Renée Ford completed her PhD at Rice University with a specialization in Tibetan Buddhism emphasizing sūtric and tantric meditation practices of the rNying ma tradition. Her other research interests include performative and ritual theory, embodiment, cognitive sciences of religion, and Tibetan Buddhist epistemology. Renée also holds a M.A. in Buddhist studies with Sanskrit and Tibetan Language from Nāropa University. Prior to her graduate studies at Rice University, Renée worked as an intern for Tsadra Foundation and studied Tibetan language with Dr. Jules Levinson. Her doctoral dissertation focuses on how particular rNying ma tantric mediation practices engage embodied epistemology. She currently teaches Asian religions at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and also works as a Catalogue Researcher and Translation Coordinator for the Khyentse Vision Project.