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In this talk, Lucia discusses her new book White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals – a deep ethnography of yoga and whiteness emplaced in the spiritual circuit of festival events. Her research shows how “New Age” spirituality foments distinctive ideas about the exotic other, which are then recaptured and used in service of crafting the self. She argues that this appropriative foundation is a primary reason why such events (from yoga classes to Burning Man) remain predominantly white.

Amanda Lucia is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of California-Riverside. Her research engages the global exportation, appropriation, and circulation of Hinduism. She is author of White Utopias: The Religious Exoticism of Transformational Festivals (2020), Reflections of Amma: Devotees in a Global Embrace (2014), and numerous articles.

The event will take place on March 24th at 6 PM on Zoom.