
Jacob Perez (he/his)
MTS - Theological Studies, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley
Co-Chair: Latinx Religions & Spiritualities Unit, American Academy of Religion Western Region
Jacob Perez has been published in the Feminist Studies in Religion Blog, “Theoëroticism: If This Body Wasn’t Alone".
Additionally, Perez is a Marketing Director for a family-owned pizza chain in Northern California, Mary’s Pizza Shack. He brings 7+ years of event and event marketing expertise to the Conference Manager position and has recently launched a branding and marketing consultancy.
Jacob Perez (he/his)
MTS - Theological Studies, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley
Co-Chair: Latinx Religions & Spiritualities Unit, American Academy of Religion Western Region
Jacob Perez has been published in the Feminist Studies in Religion Blog, “Theoëroticism: If This Body Wasn’t Alone".
Additionally, Perez is a Marketing Director for a family-owned pizza chain in Northern California, Mary’s Pizza Shack. He brings 7+ years of event and event marketing expertise to the Conference Manager position and has recently launched a branding and marketing consultancy.
Webmaster (non-voting)
"Joey" Alan Le
Ph.D., Theological Studies, Regent University. Dissertation - Limitless Beauty: Human Dignity and the Spirit’s Renewal of the Image of God
M.Div., Fuller Theological Seminary
“The Hospitality of the Spirit in Encanto,” The Spirit & the Screen: Pneumatological Reflection on Contemporary Cinema, ed. Chris E.W. Green and Steven Félix-Jäeger (Lexington Books), 2023.
“Martial Arts in Search of Transcendence: Beauty, Truth, and Goodness in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,” Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies XXXIV No. 1/2 (2022).
Director of Spiritual Formation at First Covenant Church, Oakland
Member of the Society for Pentecostal Studies
Research Interests: Social Justice, Theological Aesthetics, Pneumatology, Human Rights, Human Dignity, Shalom, Joy, Human Flourishing
"Joey" Alan Le
Ph.D., Theological Studies, Regent University. Dissertation - Limitless Beauty: Human Dignity and the Spirit’s Renewal of the Image of God
M.Div., Fuller Theological Seminary
“The Hospitality of the Spirit in Encanto,” The Spirit & the Screen: Pneumatological Reflection on Contemporary Cinema, ed. Chris E.W. Green and Steven Félix-Jäeger (Lexington Books), 2023.
“Martial Arts in Search of Transcendence: Beauty, Truth, and Goodness in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu,” Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies XXXIV No. 1/2 (2022).
Director of Spiritual Formation at First Covenant Church, Oakland
Member of the Society for Pentecostal Studies
Research Interests: Social Justice, Theological Aesthetics, Pneumatology, Human Rights, Human Dignity, Shalom, Joy, Human Flourishing
Honorary Board Member (non-voting)
Susan M Maloney, SJNM
In 2013, the AAR/WR board unanimously voted Susan M Maloney, PhD, as an honorary board member (non-voting) for her longterm commitment to the AAR/WR. In this capacity, she serves as a volunteer facilitator and advisor to the AAR/WR board. In four decades of service to our region, she has held many positions: President, Vice-President, Chair of the Women and Religion Unit. As AAR/WR Regional Coordinator, she served on the National AAR board for five years. Under Susan's wise leadership, the AAR/WR re-organized and became an independent and fiscally successful entity, which continues to benefit AAR/WR today. As a scholar/activist, her writings focus on women and religion, and religious communities. She chaired the M.A. Program in Feminist Spirituality at Immaculate Heart College and taught at the University of Redlands. As a member of NUNS on the BUS, a social justice lobby of progressive Catholic sisters committed to social justice, she advocates for women and families, immigration reform and healthcare for all.
Susan M Maloney, SJNM
In 2013, the AAR/WR board unanimously voted Susan M Maloney, PhD, as an honorary board member (non-voting) for her longterm commitment to the AAR/WR. In this capacity, she serves as a volunteer facilitator and advisor to the AAR/WR board. In four decades of service to our region, she has held many positions: President, Vice-President, Chair of the Women and Religion Unit. As AAR/WR Regional Coordinator, she served on the National AAR board for five years. Under Susan's wise leadership, the AAR/WR re-organized and became an independent and fiscally successful entity, which continues to benefit AAR/WR today. As a scholar/activist, her writings focus on women and religion, and religious communities. She chaired the M.A. Program in Feminist Spirituality at Immaculate Heart College and taught at the University of Redlands. As a member of NUNS on the BUS, a social justice lobby of progressive Catholic sisters committed to social justice, she advocates for women and families, immigration reform and healthcare for all.