Embedded Files
Expound the inconceivable--endless.
Dogen quoting Rujing in "Everyday Activity," trans. Arnold Kotler and Kazuaki Tanahashi, in Tanahashi (ed.), Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Boston: Shambhala, 2012), p. 624I am on sabbatical until Fall 2027.
For my research, please see below.
Academic Degrees: Ph.D., Religion and Education, Boston College (2001); M.T.S. [Master of Theological Studies], Harvard Divinity School (1996); B.A. in History, B.A. in Secondary Education, University of Missouri, Kansas City (1992)
Academic appointments: Full professor, jointly appointed in the Division of Leadership and Policy in the Graduate School of Education, and the Department of Theology (Faculty of Arts and Sciences), Fordham University (2025-present); Full professor in the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham (2019-2025); Associate professor in the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham (2008-2019); Assistant professor in the Religious Studies Department at Santa Clara University (2004-2008); Visiting professor in the Institute of Religious Education and Pastoral Ministry at Boston College (2002-2004); Postdoctoral fellow in the Theology Department at Boston College (2001-2002).
Academic service: president (2024-2026) and secretary (2018-2024) of the Fordham Chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP); secretary of the International Academy of Practical Theology (2023-2025); secretary of the Fordham Faculty Senate (2024-2025); president of the Association of Practical Theology (2014-2016); steering committee member and chair of the Practical Theology program unit in the American Academy of Religion (2007-2011); steering committee member and chair of the Practical Theology group in the Catholic Theological Society of America (2006-2010); founder and chair of the Foucault Consultation in the American Academy of Religion (2003-2006). Member of the following professional societies: the American Academy of Religion (since 1996), the Association of Practical Theology (2004), the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) since 2006, and the International Academy of Practical Theology (2007).
Research Foci:
The core questions that drive my research and teaching are: By what practices do we take up with our lives? How are religious and nonreligious traditions involved in changing cultural conditions?
A perpetual student of theological and religious studies, I am compelled by how what matters most to people comes about and is practiced, and particularly how the mattering and the practices are entangled in experiences, concepts and accounts considered "religious," "spiritual," "secular," or otherwise marked off as fundamentally special, different, powerful, or definitive.
I study and teach theologies, philosophies, and religious studies of practice; sacred environments; religious mission in postsecular culture.
Work in Progress:
I am currently working on a research project focused on the Pantheon in Rome.
∞
Contact information: Fordham University, 113 West 60th Street, Lowenstein 1119G, New York, New York, United States, 10023; tbeaudoin@fordham.edu; 212-636-6437.
Books
Books
Virtual Faith: The Irreverent Spiritual Quest of Generation X (Simon and Schuster/Jossey-Bass, 1998)
Consuming Faith: Integrating Who We Are With What We Buy (Rowman and Littlefield, 2003) + New Preface to 2006 edition
Witness to Dispossession: The Vocation of a Postmodern Theologian (Orbis, 2008)
Secular Music and Sacred Theology (editor) (Liturgical Press, 2013)
Academic Work: Journal Articles, Chapters in Edited Books, Etc.
Academic Work: Journal Articles, Chapters in Edited Books, Etc.
