Visually Sacred: Conversations on the Power of Images

Ryan is a Professor of History at Virginia Commonwealth University. He specializes in American religious history, material culture, and historic preservation. His most recent book is Death and Rebirth in a Southern City: Richmond's Historic Cemeteries. He is also the author of "Gothic Arches, Latin Crosses: Anti-Catholicism and American Church Designs in the Nineteenth Century."​ Rya...

Lieke is a Senior Researcher at the Center for Art and Society at the Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, the Netherlands, and works as a freelance curator. She is the author of "Resonating Sacralities: Dynamics Between Art and Religion in Postsecular Netherlands" and "Beyond the Return of Religion: Art and the Postsecular." She co-edited with others the volume &...

Cornelia received a PhD in Philosophy from Georgetown University and holds MA degrees in Philosophy and History from Temple University. She is the author of three monographs, "The Orthodox Icon and Postmodern Art: Critical Reflections on the Christian Image and its Theology," "Tradition and Transformation in Christian Art: The Transcultural Icon," and "Icons in Time, Perso...

Jeffrey is Professor of Religion at Washington & Lee University. He is the author of books and essays including "From the Heart: A Memoir and a Meditation – On a Vital Organ," "Arts of Wonder: Enchanting Secularity" which received the 2013 Award for Excellence in Constructive-Reflective Studies from the American Academy of Religion and was also named to the New Museum’s lis...

Katie is an art historian and critic specializing in issues of art, spirituality, contemplative practice and the artistic process. She has written two books, several book chapters, and more than one hundred articles on topics ranging from ancient temples to medieval cathedrals to postmodern art installations. She is the recipient of several research fellowships including a Graves Award in the Huma...

Jamie is an Associate Professor of American religions and material culture at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She earned her PhD from Duke University. Her book "Protestant Relics in Early America" examines relic veneration, corpse inspection, and the art of mourning in the early United States. She also studies Bible and relic practices in the American Civil War Era. Jamie is...

Michael is Professor of Architecture at the University of Hartford. He is the sole author, editor, or contributor to more than 75 books on architecture, including five books for children. Michael is the recipient of the Edward S. Frey Memorial Award, in Recognition of the Contributions Made to Religion, Art, and Architecture, bestowed by the American Institute of Architects’ Interfaith Forum on Re...

Anthony is Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame, where he teaches courses in U.S. religious history, gender and sexuality studies, the long 1980s, and visual culture. His most recent book, "Provoking Religion: Sex, Art, and the Culture Wars," examines the history of feminist and queer artists who found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the Christia...

Chris is an Assistant Professor of Religion in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Mississippi State University. He has served as Director of the Krikor and Clara Zohrab Information Center at the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America and has worked at Radboud University in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, the University of Michigan, St. Nersess Armenian Seminary, and Wesleyan Univer...

Hillary is Associate Professor of anthropology and religion at McGill University, where she holds a William Dawson Chair. She has edited " Everyday Sacred: Religion in Contemporary Quebec"  and authored " Walking Where Jesus Walked: American Christians and Holy Land Pilgrimage ." Her monograph, " Christian Globalism at Home: Child Sponsorship in the United States ," w...

Andrew is a lecturer in the Department of Religious Studies at Duke University. He is the managing editor of  "Material Religion: the Journal of Objects, Art, and Belief"  and the author of  "What is Protestant Art?" , a short survey of Protestant images and visual cultures from the Reformation to the present. Andrew has published articles on Bible charts, comic book Bibles, an...

This season, I’m joined by a group of guests carefully chosen for their expertise and for the diverse perspectives they bring. Together, they reflect many facets of material religion—from ancient Christianity to contemporary art, from philosophy and phenomenology to global devotional practices, from museumcuration to heritage studies. Their work illuminates how the sacred is expressed, negotiated,...

Aaron Rosen is a writer, curator, and non-profit leader, respected internationally for his work in the public humanities, interfaith dialogue, and the arts.  He is Executive Director of The Clemente Course in the Humanities, and founded and directs the not-for-profit Parsonage Gallery in Maine, exploring issues of ecology and spirituality through contemporary art.  He is the author or editor of a...

