Joanne Punzo Waghorne is a professor of religion at Syracuse University where she works in contemporary theoretical directions in the study of religion, new religious movements, globalization, and transnational migration. She has written a book about the construction of Hindu temples and their internal organizations in urban areas, including Washington, D.C.

The New York Anti-Trafficking Coalition is an umbrella organization of New York area advocacy groups, including several religious ones. They helped pass the state’s anti-trafficking law.

Mary Sullivan is director of the Office of Justice, Peace and the Integrity of Creation of the Ursuline Sisters of the Eastern Province in New Rochelle, N.Y. Among its ministries is advocacy for victims of human trafficking.

Daniel Gold is a professor of South Asian religions at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He specializes in North Indian devotional traditions.

Richard H. Davis is a professor of religion at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y. He is an expert in the Shaiva traditions of India. He can discuss the rise of Indian nationalism and how it makes itself felt in the U.S., as well as provide background information on the textbook debate. 

Taina Bien-Aime is executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, a New York-based NGO that works on human rights for women and children.

Melissa Broudo is a staff attorney at the Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center in New York, where she focuses on the legal concerns, safety and rights of sex workers.

Read a story, posted at Beliefnet.com, about how Hindus in America celebrate Diwali.

March 19, 2006, New York Times story about differences over immigration policy between evangelicals and Catholics.