[works are single-authored by Tom Beaudoin unless stated otherwise]
"Cognitive-Aesthetic Effects of Sacred vs. Secular Architecture on Believers: A Neurophenomenological Exploratory Study," Julio Bermudez, Lin-Ching Chang, Mohamad Z. Koubeissi, Tom Beaudoin, Edward Trudeau, Amir Ebadi, Zakaria Djebbara, Madison Moore, Juliana Keagle, Yoshio Nakamura, Brain and Environment, Vol. 8, December 2026, 1-20
"Spatial Justice and Spirituality," Julio Bermudez, Thomas Barrie, Tom Beaudoin, in Adnan Morshed (ed.), Spatial (In)Justice: How Does it Manifest in the Built Environment? (Wiley, 2026), 241-247
“Living with Multiplicity,” in Hosffman Ospino and Colleen M. Griffith (eds.), A Shared Praxis: Renewing Religious Education (Crossroad, 2026), 73-77
“Pantheon Research, Practical Theology, and Cathedral Studies,” in Leslie J. Francis and Stephen G. Parker (eds.), Sustaining Cathedrals: Sacred Spaces and Common Ground (Routledge, 2025), 277-290
“Promoting a New Yes to Life: Reckoning Theologically with Affiliational Diversity in Catholic-Heritage Education and Ministry,” in Pavol Bargar and Peter Jonkers (eds.), The Faith and Beliefs of “Nonbelievers” (Washington, DC: The Council for Research in Values and Philosophy, 2024), 163-186
“Pantheon Research, Practical Theology, and Cathedral Studies,” Journal of Beliefs and Values, Vol. 44, No. 4 (2023), 611-623
"Cultural Catholicism," in Margaret McGuinness and Thomas Rzeznik (eds.), The Cambridge Companion to American Catholicism (Cambridge University Press, 2021), 325-342
"Secular Catholic Families: Inheritance and Invention," in Jason King and Julie Hanlon Rubio (eds.), Sex, Love, and Families: Catholic Perspectives (Liturgical Press, 2020), 235-245
“Faith in Music: Attempting a Free, Public, Online Course in Practical Theology,” Practical Matters Journal, Summer 2019, no. 12, 1-14
“Foreword,” in Gregory Baker, Disaffiliating Ministry: Spiritual Growth, Gender, and Christian Ministry (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019), ix-xi
“Why Does Practice Matter Theologically?” in Joyce Ann Mercer and Bonnie J. Miller- McLemore (eds.), Conundrums in Practical Theology (Brill, 2016), 8-32
“De-Konversion und katholische Vielfalt” (co-authored with Patrick Hornbeck), Salzburger Theologische Zeitschrift 19:1, 2015, 39-51
“Postmodern Practical Theology,” in Kathleen Cahalan and Gordon Mikoski (eds.), Opening the Field of Practical Theology: An Introduction (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), 187-202
“White Practical Theology” (co-authored with Katherine Turpin), in Kathleen Cahalan and Gordon Mikoski (eds.), Opening the Field of Practical Theology: An Introduction (Rowman and Littlefield, 2014), 251-270
“Afterword: Reflections from Ecclesiology and Practical Theology” (co-authored with Bradford Hinze), in Christine Firer Hinze and J. Patrick Hornbeck II (eds.), More Than a Monologue: Sexual Diversity and the Catholic Church, Volume 1: Voices of Our Times (Fordham University Press, 2014), 179-191
“Curated Free-Fall: Ignatius of Loyola,” in Catherine Wolff (ed.), Not Less Than Everything: Catholic Writers on Heroes of Conscience, from Joan of Arc to Oscar Romero (New York: HarperCollins, 2013), 13-26
“Deconversion and Ordinary Theology: A Catholic Study” (co-authored with J. Patrick Hornbeck), in Jeff Astley and Leslie J. Francis (eds.), Exploring Ordinary Theology: Everyday Christian Believing and the Church (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2013), 33-44
“Teaching Theology in an Atmosphere of Deconversion,” Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 40:2, December 2013, 255-262
“Theology of Popular Music as a Theological Exercise,” in Tom Beaudoin (ed.), Secular Music and Sacred Theology (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2013), ix-xxiv
“Foreword,” in Clive Marsh and Vaughan S. Roberts, Personal Jesus: How Popular Music Shapes Our Souls (Baker Academic, 2013), ix-x
“Everyday Faith in and Beyond Scandalized Religion,” in Gordon Lynch and Jolyon Mitchell with Anna Strhan (eds.), Religion, Media and Culture: A Reader (Routledge, 2011), 236- 243
“Une catéchèse virtuelle. La culture populaire comme lieu d’apprentissage de la foi,” Lumen Vitae: Revue Internationale de Catéchèse et de Pastorale 66:3 (September 2011), 311-321
“Secular Catholicism and Practical Theology,” International Journal of Practical Theology, Vol. 15:1 (2011), 22-37
“Religion, Pop Culture and Virtual Faith” (co-authored with Sylvia Collins-Mayo), in Religion and Youth, edited by Pink Dandelion and Sylvia Collins-Mayo (Ashgate, 2010), 17-23
