Colorado College Religion Department

Tessa Bielecki

Mother Tessa is the co-founder, with Father William Macnamara, of the Spiritual Life Institute and has lived at the Nada Hermitage in Crestone, Colorado. The brothers and sisters at the hermitage live contemplative lives, in the tradition of the Carmelite order of Roman Catholic nuns and monks, at the foot of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. The author of two books on the Christian mystic, Therese of Lisieux, Mother Tessa teaches, with Fr. David Denny, the course called Fire and Light: A Christian Spiritual Tradition (not offered in 2007-08)

Kobi Chumash

Kobi Chumash is teaching the adjunct courses in Hebrew language, RE 121/122, 221/222, 321/322. A native speaker of Hebrew, Mr. Chumash received his undergraduate degree from the University of Tel Aviv and did graduate work at the College for Architecture and Design in Tel Aviv. He served seven years in the Israeli Air Force and attained the rank of major in the Israeli Army Reserve. In the U. S. he was office manager for Globelink International Services, including communications with customers that often involved translation from Hebrew to English. He recently launched his own business, called Effective Communications, offering his services as a translator and speaker on Israel.

David Denny

Father David Denny is a Roman Catholic monk in the Carmelite tradition, who lives a life of solitude in Crestone, Colorado. Surrounded by the natural beauty of the Baca Grande, Fr. Dave prays, reads, and writes in his hermitage, Al-Hadiyah, on San Isabel Creek in the spirit of the first Christian mystics, the desert mothers and fathers. He teaches, with Mother Tessa Bielecki, the course Fire and Light: A Christian Spiritual Tradition (not offered in 2007-08).

Amod Lele

Amod Lele is Visiting Assistant Professor for the 2007-08 academic year, teaching courses in Hinduism and Islam as sabbatical replacement for Tracy Coleman. This summer he successfully defended his Ph. D. dissertation at Harvard University where he taught tutorials on religious ethics and sexuality in Indian religions. Amod earned his B.A. with honors at McGill University and also completed the M.S. degree at Cornell University.

Maha Foster

Maha Foster teaches RE 141/142, 241/242, 341/342, extended format courses in Arabic language. A native speaker from Lebanon, she has taught Arabic at the U.S. Air Force Academy. She holds French and Lebanese Baccalaureates from the College Protestant Francais in Beirut, B.A. in Linguistics with distinction and M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language from the American University of Beirut. Ms. Foster also gives private lessons in piano.

Daniel G. Shaw

Dan Shaw is Visiting Associate Professor in the first semester, 2007-08. He will teach an FYE course with David Gardiner, titled Religious Responses to the Challenge of Suffering. Professor Shaw will also teach RE 200, Sainthood in the Roman Catholic Tradition. He holds the B.A. from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in the History and Literature of Religions. Former director of the Writing Lab at Lawrence University, Dr. Shaw has worked also in the Writing Center at CC. He currently teaches religious studies at Pikes Peak Community College in Colorado Springs.

Zach Simpson

Zach Simpson is a graduate of Colorado College (2001) and is presently writing his Ph.D. dissertation at the Claremont Graduate School of Religion on "Life as Art from Nietzsche to Foucault." He will teach an advanced course in Theologies of Emergence in Block 4. Zach has edited several volumes by Philip Clayton, a leading figure in emergence theory, and is associate editor of the Oxford Handbook of Science and Religion.

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