Kirk Sandvig is a Lecturer in the Study of Religion Department at San Diego State University, where he currently teaches Buddhism.  He also teaches courses on World Religions and the Philosophy of Religion at Palomar College and Saddleback College.  After receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Asian Studies from St. Olaf College (2005), concentrating on Japanese and Media Studies, he went on to receive a Master’s degree in Mission and World Christianity at Luther Theological Seminary (2007), and earned at Ph.D. from the Department of Study of Religion at the University of Edinburgh (2014). In his Ph.D. dissertation, he investigated the communal identity of Hidden Christians in Japan, looking primarily at how current Hidden Christian communities are adjusting to the increased impact of modernity and globalization.  His areas of interest focus on the impact of modernity and movement within religious communities around the world, as well as the core issues surrounding the understanding of identity, community, and religion.