My name is Natasha Mikles. I’m a scholar of stories about death and what happens next.
I’m currently available for speaking engagements and interviews.
I’m currently an assistant professor at Texas State University
I teach classes on Buddhism, Death and Dying, and Chinese Religions.
I talk to people about hell.
With graduate degrees from the University of Chicago and University of Virginia, I am a specialist in popular narratives and rituals surrounding death. My research looks at how such diverse tools meet cultural needs in the moments of crisis surrounding a traumatic death. I have lived in Tibet and China and my studies started there, but now my research looks more broadly.
Shattered Grief:
How the Pandemic Transformed the Spirituality of Death in America
My most recent book, forthcoming with Columbia University Press, explains how the national crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic inspired cultural and spiritual innovation among those who faced death head-on.
The Gesar epic and Buddhist hell
My first academic love, I am a translator of the Gesar epic. I am especially interested in its final chapter, where King Gesar descends to hell to save his mother. My next book will use this episode to illuminate popular narratives as overlooked sites of religious discourse.
Religious Studies Pedagogy
I’ve published pedagogical guides for Religion Matters and a World Religions reader with W.W. Norton & Company. I have published several articles in Teaching Theology & Religion.
Today, I teach at Texas State University and am a frequent speaker at conferences, on podcasts, and local events. I’m also working on my next book looking at the Gesar epic and poplar stories about Buddhist hell.
Tell me your story about death.