Dr. Amelia Gallagher

Professor

Email:

ameliag@niagara.edu

Phone:

(716) 286-7366

Office Location:

Dunleavy Hall

Bio

Amelia Gallagher teaches a variety of courses in World Religions including “Islam and the West.”  She received a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Michigan, an MA in Religious Studies from McGill University and a Ph.D. from the Institute of Islamic Studies, McGill University (Montreal).

Gallagher's research interests include Islamic sects and Islamic mysticism. Her research will continue to focus on the poetry attributed to Shah Ismail Safevi (d. 1524) as well as other Alevi poets of the period. She is also documenting local saints’ shrines situated in both Niagara county and in Antioch, Turkey.

At the 2009 Conference of the American Academy of Religion she gave a paper entitled, "Potentially Sacred: The Religious Art of the Castellani Museum, Niagara University." Recent publications include the following: "The Transformation of Shah Ismail Safevi in the Turkish Hikaye," Journal of Folklore Research 46(2009): 173-195. "Shah Isma'il Safevi and the Mi'raj: Hata'i's Vision of a Sacred Assembly" in The Prophet's Ascension: Cross-Cultural Encounters with the Islamic Mi'raj Tales (Indiana University, 2010).