The Public Theologies of Technology and Presence program gathers and funds a cohort of scholars of religion and theologians—from a broad array of disciplines and traditions—and journalists for their work addressing a pressing concern of contemporary life: The ways in which technologies reshape human relationships and alter how people are or are not “present” with each other. The three-year program launched in 2018 and is supported by a $475,000 grant from the Henry Luce Foundation.
Over recent decades and continuing at warp speed, new technologies are radically reshaping human relationships. These shifts have profound implications both for individuals and for the webs of relationships in which they participate. Scholars of religion and theologians, from across the traditions, are ideally situated to address this issue of great public concern. Public Theologies of Technology and Presence supports this work through an ambitious agenda of research projects, conferences, popular and scholarly publishing, active engagements with Silicon Valley technologists, the development of models for integrating the subject into university and theological institution curricula, the publication of a digital forum, white papers, and public talks.
Address inquiries to Program Director Dr. Steven Barrie-Anthony: stevenba@shin-ibs.edu, (510) 500-9722.
Participating Scholars and Theologians
Stephen T. Asma
Professor of Philosophy, Columbia College Chicago
Amy Sue Bix
Professor, Department of History, Iowa State University
Sheila Briggs
Associate Professor, Departments of Religion and Gender Studies, University of Southern California
Ilia Delio, OSF
Josephine C. Connelly Endowed Chair in Theology, Villanova University
Gregory Price Grieve
Professor and Head, Religious Studies Department, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Margarita Simon Guillory
Associate Professor, Department of Religion, Boston University
Kevin Healey
Associate Professor, Department of Communication, University of New Hampshire
Natasha Heller
Associate Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Virginia
Noreen Herzfeld
Nicholas and Bernice Reuter Professor of Science and Religion, St. John’s University and the College of St. Benedict
Beverley McGuire
Associate Professor, Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Carolina Wilmington
Stuart Ray Sarbacker
Associate Professor, School of History, Philosophy, and Religion, Oregon State University
Devin Singh
Assistant Professor, Department of Religion, Dartmouth College
R. John Williams
Associate Professor, Departments of English and Film and Media Studies, Yale University
Participating Journalists
Liz Kineke
Producer, CBS Religion & Culture Series
Justin Peters
Correspondent for Slate, freelance journalist, and author
Sigal Samuel
Global Religion Editor, The Atlantic
Advisory Board: Scholars and Theologians
Anthony Pinn
Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities, Department of Religion, Rice University
Robert Orsi
Grace Craddock Nagle Chair of Catholic Studies, Northwestern University
Diane Winston
Knight Chair in Media and Religion, University of Southern California
Kathryn Lofton
Professor, Departments of Religious Studies, American Studies, and History, Yale University
Jonathan Sheehan
Professor, Department of History, University of California, Berkeley
Dale Wright
David B. and Mary H. Gamble Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies and Professor of Asian Studies, Occidental College
Advisory Board: Journalists
Audrey Cooper
Editor-in-Chief, San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Sipchen
Journalist, author, and Associate Professor NTT of Writing and Rhetoric, Occidental College
Caitlin Roper
Special Projects Editor, New York Times Magazine
Kate Dailey
Managing Editor, Vox
Program Director
Steven Barrie-Anthony
Program Director, Public Theologies of Technology and Presence