“I’m one of those people that believes in learning for the sake of learning,” Assistant Professor of Religious Studies Eric Mortensen said.

This philosophy of “learning for the sake of learning” has led Mortensen to a life full of unique and tremendous experiences. Very few people can say that they have visited 47 countries, lived with nomads in Asia, met the 14th Dalai Lama, and had a life-long love for Dungeons and Dragons. Mortensen is one of those people.

Mortensen grew up in the quiet town of Winchester, Mass. From a young age traveling was a major part of his life. By the time Mortensen was 16, he was farming coffee in the fields of Malaysia. During his undergraduate career at Carlton College, he studied abroad in Beijing, Nepal, India, and Bhutan.

“That kind of changed my world,” Mortensen said. “I started studying things like Tibetan Buddhism academically. When I got out of college I was either going to go into theater or go into Tibetan studies, so I flipped a coin and it came up tails. So, I went to grad school.”

Mortensen attended Harvard for his graduate education and spent 10 years studying languages, anthropology, religion, folklore, and history. During this time he found his love of teaching, and his love of Asia.

“Asia has always been a major part of my academic life, probably the most defining part of my life besides now being married and having a kid,” Mortensen said. “I spent months on Buddhist pilgrimages, camping, walking out and living with nomads, and being outside. I guess I didn’t realize how beautiful Tibet would be as a place. I think I’ve gone on academically to be a Tibetologist because of the friendships I’ve gained there and just how much I care about that area of the world.”

During one trip to Asia, Mortensen wandered out and lived with the nomadic people. He quietly described their lives as hard, beautiful, and somewhat lonely. His experience with the nomads in Tibet has stuck with him since.

“The hospitality of Tibetan nomadic culture is something I have never experienced as deeply elsewhere,” Mortensen said.

His love of Tibetology brought Mortensen to Guilford to teach religious studies. Mortensen does not have a degree in religious studies, but his intensive research into Buddhist culture has made religion his specialty.

“I was methodologically trained in multiple disciplines,” Mortensen said. “A liberal arts college is sort of the dream place for me to be.”

Mortensen’s days used to be filled with excursions through places like Burma, France, and Kyrgystan; now he spends his time with his wife Dasa and his son Søren, two people that he considers his best friends.

“Life trumps school,” Mortensen said. “My job is my love, it’s a passion, it has to be a labor of love to be an academic, but family is worth more than anything else.”