Lecturer Faculty

Lecturer Faculty

Professor Information and Bio

John Becker, Ph.D.

Lecturer

John BeckerDr. Becker received his B.A. and M.A. from Cal Poly Pomona in History and his Ph.D. in Comparative Theology and Philosophy from Claremont School of Theology. In 2017, he received the International Process Network’s Young Scholar Award. He is a member of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies and a Research Fellow for The Institute for Postmodern Development of China, USA. His research interests include contemporary religious thought, comparative religions (with particular attention to Mahayana Buddhism-Christianity), religions and ecology, and religious pluralism. He is co-editor of Process Thought and Roman Catholicism (Lexington Books, 2022), and is currently working on a manuscript comparing an influential East Asian Buddhist treatise entitled The Awakening of Faith of the Mahayana and Meister Eckhart, a 14-century Dominican Monk. He joined the faculty in Fall 2023. 
 
  • Phone: N/A
  • Location:  MHB-610
  • E-mail: john.becker@csulb.edu

Spring 2024 Office Hours:  

Tuesday and Thursday

9:00 am—10:30 am or appointment

 

 

Peter Lowentrout, Ph.D.

Lecturer

Ph.D. in Religion/Social Ethics (1983) School of Religion University of Southern California.  A.B. in Religious Studies (1973) University of California, Riverside

Teaching Areas:  ReliPeter Lowentroutgion and Science, Religion and Modern Culture (Narrative Arts) Social Ethics and Religious Social Ethics.  

Participation in Student Activities:  Faculty Advisor to the CSULB chapters of Phi Eta Sigma and Alpha Lambda Delta, the National Freshman Honor Societies, 1985-2015.  

Memberships:  American Academy of Religion The Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts Science Fiction Research Association The American Association for the Advancement of Science.

College of Liberal Arts:  Member, The Dean’s Ad Hoc Working Group on the Restructuring of the College, 2011-12  Member, RTP Committee, Department of Comparative World Literature and Classics, 2009-10 and 2011-12Member, Chair’s Council, 2009-2012, 2005-06, 1999-2003

Community Service:  Program Organizer and Presenter, “The Five Animals in Shaolin Martial Arts,” Kaleidoscope, CSULB, 1995-2009

  • Phone: 562-985-5785
  • Location: MHB-603
  • Email:peter.lowentrout@csulb.edu

Spring 2024 Office Hours:   Not teaching

 

Nandini Mahtani, Ph.D.

Lecturer

Dr. Mahtani completed her MA in Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University (TN) and received her Doctorate in Religious Studies from the University of Kent (UK). Her graduate coursework focused on the impact of colonialism on modern Hindu concepts. She is also interested in how modern representations of Hindu ideas (in the media, film and contemporary literature) continue to influence the representation of ancient traditions, texts and scriptures for Hindus today, both in India and in the diaspora. 

  • Phone: (562) 985-4613
  • Location: MHB-610
  • Email: nandini.mahtani@csulb.edu

Spring 2024 Office Hours:

Mondays and Wednesdays

5:00 pm – 6:00 pm via Zoom. Or by appointment

https://csulb.zoom.us/j/81594500258

 

Nayawiyyah Muhammad, Ph.D.

Lecturer 

Nayawiyyah MuhammadDr. Nayawiyyah Muhammad earned a B.A. and M.A. in Religious Studies, concentrating on ancient and medieval Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from California State University, Long Beach, and her Ph.D. in Women’s Studies in Religion from Claremont Graduate University.  

With specialties in Islam and the Body, Feminism and Islam, and Eco-feminist Theology, she conducts research at the intersection of religion, women’s studies, and environmentalism. Dr. Muhammad is often called upon to present her story and research at various universities and college classes across the United States. In addition, she is part of an ongoing team of scholars involved in a digital humanities project. This project aims to create a virtual archive of hadith transmissions from the wives of Prophet Muhammad (S). The goal is to provide commentary, historical timelines, and insight into Islamic rituals and kinship networks, thus providing significant value to anyone researching women in Islam and the “Mothers of the Believers” in particular.

Spring 2024 Office Hours:  Not teaching

 

Sean Sagan, Ph.D.

Lecturer

  • Phone: N/A
  • Location: MHB-610
  • Email: Sean.sagan@csulb.edu

Spring 2024 Office Hours: 

Mondays and Wednesdays

11:00 am to 12:00 pm – in front of the Outpost or online by appointment

J. Colin Stringfellow, M.A.

Lecturer

Professor Colin Stringfellow obtained his B.A. and M.A. in Religious Studies from CSULB where his primary focus was early Christianity. He has a special interest in early church heresies with an emphasis on the spread and influence of Simon Magus, as well as the historical context of 1st century Samaria that allowed Simon’s influence to flourish.

 

 

  • Phone: 562-985-5785
  • Location: MHB 603
  • Email: j.stringfellow@csulb.edu  or colinstringfellow@gmail.com

Spring 2024 Office Hours:  

 

 

Jessica Langenbucher Brooks

Lecturer

Office: MHB – 508 (last office on the right out of elevator)
E-mail: jessica.brooks@csulb.edu

Spring 2024 Office Hours:  

Mondays and Wednesdays
 
8:15 am – 9:15 am and 3:30 pm – 4:30 pm (except on Faculty Council Days)

Former Lecturer Faculty

Mariam Youssef

Lecturer

Mariam Youssef teaches at CSULB and Cerritos College. Her research focuses on issues of gender, sexuality, and survival, especially in persecuted religious communities. She is the author of Gendered Paradigms in Theologies of Survival: Silenced to Survive.

 

 

  • Phone: 562-985-5785
  • Location: LA1-310
  • mariam.youssef@csulb.edu

Spring 2024 Office Hours