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Constance A. Jones, PhD (Sociology, Emory University) is a sociologist of religion who researches new religious movements, Western Esotericism, Hinduism and Buddhism in the West, J. Krishnamurti, the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff, and the meeting of East and West in intellectual history.

After receiving a doctorate with honors, she was awarded a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center for the Study of New Religious Movements of the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California. Beginning with her doctoral dissertation on the caste system in India, she has pursued a life-long interest in the cultures and religions of India, including the adoption of Eastern beliefs and practices into Western systems of thought.

She has served on faculties of a number of graduate programs of religion, including the Graduate Theological Union; University of California, Santa Barbara; and Columbia Theological Seminary. As a Fulbright scholar in India, she taught at Banaras Hindu University and Vasanta College and conducted research at the Krishnamurti Study Center, Varanasi.

She has published books and articles on new religious movements, Hinduism, J. Krishnamurti, and the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff.

Currently, she is an active member of CESNUR, Association for the Study of New Religions, Torino, Italy; the International Advisory Board for the Revival of Gurdjieff’s Institute for the Harmonious Development of Man in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the American Academy of Religion.

Jones, Constance A. (In press). "Feminist Methodologies" SAGE Encyclopedia of Sociology of Religion. SAGE, Thousand Oaks, California.

Jones, Constance A. (2018). Gnostic Sensibilities in Gurdjieff's "Work" in Garry Trompf, Jay Johnston and Gunner Mikkelsen (eds.) The Gnostic World. Abingdon, U.K.: Routledge.

Jones, Constance A. (2017) Assistant Editor of J. G. Melton, J. Beverley, C. A. Jones, and P.S. Nadell. Melton's Encyclopedia of American Religions. Ninth Edition. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Publishing.

Encyclopedia of Hinduism. Senior Author with James D. Ryan. Facts-on-File Press, New York. In Press. Publication date- February, 2007.

The Legacy of G.I. Gurdjieff. Torino, Italy: Elli-Di-Ci Press, February, 2005.

“Students in Ramtha’s School of Enlightenment: A Profile from Demographic Survey, Narrative and Interview.” in Mikael Rothstein and Reender Kranenborg (editors) New Religions in a Postmodern World. Renner Series, Volume 6. Copenhagen: Aarhus University Press, 2003.

“The Gurdjieff Foundations” in Gordon Melton (editor) Encyclopedia of Religions of the World. 4 Volumes. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2002.

“J. Krishnamurti” in Gordon Melton (editor) Encyclopedia of Religions of the World. 4 Volumes. Santa Barbara: ABC-Clio, 2002.

“Feminist Research in the Sociology of Religion” in Arvind Sharma (editor) Methodology in Religious Studies: The Interface with Women’s Studies. Albany: State University of New York Press, 2002.

Review

Gurdjieff and Music: The Gurdjieff/de Hartmann Piano Music and its Esoteric Significance. In queue to be published in Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.