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Jeffery D. Long

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Jeffery David Long is an American scholar of religious studies who works on the religions and philosophies of India, particularly Hinduism and Jainism. He is the Carl W. Zeigler Professor of Religion, Philosophy, and Asian Studies at Elizabethtown College.[1]

Education and career

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Long graduated with a BA from the University of Notre Dame in 1991.[1] He received his MA and PhD at the University of Chicago Divinity School in 1993 and 2000, respectively.[1] His PhD thesis was titled Plurality and Relativity: Whitehead, Jainism, and the Reconstruction of Religious Pluralism.[2] He began work at Elizabethtown College in 2000.[3]

Long has authored, edited, or co-edited over a dozen books on Hinduism, Jainism, and related topics. He sometimes draws upon his personal identity as a Hindu and has argued in favor of promoting a "universalist" Hinduism, similar to "Buddhism, Christianity, or Islam".[4][5][better source needed]

Activism

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Long composed a letter in support of the stance of the Hindu American Foundation, an American non-profit organization, during its 2006 lawsuit against the California Board of Education.[6] Long also wrote a letter in support of the "camp... led by the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), a non-profit that claims to advocate for Hindus in the United States, and the Hindu Education Foundation (HEF)," signed by additional scholars, regarding the 2016–17 California textbook controversy over South Asian topics. Long personally voiced "a far more moderate tone" than those groups.[6]

In 2025, Long wrote a journal article about the HAF, noting for context that he had "developed good, collegial friendships with many members of HAF. These relationships have enabled the kind of access that has permitted me to pursue the research on which this paper is based."[7]

Awards and honors

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In 2018, Long received the Hindu American Foundation's Dharma Seva Award "for his efforts to help mainstream Americans understand Hinduism in academia and public schools".[8]

Personal life

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Long was raised in a Catholic household. His father died when Long was 12,[9] as the result of an accident.[10] At the age of 25, Long became a Hindu.[9]

Books

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  • Long, Jeffery D. (January 23, 2007). A Vision for Hinduism: Beyond Hindu Nationalism. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781845112738.
  • Long, Jeffery D. (2009). Jainism: An Introduction. I.B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1-4416-3839-7. OCLC 608555139.[11]
  • Long, Jeffery D. (2011). Historical Dictionary of Hinduism. Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-7960-7. 2nd ed. 2020, Scarecrow Press, ISBN 978-1-5381-2293-8.
  • Long, Jeffery D. (2020). Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4742-4845-7. OCLC 1159617533.[12]
  • Long, Jeffery D. (2024). Discovering Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist Thought. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-3503-2482-4. OCLC 1411840731.[13]
  • Gupta, Ravi M.; Long, Jeffery D. (2025). Hinduism: The Primary Sources. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-1909-2244-3. OCLC 1530788569.

Edited volumes

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  • Schweig, Graham M.; Long, Jeffery D.; Lamb, Ramdas; Deepak, Adarsh, eds. (2005). Asceticism, Identity, and Pedagogy in Dharma Traditions. A. Deepak Publications. ISBN 978-0-9371-9450-8.
  • Long, Jeffery D., ed. (2019). Perspectives on Reincarnation: Christian, Hindu, and Scientific. MDPI. ISBN 978-3-0389-7535-9. OCLC 1089904229.
  • Miller, Christopher Patrick; Reading, Michael; Long, Jeffery D., eds. (2019). Beacons of Dharma: Spiritual Exemplars for the Modern Age. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-9787-5496-6.
  • Long, Jeffery D.; Long, Michael G., eds. (2022). Nonviolence in the World's Religions: A Concise Introduction. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-3674-3957-6.
  • Jain, Pankaj; Long, Jeffery D., eds. (2023). Indian and Western Philosophical Concepts in Religion. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-7936-2315-7.
  • Long, Jeffery D.; Rosen, Steven J., eds. (2024). Ahiṃsā in the Indic Traditions: Explorations and Reflections. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 978-1-6669-6287-1.
  • Mishra, Deepanjali; Long, Jeffery D., eds. (2024). A Pragmatic Approach to Religion and Sustainability. Springer. ISBN 978-3-0316-7359-7.

References

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  1. 1 2 3 "Religious Studies Faculty". Elizabethtown College. Retrieved September 20, 2026.
  2. ↑ Long, Jeffery D. (2000). Plurality and relativity: Whitehead, Jainism, and the reconstruction of religious pluralism (PhD thesis). University of Chicago.
  3. ↑ "Know Thy Neighbor: Cultivating a Community of Respect (talk announcement)". Township of Derry, Hershey PA. March 19, 2018. Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  4. ↑ Long, Jeffery D. (January 23, 2007). A Vision for Hinduism: Beyond Hindu Nationalism. I.B.Tauris. ISBN 9781845112738 – via Google Books.|page=26
  5. ↑ Long, Jeffery D. (2025). "Chapter 14: Reclaiming the Narrative of Hindu Pluralism". In Sahoo, Ajaya K. (ed.). Routledge Handbook of Asian Diaspora and Nationalism. Routledge. pp. 234–245. doi:10.4324/9781003487432-18. ISBN 9781032783376.
  6. 1 2 Thaker, Aria (February 6, 2018). "The Latest Skirmish in California's Textbooks War Reveals the Mounting Influence of Hindutva in the United States". The Caravan.
  7. ↑ Long, Jeffery D. (2025). "Complicating the Narrative of Hindu American Activism: The Case of the Hindu American Foundation". Diaspora in Development: 81–100. doi:10.1007/978-981-96-6747-5_5.
  8. ↑ "Hindu American Foundation holds gala, policy conference in Washington, D.C." News India Times. June 24, 2018. Archived from the original on October 12, 2020. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Kern, Joan (October 23, 2010). "Distinguishing Hindu yoga from American yoga". Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era. p. B5 – via newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ Patel, Mira. "How Hinduism has captured the American imagination". No. 24 October 2024. Indian Express.
  11. ↑ Gough, Ellen (March 2010). Religious Studies Review. 36 (1): 97. doi:10.1111/j.1748-0922.2010.01412_4.x.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: untitled periodical (link)
  12. ↑ Reviews of Hinduism in America:
  13. ↑ Tohis, Reza Adeputra (February 22, 2025). "Book review: Jeffery D. Long, Discovering Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu, Jain and Buddhist Thought". South Asia Research. 45 (2). SAGE Publications: 269–271. doi:10.1177/02627280251315250.
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