| | | | Dr. Marilyn Gottschall is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Whittier College. She teaches a variety of survey courses (Religions of the West, of the East, New Religious Movements) and thematic courses (religion and the body, sound and religion, ritual studies, gender and religion). She received a B.A. in English from a small state college in rural Pennsylvania where she was a commuting student and the daughter of a working-class family. A college education provided her with the tools for rapid social, geographical and ideological mobility and it literally changed her life forever. Upon graduation she entered the Peace Corps and spent a total of three years in the Caribbean, two years in Montserrat establishing and operating a village preschool, and one year in San Juan, Puerto Rico working for an American radio station. Her experience living in two colonial territories which were struggling for economic, political and national identity left an indelible imprint on her. She learned early the challenges and satisfactions of cross-cultural living. On a personal level she learned that initiative, combined with research and determination could produce remarkable results.
She then spent ten years in Canada where she became a mental health professional. She earned a Master’s Degree in Social Work and worked in an inpatient psychiatric hospital, a feminist collective mental health referral agency, and a family planning community education program. These years outside of the United States provided her with yet another perspective on cross-cultural relations. Professionally she acquired counseling, assessment, and group work skills, all of which affect her classroom strategies and advising activities.
In 1982 she returned to the United States and accepted a position as Director of the Women’s Resource Center at California State University, Long Beach at a particularly contentious time in its history. While at CSULB she honed her political and administrative skills and learned the business of higher education. She was awarded a CSU Administrative Fellowship and served with the VP of Student Services at Cal Poly Pomona for one year, after which she decided to obtain a Ph.D. in Religious Studies. In 1991 she entered a doctoral program in Social Ethics at the University of Southern California. She began teaching Freshman Writing at USC, adjunct teaching at CSULB and Antioch in 1993, and in 1996 she taught her first course at Whittier College. She was awarded tenure in 2004 and took a sabbatical during the 2004-2005 school year. During her sabbatical year she taught for Semester at Sea and traveled around the world, visiting Japan, China, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, India, Tanzania, South Africa, Brazil and Venezuela. She also spent 5 weeks in Fez, Morocco and traveled home through Spain.
She currently lives in Long Beach with her dog, Willy, and two very old cats. She has one son who also lives in Long Beach. | | | | | | |
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