I'm a Professor of Theology at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I teach Christian social ethics. Former choir director and computer programmer, my work focuses on the implications of technology and media on spiritual and moral practices. I received my doctorate in Theology in 2004, writing my dissertation (The Responsorial Self: Christian Ethics and Ritual Song) on the role of communication in the form of worship music on moral formation. 

My current work focuses on the ethics of information and communication technologies. At present, I am working on the book Rewiring Virtue, a virtue ethics technology use. Along the way, he will be blogging on ethical issues in ITCs at RewiringVirtue.com. I've written things that have shown up in Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, Journal of Business Ethics, Liturgy, CatholicMoralTheology.com, and volumes from publishers like Routledge, Macmillan Reference, Orbis, Pickwick, and Convivum . I also worked on Living Worship (Brazos Press, 2011), an interactive, multimedia application for teaching liturgy in seminary settings. Along the way, I was the founding convener of the Society of Christian Ethics’ Technology Ethics Interest Group, and contributed to Internet and Mobile Safety: A Guide for Parents Through the Eyes of Faith (a joint publication of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America), and have regularly been a part of the Theology and Communications: In Dialogue project, an ongoing scholarly forum sponsored by the Pontifical Council on Social Communications in co-operation with the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. With David Matzko McCarthy, I also edited a special issue of the Journal of Moral Theology on Technology Ethics.

In the classroom, I work with students to better understand the Roman Catholic moral tradition, in particlar to explore the ways in which technology and media operate in our lives. I teach some "standard" courses in ethics like THE 154: Faith, Justice and the Catholic Tradition; THE 261: Christian Social Ethics; and THE 361: Catholic Social Teaching; I have had the opportunity to regularly teach some unusual courses in Theology and Religious Studies departments. In THE 371: Christianity and Media, for instance, students study the ways in which various media portray Christians and Christiantiy (like news and film) as well as the ways in which Christians present themselves to other Christians and the broader society (such as online and in music). In THE 372: Technology Ethics, students wrestle with the question of whether or not the technologies that we surround ourselves with help us advance justice and human flourishing. In the course, students take a deep dive into moral theory, and then examine a host of particular cases of both commonplace and emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, design for addiction, cell phones, social media, surveillance, 3-d printed guns, digital divide, autonomous vehicles, data security, product manufacturing and disposal, intellectual property, automation and jobs, body modification, and the post-human movement. 

Interviews about theology, technology, ethics have appeared in/on National Public Radio, The Irish Times, The National Catholic Reporter, USA Today, the Associated Press, WPVI/6ABC (Philadelphia), KYW/3CBS Radio and Television (Philadelphia), MyPHL17Television, the Philadelphia Inquirer, DelawareOnline.com, the Providence Journal (Providence, RI), and CBC-Radio (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).