Karen Muldoon-Hules is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at UCLA in Asian Languages and Cultures and the Study of Religion Program.  Her work focuses on issues of gender and religion in South Asia during the “middle” period of Indian Buddhism (the “classical” period for Hinduism and Indian literature).  Her work compares often undervalued north Indian narrative literature related to the Mūlasarvāstivāda-vinaya to Pāli and other Buddhist sources, as well as Hindu law codes and texts, to tease out possible regional differences in nun hagiographies.  Her first book, Brides of the Buddha: Nun stories from the Avadānaśataka, was published by Lexington Books in June 2017.