Cynthia Hoehler-Fatton is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. She is the author of Women of Fire and Spirit: History, Faith and Gender in Roho Religion in Western Kenya and is currently completing a manuscript on Islam in western Kenya during the colonial period. Cindy’s scholarship concentrates on the interaction between indigenous religions and the two major missionary traditions embraced by Africans: Christianity and Islam. Her course offerings reflect this tripartite focus, as they seek to do justice to the indigenous traditions of Africa as vital systems of thought and praxis that have been challenged and transformed within Christian and Muslim contexts, but continue to find ways to persist.
A onetime doctoral fellow at the Carter G. Woodson Institute for African American and African Studies, Cindy later served the Institute in various capacities, including as an adjunct instructor, faculty affiliate, and interim director. From 2007-2011, during Professor Deborah McDowell’s term as Director, Cindy served as Associate Director and Director of Undergraduate Programs.