Don Seeman is an associate professor at the Tam Institute for Jewish Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, where he studies medical and phenomenological anthropology, Jewish studies and ritual theory. He is the author of One People, One Blood: Ethiopian-Israelis and the Return to Judaism. He is currently studying contemplative practice among Hasidic Jews.

Clifford Saron is a research scientist at the University of California, Davis’ Center for Mind and Brain. He studies the effects of long-term meditation on the brain.

Lobsang Tenzin Negi is the founder and director of Drepung Loseling Monastery in  Atlanta. He directs the Emory-Tibet Partnership, which focuses on Buddhist meditation and science. He is an expert on Tibetan Buddhism and meditation.

Rachel Laser is the president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, an advocacy organization that seeks to reduce entanglement between the government and faith groups. She previously served as deputy director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, where she worked on social justice issues, including gun control, abortion […]

Michael Austin is a communications consultant and Christian commentator. He is the spokesman for the Christian History Institute. Austin can discuss evolution-creationism debates, Christian persecution and the history of church-state relations. He lives in New York City.

Ghazala Anwar is an associate professor of Quranic studies at Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist school, at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, Calif. She is also on the steering committee of GTU’s Women’s Studies in Religion program. Among her areas of interest are women in Islam and gender equality.

is an organization of women religion scholars throughout Europe. Members gather for an international conference every two years. They publish an annual journal focused on a single theme each year. They maintain a database of members, searchable by subject, geographical location and more.

Daniel Jordan Smith is an associate professor of anthropology and chair of the anthropology department at Brown University in Providence, R.I. He is conducting a research project, “Pentecostalism and AIDS in Nigeria,” through a grant from the University of Southern California’s Pentecostal and Charismatic Research Initiative.

Read a Dec. 19, 2013, Religion News Service story about meatless restaurants established by Adventists to encourage healthy living.