Elizabeth Ursic grew up in Connecticut where she learned to play piano, cello and compose. Her first college degrees (BA, BS, MA, and MBA) were in communications and economics from the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton School of Business. After working as a management consultant, she moved to Sedona, to reinvigorate her musical and spiritual roots. Elizabeth composed and recorded her first music album there, which helped her earn a fellowship at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She also became certified in spiritual direction to help people explore and develop their own spirituality.

 

Upon graduation from Yale with an MDiv, Elizbeth became a professor of world religions at Mesa Community College, the largest religious studies program at a two-year college in the nation. While teaching, she continued her studies and completed a PhD in Religious Studies at Arizona State University. She finished a book manuscript while on sabbatical as a Visiting Scholar at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Elizabeth feels fortunate to have her first book published with an academic university press. She has traveled extensively, and has been fortunate to lecture and perform music in China, Mexico, England, Scotland, and Ireland.  

 

Elizabeth continues to teach at Mesa Community College as well as the California Institute of Integral Studies. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Women's Caucus at the American Academy of Religion and Society of Biblical Literature Annual Conference. She is on the Board of Directors for the Arizona Interfaith Movement. She also lectures, leads retreats, and performs music locally. She serves as a spiritual director at the Franciscan Renewal Center, a retreat center in Scottsdale.