Devin Zuckerman is a 4th year PhD candidate in the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia’s Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. Her dissertation project looks at the development of pre-scientific theories of matter in 12th through 14th century Tibetan Buddhism. In particular, she studies the ways that the theory of the “primary elements” of earth, water, fire, wind and space functions within forms of discourse on the body, the natural environment, and as a theme within meditation practice.