CV
In
1993, I joined DePaul’s faculty in the Department of Political Science. In
2010, I accepted an appointment in the new Department of Catholic Studies,
drawing its scholars from various disciplines, interests, and areas of
expertise committed to exploring the diversity, paradoxes, and significance
of Catholic Christianity. I helped organize CWCIT (see below) and have
served as chair of both the Political Science and Catholic Studies Departments.
I also served as director of DePaul’s Center for Church-State Studies
during its time as a joint venture between the College of Liberal Arts and
Social Sciences and the College of Law. Outside of DePaul, I was one of the
founders and the first coordinator of The Ekklesia Project, created
in 1999 as an ecumenical network of scholars, pastors, and lay church
leaders. My training includes a PhD in political science, specializing
in political economy, political theory, and religion, from Northwestern University;
an MA in politics from the Catholic University of America; and a Bachelor
of Science in journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of
Journalism.
Research
Most
of my scholarly work has focused on the intersections of political economy,
ecclesiology (a branch of theology focused on the meaning of “church”),
and Christianity as a worldwide religious movement and community. I
have published on the church and capitalism; Catholicism and popular culture;
Christianity and political allegiances; questions of war; political and
cultural socialization; and the church as a transnational actor. Much of
my contemporary research flows from the work of DePaul’s Center for World
Catholicism and Intercultural Theology, a research center focusing on
Catholicism in the so-called global South and as a worldwide
religious community. I serve the Center as a senior research professor,
and with my colleagues we host visiting scholars from Africa, Asia, Latin
America, and elsewhere in exploring important questions in theology, politics,
history, and culture.
Teaching
My
teaching interests range widely, drawing from political theory, political
economy, and contemporary and historical Christian experience. Among my
favorite courses is a core course in the Catholic Studies program entitled
“Theories of the Church: Concepts and Controversies,” which focuses on the
many (and often contested) meanings of “the church,” past and present; this
course cross-lists with the Department of Political Science, and the varied
interests of students from multiple programs regularly makes for
stimulating and worthwhile discussions. I also teach courses on
Catholicism and race/multiculturalism; on Christianity and nationalism; and
courses that focus on contemporary Christianity and culture. I welcome
independent study courses for students with specialized interests, or for those
wanting to explore new areas of interest to them that don’t easily fit within existing
course offerings. I appreciate the individual attention that our
department offers to students, no matter their previous level of
familiarity with Catholicism or their disposition toward it (committed,
skeptical, searching).