Ann Horak
Associate Professor of Practice, UTEP, PhD Rutgers, abhorak@utep.edu
Dr. Ann Branan Horak received her BA in English Literature from the University of Texas at Austin and her MA and PhD in English Literature from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Dr. Horak has presented papers on Marian studies, gender and religion, and the role of religion in America in a variety of academic and community settings. Her recent article publications include an investigation of female agency in Sita Sings the Blues, an animated retelling of the Ramayana, and an analysis of the figure of Hanuman in epic Hindu literature. Dr. Horak has served on a number of committees at UTEP and currently serves as a Liberal Arts Honors Program Liaison, a member of the CETaL task force, and a member of UTEP’s Conflict Resolution Initiative Committee. She is also a member of the Board of Directors for the YWCA of El Paso. In September 2010 Dr. Horak became Director of the Religious Studies program at UTEP. She teaches classes on Major World Religions, Gender and Religion, Religion and Sacred Space, and Religion and Contemporary Issues. She also lectures for English and for Women’s Studies. Dr. Horak’s areas of expertise are sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature, Marian studies, and the intersections between gender and religion.