Susan J. Palmer is a researcher and writer in the field of new religious studies. She has written or co-edited eleven books, notably The New Heretics of France (Oxford University Press, 2011); The Nuwaubian Nation: Black Spirituality and State Control (Ashgate, 2010); Aliens Adored: Rael’s UFO Religion (Rutgers University Press, 2004) and Moon Sisters, Krishna Mothers, Rajneesh Lovers: Women’s Roles in New Religions (Syracuse University Press, 1994). She received her Ph. D. in History and Philosophy of Religion from Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. She teaches in Religious Studies at Dawson College and at Concordia University.