Twenty years ago, Professor George Pati, Ph.D., started a journey of learning and exploration at Valparaiso University that continues to take him across the world today. When he’s not teaching, he’s traveling to India conducting ethnographic research — work that he’s presented at both the University of Oxford and Harvard University. He brings these global experiences back to his teaching at Valpo, where he expands students’ understanding of the world as the University’s expert on South Asian religions and cultures.
As he celebrates 20 years teaching at Valpo this July, Professor Pati shares what continues to energize him in his work every day. “The most exciting part is my students,” he says. “They really bring fresh insights into the texts and the traditions we explore together. And I’m still learning. It’s been 25 years since I started my exploration of Hinduism and South Asian traditions. And still, every semester, I walk into class and I tell my students that we are learning together. And that’s the most rewarding part.”
Professor Pati has served as Valpo’s Surjit S. Patheja Endowed Chair in World Religions and Ethics since 2011, as well as chair of the Department of Religious Studies since 2025. Originally from South India, he came to the United States to advance his education in religious studies, which led him to earn his Ph.D. from Boston University (BU). Through BU’s interdisciplinary University Professors program, he was able to study at both Harvard University and Boston College, building a respected background in the anthropology of religion, specializing in South Asian traditions and languages.
After finishing his doctorate, he accepted an assistant professor position at Valpo. One aspect that drew him to Valpo was its rich Christian heritage, which connects to his own Christian faith. “What brought me to Valpo was the Christian tradition of the University, as a person who practices Christianity,” Professor Pati reflects. He and his family are members of one of the oldest Christian communities in India and the world, the Saint Thomas Christians. “I also studied under professors who taught me the value of comparative religion, which I had the opportunity to incorporate into my teaching at Valpo, and I saw the exceptional quality of Valparaiso University students.”
At Valpo, Professor Pati has built a career defined by excellence in teaching and a passion for lifelong learning. His courses span subjects from Hinduism to Disability, Society, and Cultures to the student-favorite Bollywood Movies: Religion, Popular Culture, and Society. This fall, he’s launching Sacred Geographies, a new interdisciplinary course with the Department of Geography, Meteorology, and Environmental Science that explores how spaces and human rituals shape one another. His commitment to cross-disciplinary work also led him to co-pioneer a religious studies seminar for nursing students with Professor Amanda Brobst-Renaud, M.Div., Ph.D., focused on supporting patients and families through death and dying.
One of Professor Pati’s favorite parts of his work is giving students opportunities for experiential learning. In his courses, he takes students on immersive field trips to local places of worship, including Hindu temples and a Sikh gurdwara. On these trips, students observe religious rituals, learn about other cultures first-hand, and get to experience traditional meals.
Overall, he sees the study of religion as an essential foundation that grows students’ understanding of different cultures and prepares them to do good in the world — something all students benefit from, whether they’re majoring in religious studies or taking courses for general education. “Religious studies is a very broad discipline,” Professor Pati says. “As a student studying in today’s world, you get a globalized education, equipping you to engage, serve, and lead in our society. Students in religious studies explore major world religions and cultures — they will discover themselves, they’ll know their neighbors better, and they will become good neighbors and good citizens.”
To discover more about Valpo’s Department of Religious Studies, which offers more than 40 religious studies courses that span Christianity and other world religions, visit valpo.edu/religious-studies.
