Elijah Siegler is the chair of the Religious Studies department at the College of Charleston. [1] [2] He received his PhD in religious studies from the University of California at Santa Barbara, with an associates degree from Harvard University in comparative study of religion. [3] He has authored two books, including New Religious Movements in 2007 [4] [5] and Coen: Framing Religion in Amoral Order in 2016, published by Baylor University Press. [6] [7] With David A. Palmer, he coauthored Dream Trippers: Global Daoism and the Predicament of Modern Spirituality. [8] [9] [10] He has written for the online magazine Religion Dispatches . [3] [11]