Dr. Julia Berger is an Affiliate Faculty member in the Department of Religion at Montclair State University. She served as Senior Fellow with the Baha’i International Community’s United Nations Office in New York from 2015 to 2022. Prior to this, she served as Principal Researcher for the same office, focusing on human rights, gender equality, and social development from 2004 to 2015. Her 2021 publication, Rethinking Religion and Politics in a Plural World (Bloomsbury Academic), examines the evolving role of religion in the global arena. Between 2002 and 2004, Julia worked as a Research Associate at Harvard University’s Program on Religion and Public Life.

Julia has served as Director of the Association for Baha’i Studies – North America from 2020 to 2022, Co-Chair of the American Academy of Religion Baha’i Studies Unit, and member of the Leadership Team of the American Academy of Religion Women’s Caucus.

Julia holds a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from the University of Kent, UK, a Master of Education degree in International Development and Education from the University of Toronto, and an Associate Diploma in Piano Pedagogy from the Toronto Royal Conservatory of Music.

In her community of Montclair NJ, Julia is a member of the Montclair Interfaith Clergy Association, the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Montclair, and is a Co-Founder of the Montclair Race Amity Initiative, and serves on the Board of The Mark Montclair, Inc., the non-profit social justice arm of St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Montclair, NJ.

Julia is a citizen of Poland, Canada, and the United States. She has twin daughters in college and resides in Montclair, NJ with her husband. She speaks English, Polish, and is proficient in French and Japanese.