- e3chi@ucsd.edu
-
9500 Gilman Dr.
Mail Code: 0522
La Jolla , California 92093
Elisha Chi
Assistant Professor
- Profile
Profile
Dr. Elisha Chi is an Inupiaq registered descendent of the Bering Straits Native Corporation, as well as traditionalist Irish/British Catholics. The recipient of multiple grants and fellowships, Elisha’s transdisciplinary work centers on Indigenous Landback, the history of boarding schools in Alaska, Inupiaq storytelling and ethics, and retelling Catholic histories from an Indigenous perspective. She has published multiple solo projects, and has gratefully also done collaborative work with amazing scholars. Elisha’s work has also featured in multiple public-facing scholarship venues such as Religion Dispatches, Contending Modernities, The National Catholic Reporter, and the Political Theology Network.
Education
Ph.D. Religious Studies and Catholic Theology, Villanova University, 2024
B.A. Liberal Studies, Seattle University 2010
A.A. North Seattle Community College, 2008
Selected Publications
Book Chapters
Elisha Chi, “(Re)Storying Land: Indigenous Religious Traditions, Landback, and the Village of Tazlina.” In Native American Religions: Teaching and Learning on Stolen Land, edited by Dana Lloyd. Routledge, 2026.
Articles
Elisha Chi, “Catholicism as Berry People: An Inupiaq (Re)story,” Political Theology, Online (July 4, 2025): 1-21, https://doi.org/10.1080/
Elisha Chi, “Ethno-Apophasis: An Ethnographic Theology of Thinness and Refusal,” Ecclesial Practices 10, no. 2 (December 28, 2023): 202–27, https://doi.org/10.1163/
Tamara Ho, Himanee Gupta, Eleanor Craig, SueJeanne Koh, Dana Lloyd, Elisha Chi, “Mycorrhizal Networks: Meditations on Land, Spirituality, and Food,” Amerasia Journal (December 10, 2025): 103-123, https://doi.org/10.1080/
Elisha Chi and Dana Lloyd, “Kinship: A Review Essay” Indigenous Religious Traditions, 3, no. 1 (October 14, 2025): 49-61, https://doi.org/10.1558/irt.
