An Encounter in Three Phases with an Intellectual Giant

In this essay, I reflect on my encounter with Daniel Philpott (Dan) across three distinct phases of my academic journey so far. First was my encounter with “Dan the scholar.” When I was a PhD student, Dan’s work introduced me to the field and profoundly shaped my thinking about religion and global politics. My second encounter was with “Dan the mentor,” a generous scholar who supports early career researchers. The third encounter was with “Dan the intellectual giant.” The unparalleled breadth and depth of Dan’s thinking became fully apparent once I began to lecture on religion and global politics myself.