BELIEFS AND PRACTICE
Popularity of paranormal soars

STATE BY STATE
• For experts on mysticism and Christianity, Judaism and Islam, see the regional sources for a 2003 ReligionLink issue on "Mysticism Molds the Mainstream."
• For experts on miracles in different religions, see a 2003 ReligionLink issue on miracles portrayed on television.
• The National Spiritualist Association of Churches maintains a state-by-state list of Spiritualist churches across the United States.
• The Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal maintains a listing of local skeptic organizations by state.
• MAJDA Paranormal Research Society maintains a listing of members by state.
• The American Ghost Society maintains a listing of members by state.

IN THE NORTHEAST
• Paul Eno is an author and speaker on the subject of the supernatural and paranormal. He says belief in the supernatural and paranormal rises when the economy is struggling, and Hollywood is quick to pick up on the trend. Additionally, he believes human beings are wired to believe in the unexplainable. He is based in Woonsocket, R.I. Contact 401-356-1109, pauleno@cox.net.
• Eugene Gallagher is a professor of religious studies at Connecticut College in New London. He has written about belief in sorcery and new religious movements. Contact 860-439-2169, evgal@conncoll.edu.
• Michael Brown is a professor of anthropology and Latin American studies at Williams College in Williamstown, Mass. He has written about belief in magic and in channeling. Contact 413-597-2256, Michael.f.brown@williams.edu.
• Members of the Atlantic Paranormal Society investigate paranormal phenomena, including ghosts, in the north Atlantic states. Contact media@the-atlantic-paranorla-society.com.
• David Roozen, professor of religion and society and director of the Hartford Seminary Institute For Religion Research, has written about religious television. Contact 860-509-9546, roozen@hartsem.edu.

IN THE EAST
• Laura Donaldson is an associate professor of English at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. She has written about women's beliefs in the New Age movement, which includes belief in many supernatural and paranormal phenomena. Contact 607-255-9312, ld49@cornell.edu.
• Terrence Hines is a professor of psychology at Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y., and the author of Pseudoscience and the Paranormal (Prometheus Books, 2003). He says the uncritical presentation of the supernatural and paranormal in the media leads to Gallup's high belief ratings. But he also thinks the human brain may be constructed to believe in "cognitive illusions," such as the belief that prayer brought on a cure as opposed to chance. Contact 914-773-3659, THines@pace.edu.
• William Ellis is an associate professor of English and American studies at Pennsylvania State University, Hazleton. He is the author of Aliens, Ghosts and Cults: Legends We Live (University Press of Mississippi, 2001). Contact 570-450-3026, wce2@psu.edu.
• Yvonne Chireau is an associate professor of religion at Swarthmore College in Pennsylvania and the author of numerous books and articles on the supernatural and African-American religion, including Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition (University of California Press, 2003). Contact 610-543-8041, ychirea1@swarthmore.edu.
• Jose C. Nieto is a professor of religion and history at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa. He is an expert on mysticism and wrote the book Religious Experience and Mysticism: Otherness as Experience of Transcendence (University Press of America, 1997). Contact 814-641-3000, nieto@juniata.edu.
• John B. Buescher is chief of the Tibetan Broadcast Service of the Voice of America in Washington, D.C., and author of The Other Side of Salvation: Spiritualism and the Nineteenth Century Religious Experience (Skinner House Books, 2004). He also runs spirithistory, a web site about Spiritualism. Contact jbb@spirithistory.com.
• Laurel Kearns is an associate professor of the sociology of religion and environmental studies at Drew University in Madison, N.J. She has written about Spiritualism and women. Contact 973-408-3009, lkearns@drew.edu.
• Leonard Norman Primiano, associate professor of religious studies at Cabrini College in Radnor, Pa., has written about negotiating the supernatural on American television. He thinks Americans right now cannot get enough answers to popularly generated religious questions and mysteries concerning the Bible and the life of Jesus, for example. Commercial television, he believes, rarely offers nuanced discussion of belief and practice. Contact 610-902-8330, Leonard.Primiano@Cabrini.edu.
• Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University, has written about the depiction of religion in television. Contact 315-443-4077, rthompso@syr.edu.
• James. W. Carey, CBS professor of international journalism at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City, has written about the history of mass media and popular culture and on television and the press. He has taught courses on religion and the media at Union Theological Seminary, where he holds a courtesy appointment. Contact 212-854-3852, jwc11@columbia.edu.

IN THE SOUTHEAST
• Christine Rodriguez is the founder of East Coast Hauntings Organization, a nonprofit paranormal scientific investigation group in Washington, N.C. She is in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Contact 252-948-0006, investigations@ghostecho.com.
• Phillip Charles Lucas is an associate professor of religious studies at Stetson University in DeLand, Fla. He is the co-editor of Cassadaga: The South's Oldest Spiritualist Community (University Press of Florida, 2000) and general editor of Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions. Contact 386-822-8894, plucas@stetson.edu.
• Spirit Investigations is an organization of investigators into the paranormal based in Jacksonville, Fla. Contact spirit@spiritinvestigations.net.
• Julie Ingersoll is an assistant professor of religious studies at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville and can discuss religion and popular culture. Contact 904-620-1330, jingerso@unf.edu.
• Vinson Synan is dean of the School of Divinity Regent University in Virginia Beach, Va., and an expert on the Pentecostal movement and its history. Contact 757-226-4414, vinssyn@regent.edu.
• Marshall W. Fishwick is professor emeritus of interdisciplinary studies at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg. He has written on popular culture and religion, including the book Great Awakenings: Popular Religion and Popular Culture (Haworth Press, 1995). Contact 540-231-5033, mfishwic@vt.edu.
• Gary Laderman, an associate professor of American religious history and culture at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., and director of the university's graduate division of religion, often comments on religion and popular culture. He is co-editor of Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity and Popular Expressions (ABC-Clio, 2003), which explores the interactions between religion, ethnicity, gender, regionalism and popular culture, including TV. Contact 404-727-4641, gladerm@emory.edu.

