Frank Korom
Faculty Profiles
Frank Korom
Professor of Religion and Anthropology
Office: 145 Bay State Road, #506
Office Phone: 617-358-0185
E-mail: korom@bu.edu
Spring Office Hours:
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2 – 3; or by appointment
Geographically, Dr. Frank Korom specializes in South Asia, and his secondary geographical regions of interest are the Caribbean and Tibet. His theoretical areas of expertise include the oral traditions, rituals, and material culture of these regions, as well as the diasporas originating in or leading to them. His current project focuses on transnational Sufism, with a focus on a Tamil Sri Lankan charismatic teacher named Muhammad Raheem Bawa Muhaiyaddeen (Ral), who inspired the establishment of a fellowship in his name located in Philadelphia. Dr. Korom also continues to work with the narrative scroll painters of West Bengal known as Patuas, about whom he curated a museum exhibition in 2006 titled Village of Painters, which was accompanied by a book of the same name. The latter project won him a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2006–2007. Korom has received many grants and awards including the Premio Pitre prize for his 2003 book titled Hosay Trinidad. He also serves on a number of editorial boards, most recently the journal Asian Ethnology.
Courses
- RN 103 Religions of the World: Eastern
- RN 108 New Age Spirituality
- RN 213 Hinduism
- RN 375/675 Culture, Society, and Religion in South Asia
- RN 387/687 Anthropology of Religion
- RN 388/688 Oral Tradition as Verbal Art
- RN 442/742 Approaches to Myth
- RN 468/768 Symbol, Myth, and Rite
Education
PhD University of Pennsylvania
MA University of Pennsylvania
BA University of Colorado