COURSES TAUGHT:

Judaism, Christianity and Islam
Introduction to Religions of the East
Religion in the United States
Introduction to Religions of the World
Working in America

Although I teach all the major religions of the world, my particular area of expertise is the history of Christianity and American religious history. During my Ph.D. program at the University of Iowa I specialized in eighteenth century religious thought in New England, especially the work of the Reformed theologian and Congregationalist minister, Samuel Hopkins (1721-1803). Hopkins was the leading disciple of Jonathan Edwards, the most significant theologian in late-eighteenth century New England, and one of the most outspoken critics of slavery of his day. I also have a strong interest in U.S. religious developments since the 1960s, church/state issues, the intersection of religion and politics, and American religious pluralism.

"American Religion at the Crossroads: The ‘Melting Pot’ and the Pluralist Ideal," Community College Humanities Association, Central Division Conference, Cedar Rapids, IA, October 2000.

"Against the ‘Pretended Philosophers’ of the Enlightenment: Samuel Hopkins and Scriptural Authority," American Society of Church History, Spring Meeting, San Diego, CA, April 1999.

"The Pragmatic Dimension of the Community College and its Impact on Religious Studies," American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature, Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL, November 1998.

"The Role of Self-Love in Samuel Hopkins’s Theology of Disinterested Benevolence," American Society of Church History, Spring Meeting, Nashville, TN, April 1997.

"Samuel Hopkins and the Benevolent Sovereignty of God," American Academy of Religion/Society of Biblical Literature, Upper Midwest Regional Meeting, St. Paul, MN, April 1996.

"’Reasoning Out of the Scriptures’: Samuel Hopkins, the Theological Enterprise, and the Deist Threat," The Journal of Presbyterian History (forthcoming).

"Samuel Hopkins," in New Dictionary of National Biography, ed. Brian Harrison, Oxford: Oxford University Press (forthcoming, 2004).

"Samuel Hopkins," in Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, ed. Timothy Larsen, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press (forthcoming).

"Samuel Hopkins," in Encyclopedia of Protestantism, ed. Hans J. Hillerbrand, 4 vols., New York: Routledge Press (forthcoming, 2002).

"Conversations on the Lord’s Prayer," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, January-February 2001.

Moderator, Ethical Perspectives on the News, KCRG TV, Cedar Rapids, IA, 2000-2001.

"The Disparity Between CEO Salaries and Worker Wages," panelist, Ethical Perspectives on the News, KCRG TV, Cedar Rapids, IA, November 12, 2000.

"Prayer and the Public Schools," panelist, Ethical Perspectives on the News, KCRG TV, Cedar Rapids, IA, August 6, 2000.

"Current Trends in American Religion," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Spring 2000.

"Mary Pipher’s The Shelter of Each Other: Rebuilding Our Families," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Spring 1999.

"Galatians," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Spring 1998.

"Genesis 1-3," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Fall 1997.

"A Brief Overview of the History of Christianity," First Presbyterian Church, Fall 1996.

"’Culture Wars’: Religious-Political Conflict in America Today," Ely Presbyterian Church, Ely, IA, Spring 1996.

"’Culture Wars’: Religious-Political Conflict in America Today," First Presbyterian Church, Mt. Vernon, IA, Spring 1996.

"Islam," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Spring 1996

"Money, Sex, and Power," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Fall 1995.

"’Culture Wars’: Religious-Political Conflict in America Today," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Fall 1995.

"C.S. Lewis’s Mere Christianity," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Spring 1995.

"Theological Viewpoints of the Reformed Tradition," First Presbyterian Church, Cedar Rapids, IA, Fall 1994.

"A Christian America: Fact or Fiction?," St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, IA, Spring 1992.