Isaac Portilla Pelaez

Research Areas: 

• Interfaith Dialogue (Challenges and Opportunities); Interreligious Studies / Hindu-Christian Studies.
• World Religions; Comparative Religion; Comparative Theology.
• Philosophy of Peace, Non-violence/Harmlessness, and Conflict: Indian/Hindu Perspectives.
• Insider/Emic and Outsider/Etic Perspectives in the Study of Religion.
• The Future of Spirituality and Religion in Western Cultures.
• The Academic Study of Mystical Experience/Consciousness.
• Hermeneutical Phenomenology; Phenomenology; Philosophies of Life.
• Cross-cultural Philosophy; Traditions of Asia (Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism); Non-Western Philosophy; Indian Sages: Sri Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo.
• Ethics: Philosophical and Theological Perspectives on the "Other."
• Religious Studies and Philosophical/Theological Inquiry; Interdisciplinary Research.
• Wisdom teachings in the New Testament; Christian Engagement with Asian Traditions; Ecumenism; Dual/Multiple Religious Belonging.

Research methods:

Hermeneutical phenomenology; cross-disciplinary hermeneutical, philosophical, and theological inquiry, including cultural and politico-historical analysis.

Fellowships & Memberships:

• Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society (FRAS)
• American Academy of Religion (AAR)
• European Academy of Religion (EuARe)
• Society for Hindu-Christian Studies

Centres & Networks

• Centre for the Study of Religion and Politics (CSRP, University of St Andrews)
• Scholars at the Peripheries (CSRP, University of St Andrews)
• Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (OCHS, Oxford) / Hinduism in Dialogue Network
• Mystical Theology Network (MTN, Oxford)
• Cambridge Anthropology-Theology Network (CAT)
• Interreligious Discussion Group (University of Tübingen)