Justin McDaniel

Justin McDaniel, a religious-studies professor at the U. of Pennsylvania, teaches what his dean calls "the only humanities course that has a lab section." He talks to Thessalonica Goodine, a student. McDaniel's research foci include Lao, Thai, Pali and Sanskrit literature, art and architecture, and manuscript studies. His first book, Gathering Leaves and Lifting Words, won the Harry Benda Prize. His second book, The Lovelorn Ghost and the Magic Monk, won the Kahin Prize. He has received grants from the NEH, Mellon, Rockefeller, Fulbright, PACRIM, Luce, the SSRC, among others.