“Engaging Foucault with Rahner: Sketching an Asymptotic Relationship,” Philosophy and Theology 20:1-2, 2009, 307-329
“The Ethics of Research in Faith and Culture: Scholarship as Fandom?” in Exploring Religion and the Sacred in a Media Age, edited by Christopher Deacy and Elisabeth Arweck (Ashgate, 2009), 23-41
“Asad on the Secular,” Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 35:2, Fall 2008, 349-354
“Popular Culture Scholarship as a Spiritual Exercise: Thinking Ethically With(out) Christianity,” in Between Sacred and Profane: Researching Religion and Popular Culture, edited by Gordon Lynch (I.B. Tauris, 2007), 94-110
“The Theological Anthropology of Thomas Groome,” Religious Education 100:1, Winter 2005, 127-138
“From Singular to Plural Domains of Theological Knowledge: Toward a Foucaultian New Question, ” in James Bernauer and Jeremy Carrette (eds. ), Michel Foucault and Theology: The Politics of Religious Experience (Ashgate, 2004), 171-190
“Toward Being a Theologian of Postmodern Culture,” Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture 8:2/3 (2004), 137-158
“Foucault-Teaching-Theology,” Religious Education 98:1, Winter 2003, pp. 25-42
“‘Virtual’ Catechesis: Religious Formation of the Post-Vatican II Generations,” in Thomas Groome and Harold Horell (eds. ), Horizons and Hopes: The Future of Religious Education (Paulist Press, 2003), 63-80
“Generation X,” in Gary Laderman and Luis Leon (eds.), Religion and American Cultures: An Encyclopedia of Traditions, Diversity, and Popular Expressions (Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2003), 414-416; second edition (2015), 474-477
“I Was Imprisoned By Subjectivity and Jesus Visited Me: Bonhoeffer and Foucault On the Way to a Postmodern Christian Self,” Currents in Theology and Mission, October 2002, 341-361
“The Church: Defender of Theocapitalism?” Currents in Theology and Mission, October 2002, 362-387
“Virtual faith,” in Charles Winquist and Victor Taylor (eds.), The Routledge Encyclopedia of Postmodernism (New York: Routledge, 2000), 418-419
Public Scholarship: Contributions to Periodicals, Etc.
Public Scholarship: Contributions to Periodicals, Etc.
Roundtable Participant in “Justice and Participation,” transcribed in Thomas Barrie (ed.), Spiritual Approaches to the Built Environment: Conversations on the Future of Built Environments and Design Professions (Architecture, Culture and Spirituality Forum, 2026), 9-23
"Beyond Religious Illiteracy," Forum for Theological Exploration blog, 16 August 2011
“Spirituality and Practice in Theological Education,” Religious Studies News, American Academy of Religion, rsnonline.org, 1 April 2010
“Stairway to Heaven: Can You Be Saved By Rock ’n’ Roll?” (co-authored with Brian Robinette), America magazine, October 26, 2009, 19-21
“Paul of Tarsus and Catholicism Today,” Origins, 30 April 2009, Vol. 38, No. 46, 736-738
“The Best and the Worst: Facing Cancer as a Spiritual Exercise,” America magazine, November 13, 2006, 27-28
“Free Tuition: A Socioeconomic Sign of Peace,” National Catholic Reporter, November 3, 2006, 10a-11a
“Saint Ignatius Loyola and ROTC: Report from Santa Clara University,” The Sign of Peace: Journal of the Catholic Peace Fellowship, Volume 5:1, Spring 2006, 8
“As Newly Minted Celebrity, ‘Terri’ Makes Ideal Political Icon,” San Jose Mercury News, March 27, 2005
“Scandal Land Closeted Spirituality,” Providence Journal, February 11, 2005, B5
“Spirituality and the Challenge of Gift Giving,” Touchstone (National Federation of Priests’ Councils), Vol 20, no. 2, Winter 2005, 12, 26
“The Iraq War and Imperial Psychology,” America, 192:2, January 17, 2005, 14-16
“The Spirituality of Gift-Giving,” Santa Clara Magazine, 46:3, 2004, 10-13
“The Talk That Diminishes Faith,” Op-ed, Washington Post, October 22, 2004, A25
“Consuming Faith,” Tikkun, July/August 2004, 13-14
“In Praise of Young Adult Faith,” Celebration: An Ecumenical Worship Resource, 33:6, June 2004, 243-246
“The Anti-Christian Passion of the Christ,” National Catholic Reporter, March 19, 2004, 22
“What Young Theologians Owe Their Elders,” National Catholic Reporter, October 31, 2003, 11a
“A Spirituality of Mentoring,” America, July 21, 2003, 14-16
“Bishops’ Haste Produces Un-Catholic Policy,” National Catholic Reporter, August 2, 2002, 5 (reprinted in At Issue: Child Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church (Greenhaven Press, 2003), Louise Gerdes, ed.)
