In the late 1990's and early 2000's, I studied medieval Sanskrit literature and Indian philosophy at UPenn under the brilliant, though now deceased, scholars Wilhelm Halbfass and Ludo Rocher. I lived off-and-on in India during those years--mostly in UP, Bihar and Sikkim, though I also had the pleasure of pursuing grant-supported research on temple practice and iconography in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.
In 2012, I stepped away from my academic post in order to serve as Campaign Manager for my father’s nearly successful bid to unseat Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. We wound up losing by about one percent, after having been outspend 10 to 1 in what proved to be one of the most expensive congressional reelection campaigns in United States history. (Romney defeated Obama in the same district by about 17 points that election, so we had a lot of ground to make up.)
I've been an avid traveler since the age of seventeen, when I spent several months on a solo-expedition through the interior of Asmat, an isolated region of Papua populated by an ethnic group best known for its art and ritual cannibalism. My kids (pictured below) have spent time in about 60 countries around the world. They're undoubtedly smarter than I am, but not quite as well-traveled. I just happen to be married to my favorite artist and traveling companion, the incredibly gifted Suchitra Mattai, who shows in Denver, New York, and London.
With the help of some of my colleagues and students (most notably, Matt Makley and Gabriel Grinsteiner), I helped to created D-phi, or the Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry--a public humanities center that has hosted such notables as Cornel West, Noam Chomsky, Martha Nussbaum and Paul Muldoon. We've organized over one hundred events throughout the city in partnership with the Sie Film Center, the Denver Center for Performing Arts, History Colorado, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Buntport Theater, History Colorado, and many more organizations.
I host the podcast, The Human Context.
In 2012, I stepped away from my academic post in order to serve as Campaign Manager for my father’s nearly successful bid to unseat Michele Bachmann in Minnesota’s 6th Congressional District. We wound up losing by about one percent, after having been outspend 10 to 1 in what proved to be one of the most expensive congressional reelection campaigns in United States history. (Romney defeated Obama in the same district by about 17 points that election, so we had a lot of ground to make up.)
I've been an avid traveler since the age of seventeen, when I spent several months on a solo-expedition through the interior of Asmat, an isolated region of Papua populated by an ethnic group best known for its art and ritual cannibalism. My kids (pictured below) have spent time in about 60 countries around the world. They're undoubtedly smarter than I am, but not quite as well-traveled. I just happen to be married to my favorite artist and traveling companion, the incredibly gifted Suchitra Mattai, who shows in Denver, New York, and London.
With the help of some of my colleagues and students (most notably, Matt Makley and Gabriel Grinsteiner), I helped to created D-phi, or the Denver Project for Humanistic Inquiry--a public humanities center that has hosted such notables as Cornel West, Noam Chomsky, Martha Nussbaum and Paul Muldoon. We've organized over one hundred events throughout the city in partnership with the Sie Film Center, the Denver Center for Performing Arts, History Colorado, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Buntport Theater, History Colorado, and many more organizations.
I host the podcast, The Human Context.