Dr Arkotong Longkumer

Edinburgh University, U.K


Arkotong Longkumer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Highland Institute and Lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Edinburgh. He obtained his doctoral degree from the University of Edinburgh, and prior to his appointment at Edinburgh was Departmental Lecturer in the Study of Religions at Oxford University. His research and teaching interests lie in the intersection between indigenous religions, Hinduism, and local Christianities in South and Southeast Asia. Longkumer is also interested in theory and method in the study of religions, and its interface between the different disciplines of religious studies, anthropology, and history. Current research activities include an interdisciplinary project that investigates the relationship between religion, territory, and transnationalism in South Asia and beyond, focused on three specific themes: (i) the idea of ‘moral geographies’ as a model of sovereignty; (ii) the proliferation of religious networks that challenge the territorial limitations of the nation-state; and (iii) the current global concerns with religion and indigenous peoples, particularly centered on notions of indigenous peoples’ rights, self-determination, and human rights. He is an Advisory Board member for both Himalaya and South Asianist journals.