“Our Catholic Watergate: Young Adults and the Present Scandal,” America, June 3, 2002, 18-20
“Liturgy in Media Culture,” America, September 24, 2001, 13-19
“Church Leaders Must Bless, Empower the New Generation,” National Catholic Reporter, October 6, 2000, 6
“Ambiguous Liturgy: Rock Music as Religious Experience,” Books and Culture, Vol. 6 No. 5, September-October 2000, 29
“Spiritual Quests Move Online,” Business 2.0 Magazine, September 26, 2000
“Three's Company: Young Catholics and the Trinity,” U.S. Catholic, September 2000, 21-24
“Kent State and the Next Generation,” America, July 29, 2000, 19-20
“Tracing Justice Issues in a Cup of Coffee,” National Catholic Reporter, July 14, 2000, 20
“Second Thoughts on School of the Americas,” America, November 6, 1999, 20-22
“Evangelical GenX Ministry: Take It and Leave It,” Re:generation Quarterly, November 1999
“A Peculiar Contortion: A Catholic Response to WWJD?,” America, September 18, 1999, 16-19
“What Can Businesses Learn from Today’s Young Professionals?” Experience Magazine, September 1999
“Irreverently Yours: A Message from Generation X,” U.S. Catholic, April 1999, 10-15
“Beginning Afresh: Generation X and Catholicism,” America, November 21, 1998, 10-14
“GenX Spirituality,” Tikkun, September-October 1998, 45, 67
“Virtual Faith: The Gen-X Quest for Meaning,” Christian Science Monitor, August 6, 1998, 11
“GenX Refuses to Buy Into Others’ Agendas,” National Catholic Reporter, April 24, 1998, 20
“Renting My Religion: A Theological Meditation,” Re:generation Quarterly 3(3), 1997
Featured Interviews (not including news media)
Featured Interviews (not including news media)
Film: The Critical Conversations Project: Spiritual Approaches to the Built Environment, underwritten by the Architecture, Culture and Spirituality Forum and the Center of Theological Inquiry, 2023
“MC Interview: Scholar/Bassist Tom Beaudoin on Rock and Theology,” millennialcatholic.com, February 2011
“Catholics and Pop Culture: An Interview with Tom Beaudoin,” edited by Kerry Weber, Catholic Digest, January 2010, 44-52
“Meaning, Spirit, and Popular Culture: An Interview with Tom Beaudoin,” edited by Gordon Lynch and Jeremy Nickel, Crucible, Fall 2006, 17-23
Selected Addresses, Presentations and Conference/Research Papers
Selected Addresses, Presentations and Conference/Research Papers
“Feeling Connected to Everything: The Pantheon in Rome as a More-than-Christian Church,” Lecture Sponsored by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, Fordham University, 2024
“Theological Research in the Pantheon: Thinking About Architectural Design and Visitor Experience,” Contemplative Design class (Professor Sarika Bajoria), Parsons School for Design, The New School, New York City, 2023
“‘Being Both Inside and Outside is Trippy’: Pantheon Research and Responsiveness to the Anthropocene,” International Academy of Practical Theology Biennial Conference, Seoul, South Korea, 2023
“Constellating Multiple Forms of Attention: Empirical Research at the Pantheon,” Neurophenomenology and Sacred Architecture: Toward an Experimental Theological Aesthetics, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, 2023
"Pantheon Research as Practical Theology," Association of Practical Theology Biennial Meeting, online, 2022
"Pantheon Research Project," Seminar: "Teologia Pratica e Ricerca Pantheon," Salesian Pontifical University, Rome, Italy, 2021
"The Theological Significance of the Rise of Non-Religiously-Affiliated Persons: A Perspective from the USA," Faith and Beliefs of "Nonbelievers," Czech Christian Academy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic [remote], 2021
"Faith in Music: Making Public Theological Sense of Songs," Plenary Address, Christian Congregational Music Conference, Ripon College, Cuddesdon, Oxford [remote], 2021
“Work in Progress at the Pantheon,” International Academy of Practical Theology Biennial Conference, Leuven, Belgium [remote], 2021
