Lauren Coyle Rosen’s research and teaching interests lie at the intersections of legal and political anthropology, comparative religion and spirituality, aesthetics and consciousness, subjectivity and epistemology, and critical theory.

Since joining the faculty in 2016, she has engaged students in the classroom in a way that that they find challenging and rewarding. “Professor Coyle has a magical way of extracting the impact of every text we read,” said one student. She pushed the class “to read deeply into the ethnographers’ intentions and mindset” and to explore whether the “paths and methods and ethical stances they took would be the same as our own.”

“In addition to being an exceptional listener, Lauren is adept at offering practical and constructive advice that allows students to push the boundaries of their established thought processes and grow as scholars, community members and human beings,” said an alumna who earned a Ph.D.

“So much of what I love about anthropology came from my classes with Professor Coyle,” an alumnus said. “I attribute much of my success as a student in the anthropology department to Professor Coyle’s wisdom and guidance, and I cannot think more highly of her as an educator, a voice of inspiration and an intellectual powerhouse.”

Colleagues and students noted that the combination of her legal degree and  Ph.D. provided valuable expertise. One colleague remarked that she helped students “cultivate an ethic of curiosity and craft critical tools to engage our worlds on edge — always with an eye toward the plight of vulnerable communities and just horizons.”