Berkley Center

Patrick Beldio is a scholar and teacher of comparative theology with a focus on Hinduism, Sufism, and Christian spirituality. He is currently a visiting assistant professor in the Theology/Religious Studies Department at the University of Scranton and a research fellow at the Georgetown University Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs. His recent book The Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram: Co-Creator of the Integral Yoga (2025) explores the transformative contributions of Mirra Alfassa (1878-1973), a French, Jewish woman who became an Indian guru known as “The Mother” with a global following. Beldio is also a professional sacred sculptor with a studio at the Franciscan Monastery in Washington, DC. His artwork is in private and public collections in the United States, Europe, and India. Beldio holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from George Washington University and a Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America.

Peter Heehs is a historian based in Pondicherry, India, whose historical work falls into four main categories: the life and thought of Sri Aurobindo, the history of modern India, the history of Indian philosophy and religion, and general historiography and the history of ideas. He heads the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Archives.

Alex Wolfers works on the intersection between theology and global intellectual history in modern South Asia with particular emphasis on politics, poetry, and mysticism. His publications include "Born like Krishna in the Prison-House: Revolutionary Asceticism in the Political Ashram of Aurobindo Ghose," South Asia (2016), and "The Making of an Avatar: Reading Sri Aurobindo Ghose," Religions of South Asia (2018).