IN THE SOUTH
• Alan Brown is a professor of English at the University of West Alabama and author of Haunted Places in the American South (University Press of Mississippi, 2002) He specializes in oral Southern ghost stories. Contact 205-652-3521, ab@uwa.edu.
• John Ferre, the Leroy A. Martin Distinguished Professor of communication at the University of Louisville, is the editor of Channels of Belief: Religion and American Commercial Television (Iowa State University Press, 1990). He says "Joan of Arcadia" was cancelled because it attracted an audience with a large percentage of older woman, a demographic that didn't excite programmers at CBS. Contact 502-852-6976, jpferr01@gwise.louisville.edu.
• Charles Lippy, professor of religious studies at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is the author of Pluralism Comes of Age: American Religious Culture in the Twentieth Century (M.E. Sharpe, 2000). Contact 423-425-4340, charles-lippy@utc.edu.
• Mark Hulsether, associate professor of religious studies at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, has written extensively on religion and popular culture, including an article on religion in Madonna videos. Contact 865-974-2128, mhulseth@utk.edu.

IN THE MIDWEST
• Paul Allen Williams is an assistant professor in the department of philosophy and religion at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, and editor of the Journal of Religion and Film. Contact 402-554-6016, pwilliams@mail.unomaha.edu.
• Troy Taylor specializes in Midwestern ghosts and paranormal phenomena. He is also the founder and president of the American Ghost Society. He is based in the Chicago area. Contact ttaylor@prairieghosts.com.
• Echo Bodine is a Minnesota-based psychic who serves as a consultant on numerous television shows about the supernatural. In January, she will appear in the Sci-Fi channel's show The Gift. Contact 612-827-7277, jill@echobodine.com.
• James Lewis is a lecturer in religious studies at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He has written extensively on new religious movements and their adherents' beliefs in the supernatural and paranormal. Contact 715-346-3803, jlewis@uwsp.edu.
• Selena Fox is a high priestess and senior minister of Circle Sanctuary, a Wiccan church and pagan resource center near Mount Horeb, Wis. Wicca is a neo-pagan faith that relies heavily on nature and a belief in some forms of magic and the supernatural. Contact 608-924-2216, selena@circlesanctuary.org.
• William Romanowski, professor of communication arts and sciences at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Mich., is the author of Eyes Wide Open: Looking for God in Popular Culture (Brazos Press, 2001). Contact 616-526-8527, romw@calvin.edu.

IN THE SOUTHWEST
• John Hannah is a professor of historical theology at Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas. He has written about the Toronto Blessing and other mystical phenomena in the Pentecostal tradition. Contact 800-992-0998, john_hannah@dts.edu.
• Steven Wolff directs The South Texas Ghost Hunters Alliance, a nonprofit group of paranormal investigators who hunt ghosts in the San Antonio area. Contact mail@gersca.com.
• Reg Grant is a professor of pastoral ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary in Texas. He serves on the advisory boards of NestFamily Entertainment and Visual Entertainment Incorporated. An actor with TV and film credits, Grant frequently comments on film, TV and spirituality. Contact reggrant@comcast.net or through Giles Hudson at A. Larry Ross Communications, 972-267-1111 ext. 223.

IN THE WEST/NORTHWEST
• Bret Carroll is an assistant professor of history at California State University, Stanislaus, and author of Spiritualism in Antebellum America (Indiana University Press, 1997). Contact 209-667-3564, bcarroll@athena.csustan.edu.
• Catherine Albanese is a professor of religious studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara and author of Nature Religion in America: From the Algonkian Indians to New Age (University of Chicago Press, 1991). Contact 805-893-3564, Albanese@religion.ucsb.edu.
• Charles Tart is a professor at The Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, Calif., and the author of numerous articles and books on psychology and parapsychology. He edited Body Mind Spirit: Exploring the Parapsychology of Spirituality (Hampton Roads, 1997). He says one reason belief in the supernatural and paranormal runs so high is because many people feel they have experienced such phenomena personally. The media interest, he says, is secondary and is driven by the public's interest. Contact 510-526-2591, cttart@ucdavis.edu.
• Craig Detweiler, professor of mass communication at Biola University in Los Angeles, is co-author of A Matrix of Meanings: Finding God in Pop Culture (Baker Academic, 2003). Contact 310-497-7204 (cell), craig.detweiler@biola.edu.
• Jonathan Bok, is president of Grace Hill Media in Studio City, Calif., a public relations firm that markets films to religious audiences on behalf of major movie studios. Contact 818-762-0000, or e-mail his assistant at mkazarian@gracehillmedia.com.