Allison Frey

Departmental Affiliations

Asian Studies
Religious Studies
French and Italian
Spanish and Portuguese

Education

M.A., South Asian Religious Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia, 2012
B.A., International Studies and Religion, Wright State University, 2010

Profile

Allison has been exposed to all things Asia since her childhood in Ohio. Her parents started an exchange program with their hometown’s sister city in Japan, which Allison visited in 8th grade. Her family also hosted exchange students and teachers nearly every summer. In college, Allison’s interests turned to South Asia, and one of her proudest accomplishments as an undergraduate was that she studied abroad three times (India, Costa Rica, and Spain)!  Allison received her MA in South Asian Religious Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where she was an award-winning teaching assistant.  Her graduate thesis focused on her personal and academic studies of Odissi, an Indian classical dance form. She was specifically interested in the secularization of Odissi and other temple dances, largely caused by British colonial influence and the introduction of the idea of ‘classical’ dance, art, literature, etc. Her work also examined the creation of sacred space by Western dancers/devotees ‘creating temples out of stages’ by reintroducing religious devotion into a now secular art form. Her experiences working with students as a teaching assistant, study abroad advisor, tour guide, and first-year seminar instructor fed her interest in academic advising, and she enjoys advising students in four departments that she connects with through her interests and previous education. Allison lives in Boulder with her rescue dog, Una. 

To declare an Asian Studies major or minor, please make an appointment online with Allison through mycuhub.colorado.edu.