“Participating in ‘Nothing’? Learning with the Pantheon”, Critical Conversations Webinar: Justice and Participation, Sponsored by the Center for Theological Inquiry (Princeton University) and the Architecture, Culture, and Spirituality Forum [remote], 2021
“Containing Nothing: Practical Theology and the Pantheon in Rome: Work in Progress,” International Academy of Practical Theology Biennial Conference, Sao Leopoldo, Brazil, 2019
“Theology as a Form of Experience,” Practical Theology Group and Ecclesial Practices Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, 2017
“Paths to Framing Why Practice Matters Theologically,” Association of Practical Theology Session, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, 2016
“Who Can Afford Practical Theology? On Opening and Closing the Field,” Practical Theology Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, 2014
“Deconversion and Catholic Multiplicity” (co-presented with Dr. Patrick Hornbeck), Practical Theology Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Baltimore, Maryland, 2013
“‘Help My Unbelief’: Deconversion in Catholicism,” Catholic Theological Society of America Annual Convention, Miami, Florida, 2013
“Teaching Theology in an Atmosphere of Deconversion,” College Theology Society Annual Meeting, Omaha, Nebraska, 2013
“The ‘Third Largest Religion:’ Catholics Who ‘Deconvert’ by Leaving or Staying” (co-presented with Dr. Patrick Hornbeck), International Academy of Practical Theology Biennial Conference, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 2013
“Roman Catholic Deconversion as Ordinary Ecclesiology” (co-presented with Dr. Patrick Hornbeck), Ecclesiology and Ethnography Conference, St. John’s College, Durham University, Durham, UK, 2012
“Deconversion in Roman Catholicism Today” (co-presented with Dr. Patrick Hornbeck), Biennial Conference, Association of Practical Theology, Princeton, New Jersey, 2012
“Varieties of Deconversion in Roman Catholicism: Work in Progress,” Louisville Institute, Winter Seminar, Louisville, Kentucky, 2012
“Addressing Social and Ecclesial Diseases: Practical Theology’s New Agenda in The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology (Wiley-Blackwell, 2012),” Panel on the Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Practical Theology, Practical Theology Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, 2011
“The Theologian as the Agent of Dispossession: Theology in the Context of Scandal,” AHRC Research Conference, “Religion, the Sacred, and the Changing Cultures of Everyday Life” (Center for Religion and Contemporary Society, University of London, Birkbeck), St. Catherine’s College, University of Oxford, 2010
“Spirituality and Theological Education Today,” Theological Education Steering Committee, Special Topics Forum, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Montreal, Quebec, 2009
“Give it Up/for Jesus: Askeses of Dispossession in Rock and Theology,” Selected Session, Catholic Theological Society of America Annual Convention, Halifax, Nova Scotia, 2009
“Spiritual-Political Rhetorics in Studies of Media and Religion,” at “Small Screen, Big Picture” Conference, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 2008
“Talal Asad on Secularity: The Importance for Catholic Theology,” College Theology Society Annual Convention, Newport, RI, 2008
“The Incitement to Dialogue in Catholic Theology,” Selected Session, Catholic Theological Society of America Annual Convention, San Antonio, TX, 2006
“Dealing with Ourselves: A Theological View of Pop Culture Scholarship,” Religion and Popular Culture Group, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, 2005
“Practical Theology as Work on Oneself: Foucault and Intellectual Spiritual Exercises,” Practical Theology Group, Catholic Theological Society of America Annual Convention, St. Louis, MO, 2005
“The Cost of Economic Discipleship: Docetism and the Body of Christ Today,” College Theology Society Annual Conference, Jamaica, NY, 2002
“Musicality and Theological Knowing,” Communications Theology Group, Catholic Theological Society of America Annual Convention, Milwaukee, WI, 2001
