WIlliam E. Deal obtained a Ph.D. in religious studies from Harvard. He is currently Severance Professor of the History of Religion at case Western Reserve University. Dr. Deal's current research focuses on the relationship between religion and state in Japanese history. He has numerous articles to his credit and has translated part of the Nihon shoki and other early Japanese texts. He is the co-author of Theory for Religious Studies (with Timothy Beal) (Routledge).