Amy Allocco will hold an NEH professorship in Colgate University’s Department of Religion for Fall 2026.
Amy Allocco, professor of religious studies and the founding director of the Multifaith Scholars Program, has been invited to serve as the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Distinguished Visiting Professor of Religion at Colgate University for one semester. Allocco is an alumna of Colgate, where she took courses in South Asian religions and studied abroad in India and Sri Lanka.
During the Fall 2026 semester, Allocco will be teaching an introductory Hindu Traditions course and Death and the Afterlife: Ghosts, Demons and Ancestors in Asian Religions at Colgate University. In addition to teaching courses, she will present one public lecture as the NEH Chair and share her scholarship at a colloquium hosted by Colgate’s Division of Arts and Humanities.
“I loved my time at Colgate; it was obviously very formative for me,” Allocco said. “And it’s lovely to be thought of as someone who can contribute to an institution that I admire. I majored in religion, Asian studies and philosophy there, and I am doing work now that directly connects to what I studied. The first time I went to India was as a junior at Colgate and now I co-lead my own study abroad courses there. In many ways, this is a full circle moment.”
She plans to use this experience as a professional development opportunity and to bring back what she learned during her time at Colgate University to Elon.
“I’m excited to join a talented department and be on a campus where there is a lot of sharing of scholarship and I can learn how I can adjust my pedagogy and teaching,” Allocco said. “I am looking forward tolearning from new mentorship models and gaining fresh insights that I can bring back and infuse into my own work and classroom at Elon. I am most invigorated in the classroom when my students are shifting my thinking, so I anticipate teaching in this context will offer me new perspectives to bring back.”
Personally, Allocco is looking forward to visiting with Wanda Warren Berry, professor emeritus of philosophy and religion and her mentor during her time at Colgate University, who is now 94. She is also looking forward to bringing engaged and experiential learning into the classroom and teaching in diverse contexts where students can contribute their own experiences.
“At Colgate there are many students from South Asia who grew up with Hindu culture and practices, so I’m looking forward to diverse learning environments where students can contribute their own lived experiences.” Allocco said. “I am also planning to embed some of the signature elements from my Elon courses into my classes at Colgate, such as site visits to Hindu temples.”
What Allocco is looking forward to the most is sharing her Fulbright sabbatical research on soundscapes and ritual art forms in India in Colgate’s classrooms and colloquiums.
“I have new scholarship from my sabbatical in India that I am excited to test drive, present and continue to develop,” Allocco said. “I’m excited for this growth opportunity and I am especially grateful to dean Kelly for his enthusiasm and support.”
Allocco’s professorship is both an opportunity to contribute to another institution and to bring new ideas and experiences back to Elon.
“I am incredibly proud of Professor Allocco and her well-earned distinguished professorship at Colgate,” said Hilton Kelly, dean of Elon College, the College of Arts and Sciences. “Opportunities like this allow our faculty to share their expertise nationally while returning to Elon with new perspectives and experiences that enrich our classrooms and ultimately benefit our students.”
The seeds that were planted during Allocco’s time at Colgate helped to define her career at Elon.
“I feel certain that this experience will enrich my teaching,” Allocco said. “The humanities push us inquire, to ask important questions and develop our own positions. I think that happens best in conversation, so I am sure that joining a different set of conversations temporarily will enrich me as a teacher, scholar and mentor.”
Colgate University, established in 1819, is a liberal arts college located in New York with an enrollment of over 3,000 students. Their Department of Religion has nine faculty members.