“(Multiple) Intelligence Test: Is There a Primary Theological Knowledge?,” Colloquium, “Michel Foucault: Religious Explorations,” Loyola University, Chicago IL, 2000
“Plot Unreadability: A Foucauldian Theological Pedagogy,” Association of Professors and Researchers in Religious Education Annual Conference, Orlando, FL, 1998
“Looking for a Savior: A Theological Interpretation of Jesus in Music Video,” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA, 1997
“Generation X and the Cyberspatialization of Religion,” Society for the Scientific Study of Religion Annual Conference, San Diego, CA, 1997
“In Search of the Christic Mind: Generation X, Religion, and Cyberspace,” Northeast Popular Culture Association Regional Conference, Quinnipiac College, Hamden, CT, 1996
Book Reviews
Book Reviews
The Church, Authority, and Foucault, by Steven G. Ogden (Routledge, 2017), Modern Believing 62:4 (2021), pp. 419-420
Mass Exodus: Catholic Disaffiliation in Britain and America since Vatican II, by Stephen Bullivant (Oxford University Press), American Catholic Studies 131:2 (Summer 2020), pp. 81-83
Invitation to Practical Theology: Catholic Voices and Visions, edited by Claire Wolfteich (Paulist), Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 42:2 (December 2015), pp. 505-506
The Politics of Discipleship: Becoming Postmaterial Citizens, by Graham Ward (Baker Academic), Theology Today 68:1 (April 2011), pp. 98-99
Religion After Postmodernism, by Victor E. Taylor (University of Virginia Press), Theology Today 67:2 (July 2010), pp. 231-232, 234
Secularity and the Gospel: Being Missionaries to Our Children, edited by Ronald Rolheiser (Crossroad, 2006), Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 35:2 (Fall 2008), pp. 398-399
Equality and the Family: A Fundamental, Practical Theology of Children, Mothers, and Fathers in Modern Societies, by Don S. Browning (Eerdmans, 2007), Horizons 37:2 (Fall 2010), pp. 364-366
Shaping a Global Theological Mind, Darren C. Marks (ed.), (Ashgate, 2008), in Journal of Contemporary Religion 26:1 (January 2011), pp. 137-138
Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church, by Kenda Creasy Dean (Oxford University Press), America magazine (203:12), 1 November 2010, pp. 14-15
Reading the Bible with the Damned, by Bob Ekblad (Westminster John Knox Press), Theology Today, Vol. 63:4 (January 2007), pp. 510, 512
Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers by Christian Smith, with Melinda Lundquist Denton (Oxford University Press), America, Sept. 19, 2005, pp. 24-25
Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture by Vincent J. Miller (Continuum), Theological Studies, March 2005, pp. 236-237
Godtalk: Travels in Spiritual America by Brad Gooch (Knopf), Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, Fall 2004, pp. 235-238
Michel Foucault by Sara Mills (Routledge), Literature and Theology Vol. 18, No. 4, December 2004, pp. 491-492
The Predicament of Postmodern Theology: Radical Orthodoxy or Nihilist Textualism? by Gavin Hyman (Westminster John Knox), Princeton Seminary Bulletin, Vol. XXIV, No. 2, 2003, pp. 296-298
Rediscovering Catholicism by Matthew Kelly (Beacon Publishing, 2002), America, September 1, p. 25, 2003
The New Faithful by Colleen Carroll (Loyola Press, 2002), America, November 11, 2002, pp. 35-37
Religion on Campus: What Religion Really Means to Today’s Undergraduates by Conrad Cherry, Betty Deberg, and Amanda Porterfield (University of North Carolina Press), Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, 2:2, Fall 2002, pp. 247-249
Young Adult Catholics: Religion in the Culture of Choice by Dean Hoge, Mary Johnson, William Dinges, Juan Gonzales, Jr. (Notre Dame Press, 2001), National Catholic Reporter, May 11, 2001, pp. 41-42
Losing Your Religion, Finding Your Faith by Brett C. Hoover (Paulist, 1998), National Catholic Reporter, September 25, 1998, pp. 18-19
Reconstructing Catholicism for a New Generation by Robert Ludwig (Crossroad), Critical Review of Books in Religion 1996
Selling God by R. Laurence Moore (Oxford), Critical Review of Books in Religion 1995
Honors and Awards