Kathryn is Bertelsen Professor of Art History and Religion at the Graduate Theological Union and Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. She has published extensively on the theory of pilgrimage, especially as it relates to art experience. Her recent project, "Imaging Pilgrimage: Art as Embodied Experience" was the recipient of the American Academy of Religion and the Arts B...

Julio is president of the Architecture, Culture and Spirituality Forum, that he cofounded in 2007. His interests focus on the relationship between architecture, culture, and spirituality through the lens of phenomenology and neuroscience. Julio has widely lectured, led symposia, taught, published, or appeared in the media covering these areas. Current projects include three neuro-phenomenological...

Charles is vicar of St. Laurence, Catford, London and a trustee of "Art & Christianity Enquiry." He is on the editorial board of "Art & Christianity," and until recently a visiting scholar at Sarum College. Charles regularly contributes articles to books and magazines on art and spirituality, as well as lecturing in the UK and abroad. He is on the board of the UK branch...

Ani is an Assistant Professor in Armenian Christian Art and Theology, holding a post in Grace and Paul Shahinian Lectureship, at the St. Nersess Armenian Theological Seminary and St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary in New York. She earned her doctorate in History and Theology at the University of Oxford. She holds a M.A. degree in Near Eastern and Languages and Cultures from UCLA, and dip...

Cecilia is professor of Theology and Theological Aesthetics at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. She is the recipient of the 2024 Virgilio Elizondo Award from the Academy of Catholic Hispanic Theologians of the United States, the 2023 Ann O’Hara Graff Award from the Catholic Theological Society of America, and was named 2020 Alumna of the Year from the Graduate Theological Union. She was a...

Thomas is the Alice Mary Baldwin Distinguished Professor of English at Duke University and Professor of Historical Theology in the Duke Divinity School. He is the author of four monographs: "Wordsworth Profession: Form, Class, and the Logic of Romantic Cultural Production," "Romantic Moods: Paranoia, Trauma, and Melancholy, 1790-1840," "Minding the Modern: Human Agency, Intellectual Traditions, an...

Elissa is an associate professor of art and art history at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and a Norris and Billie Little Endowed Scholar. She received her M.A. and PhD in art history from Washington University in St. Louis, where her research focused on contemporary art, the body, and empathy. Her scholarly publications include essays on contemporary Black female photographers, pat...

Peter has been a Professor at Duke Divinity School since 2020. Before Duke, he taught at Notre Dame and was the founding director of DePaul’s Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology. He has published a monograph, Word as Bread: Language and Theology in Nicholas of Cusa. On November 15, 2024, his edited volume of the essays of Louis Dupré, Thinking the Unknowable, appeared with the...

Rina Arya is a Professor of Critical and Cultural Theory at the University of Hull, UK. She started her academic career working on the role of the sacred in death of God culture, especially in the paintings of Francis Bacon and writings of Georges Bataille, resulting in her acclaimed book "Francis Bacon: Painting in a Godless World " . Her work on Bacon led to research in abjection where...

Jennifer is the Associate Professor and Program Director of Theology and the Arts at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Her recent publications include "The Good Shepherd: Image, Meaning, and Power " and "The Ashburnham Pentateuch and its Contexts." Jennifer earned her PhD in Religion (Historical Studies) from Vanderbilt University, where she focused on early medie...

Mark is Professor of Theology and Founding Co-Director of the Claritas Initiative on Beauty, Goodness, and Truth at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a constructive and historical theologian with interests in theological aesthetics, theology and the arts, mystical theology, and theories of perception, along with other arenas of inquiry. He is the author of "Balthasar...

In this season we focus on the varieties of Christian visual representation and their influence on religious belief. Join me as I speak with experts on theological aesthetics and related fields about how our material world conditions our perceptions of the transcendent. From ancient Christian art to contemporary expressions of faith, this season will chart new directions and unpack thought-provoki...