ASHCRAFT, W. Michael 1955–

PERSONAL: Born December 2, 1955, in Bossier City, LA; son of James (in business) and Lee (a seller of encyclopedias; maiden name, Wood) Ashcraft; married Carrol K. Davenport (a pastor), January 7, 1984; children: Brittany D., Kathleen L. Ethnicity: "White." Education: University of Tennessee, B.A., 1978; Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, M.Div., 1983; University of Virginia, Ph.D., 1995.

ADDRESSES: Office—Social Science Division, Truman State University, 100 East Normal, Kirksville, MO 63501-4221. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Pastor of Baptist church in Madison, IN, 1984–87; James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, member of adjunct faculty, 1990–94; Carleton College, Northfield, MN, assistant professor, 1994–96; Truman State University, Kirksville, MO, associate professor, 1996–.

MEMBER: American Academy of Religion, Phi Kappa Phi (chapter president, 2002–03).

WRITINGS:

The Dawn of the New Cycle: Point Loma Theosophists and American Culture, University of Tennessee Press (Knoxville, TN), 2002.

Member of board of editorial consultants, Nova Religio: Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Editing New Religious Movements: A Documentary Reader, with Darack Daschke, for New York University Press (New York, NY); a history of the study of new religious movements; a biography of Judith Tyberg, American teacher of Aurobindo.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Church History, December, 2003, Albert R. Beck, review of The Dawn of the New Cycle: Point Loma Theosophists and American Culture, p. 897.