Honors and Awards
Honorary Doctoral Degree
LL.D., St. John’s University, Collegeville, Minnesota, 2004
Fellowships
Fellow, American Psychoanalytic Association, 2006-2007
Teaching Fellow, Theology Department, Boston College, 2001-2002
William Robertson Coe Fellowship in American Studies, SUNY Stony Brook, NY, 1993
External Grants
Templeton Religion Trust, Art Seeking Understanding ($191,860), “The Art of the Pantheon: Learning from Visitors,” 2021-2023
Louisville Institute, Project Grant for Researchers ($25,000), grant co-authored with Patrick Hornbeck of Fordham University Theology Department, for the project “Varieties of Deconversion in Roman Catholicism,” 2011
Honorary/Endowed Lectures
Center for Practical Theology 16th Annual Lecture, Boston University School of Theology, “Practical Theology in the Pantheon: Reckoning with a More-than-Christian Church,” 2023
School of Theology and Ministry Religious Education Lecture, "Promoting a New Yes to Life: Religious Education Amidst the Decline in Religious Affiliation," Boston College, 2021
Blueprints Lectures, Alberta Catholic Schools Trustees’ Association Annual Conference, six lectures on the theme “Dynamic Catholic Leaders in a Secular World: Be Not Afraid”: “Being Secular: Recent Research,” “Being Secular: Recent Catholic Teaching and Theology,” “Making Theological Sense of Popular Culture,” “Ordinary Catholicisms,” “Can Faith Identity Be Measured?”, “Secular Catholicism?”, Kananaskis, Alberta, Canada, 2010
Lilly Visiting Scholar Lecture, Hendrix College, “The Critical Place of Vocation in American Higher Education Today,” Conway, AR, 2007
Koch Chair in Catholic Studies Lecture, Saint John’s University and College of Saint Benedict, “Is Your Spirituality Violent?”, Saint Joseph, MN, 2006
William H. Shannon Chair Lecture, Nazareth College, “Spirituality, Starbucks, and the Swoosh: Economic Spirituality and Catholic Theology,” Rochester, NY, 2004
The Santa Clara Lecture, Santa Clara University, “The Cost of Economic Discipleship: U.S. Christians and Global Capitalism,” Santa Clara, CA, 2001
The Paul S. Allen Lectures, McCormick Theological Seminary, “The Commodified Body of Christ? Global Capitalism and Everyday Christianity,” and “The Cost of Economic Discipleship in Ministry Today,” Chicago, IL, 2001
The Princeton Lectures on Youth, Church, and Culture, Princeton Theological Seminary, “Celebrity Deathmatch? The Church vs. Theocapitalism”, and “After Purity: Contesting Theocapitalism in Ministry,” Princeton, NJ, 2001
The Hein-Fry Lectures, Seminaries of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, “Toward Being a Theologian of Postmodern Culture”, “Bonhoeffer and Foucault: Toward a Postmodern Christian Self”, and “A Theology of Consumer Capitalism,” Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburgh, PA; Lutheran Theological Seminary, Philadelphia, PA; Lutheran Theological Seminary, Berkeley, CA; Lutheran Theological Seminary, Chicago, IL, 2001
The Ritz Lectures, Winebrenner Theological Seminary, “Is There a Generation X?”, “The GenX Spiritual Quest”, and “Living Fidelity: An Agenda for GenX Ministry,” Findlay, OH, 2000
Writing
Essay, “Second Thoughts on School of the Americas” (originally for America magazine), published in Best Christian Writing, ed. John Wilson (HarperSanFrancisco, 2000)
Teaching Awards
Outstanding Beginning Teacher Award, Missouri Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 1994
Sallie Mae First Year Teacher Award (Top 100 New Teachers in the United States), 1993
ποία ἡ ζωὴ ὑμῶν / What is your life?
ΙΑΚΩΒΟΥ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗ / Epistle of James 4:14
What is life?
Bhagavad Gita 1:32 (W.J. Johnson translation)
Photo credits: Mark Selig (Abbaye du Thoronet, France, 2014); Andrew Massie (Foley Square, Manhattan, 2025)
2013
2013
1994
Stop following others. How? Follow all the way through.
Dogen, "Great Enlightenment," trans. Arnold Kotler and Kazuaki Tanahashi, in Tanahashi (ed.), Treasury of the True Dharma Eye (Boston: Shambhala, 2012), p. 301Google Sites
Report abuse