David Need
David Need is Lecturing Fellow of Religion at Duke University. He has taught at Duke since 1999, primarily in Religious Studies. He developed the ICS gateway class and taught it from 2005–2012. His academic expertise is in Asian Religions and in Literature and Religion, with a focus on poetics, ritual, and meditation systems.
In addition to scholarly articles, he has published three books — two are translations and essays on Rainer Maria Rilke, the third is a selection of his own poetry, including a long poem set alongside the Gospel of Mark.
Current Research Interests
- Poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke
- Non-dual awareness and poetics
- Influence of Buddhism on 20th Century American Poetry
- Women's Religious Experience & Poetics
