Prof. Robert Geraci
Knight Distinguished Chair for the Study of Religion and Culture
Knox College
Select a Country
Biography
Biographical information is not available at present.
Biography
After 19 years of teaching in New York City I've packed up for western Illinois and a job at Knox College. I’m pretty sure that everyone loves robots, which is why I wrote a book about them. People love games too, so I wrote another book. Many people love living in, visiting, or thinking about India, so I wrote a third book and have two more in process. I’m also interested in the toadstool circles, the ancient temples, the soaring cathedrals of our religious imagination. Likewise, the dark tunnels of mining and rapid transit. I visit mountains, deserts, temples, laboratories, factories, virtual realities…the places where magic enters the world.
My research arc engages the how technology gets used to enchant the world. In the beginning, there were digital technologies: robots, AI, virtual worlds. I have published four books and a number of essays, and was awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study meaningful experiences in virtual worlds. Over the past few years, I've been studying religion, science, & technology in India. I was Fulbright-Nehru Research Scholar at the Centre for Contemporary Studies at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore, India (2012-13) and again at the National Institute of Advanced Studies in Bangalore (2018-19). I have received two American Academy of Religion Collaborative Research Grants to conduct research in India (2016) and with Korean collaborator in the US; and I have been supported by the National Research Federation of the Republic of Korea.
Honoraria Titles
Major Prizes
Religion, Philosophy & History Interests
History of Religion, History of Science, Indic Traditions
Science & Technology Interests
Anthropology, Information Technology
Website
Publications
Apocalyptic AI: Visions of Heaven in Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and Virtual Reality
Oxford University Press 2010
Virtually Sacred: Myth and Meaning in World of Warcraft and Second Life
Oxford University Press 2014
Temples of Modernity: Nationalism, Hinduism, and Transhumanism in South Indian Science
Lexington 2018
Futures of Artificial Intelligence: Perspectives from India and the United States
Oxford 2022
