Michael J. Altman is an assistant professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Alabama. He graduated from Emory University with his Ph.D. in American Religious Cultures and has been teaching at Alabama since 2013. Altman’s areas of interest are colonialism, theory and method in the study of religion, media studies, and Asian religions in American culture. He is particularly interested in the ways religion is constructed through difference, conflict, and contact. Currently, Altman is working on a book manuscript analyzing American representations of India in the nineteenth century. He can be found on Twitter: @michaeljaltman.