Gary Dorrien

Gary Dorrien is an American social ethicist and theologian. He has taught since 2005 at Union Theological Seminary as the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics and at Columbia University as Professor of Religion, both in New York City.[1] An Episcopal priest and athlete, he was previously the Parfet Distinguished Professor at Kalamazoo College, where he taught for 18 years and also served as Dean of Stetson Chapel and Chair of Humanities.[2]

Dorrien is the author of 16 books and approximately 275 articles in ethics, social theory, theology, philosophy, politics, and history. More than 40 reviewers have described his three-volume work, The Making of American Liberal Theology, as the definitive work in the field. The Expository Times called it "an endeavor best described, by all accounts, as magisterial, definitive, and authoritative."[3]

In 2013 Dorrien won the Association of American Publishers Prize (the PROSE Award) for the best book of the year in Theology and Religious Studies, Kantian Reason and Hegelian Spirit: The Idealistic Logic of Modern Theology. University of Georgia philosopher Frederick Ferré stated, “Gary Dorrien is a superstar interpreter of modern religious thought. This unique, fascinating, aggressively revisionary book will have no competition until books appear to argue against it.”[4]

In 2009 Dorrien won the Choice Award for his book, Social Ethics in the Making.[5] The Christian Century described this book as "magnificent, sprawling, monumental, captivating, expertly written, and exhaustively researched. Social Ethics in the Making will soon be recognized as a classic."[6]

A frequent lecturer at universities, conferences, civic groups, and religious communities, Dorrien is a recent past president of the American Theological Society and has a long record of involvement in social justice organizations.[7] His book, Imperial Designs, grew out of his extensive lecturing against the U.S.'s invasion and occupation of Iraq.[8] His book, Economy, Difference, Empire: Social Ethics for Social Justice, features his lectures on economic democracy, racial, and gender justice, and anti-imperial politics, and he has lectured extensively on subjects related to his book The Obama Question: A Progressive Perspective.

Books

References

  1. Peter Steinfels, “Two Social Ethicists and the National Landscape,” New York Times (May 26, 2007).
  2. Dave Person, “Athlete to Academic: K-College Names Theologian to First Distinguished Professorship,” Kalamazoo Gazette (February 3, 2001); Chris Meehan, “Dorrien to Leave ‘K’ for N.Y. Seminary,” Kalamazoo Gazette (January 27, 2005).
  3. Nancy Frankenberry, review of The Making of American Liberal Theology, by Gary Dorrien, The Expository Times, May 2008.
  4. http://www.proseawards.com/current-winners.html" http://www.proseawards.com/current-winners.html; Union Theological Seminary, “Gary Dorrien Wins Association of American Publishers’ PROSE Award,” February 22, 2013, "http://www.utsnyc.edu/news" www.utsnyc.edu/news.
  5. Choice Award, cited on paperback edition of Gary Dorrien, Social Ethics in the Making (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010): “A masterful, careful, and encyclopedic history of Christian social ethics…It is simply the definitive history of Christian social ethics.”
  6. Paul J. Wadell, review of Social Ethics in the Making, by Gary Dorrien, The Christian Century, October 20, 2009.
  7. Columbia University, Department of Religion, Faculty Biography of Gary Dorrien, http://www.columbia.edu" www.columbia.edu; Union Theological Seminary, Faculty Biography and Vitae of Gary Dorrien, http://www.uts.columbia.edu" www.uts.columbia.edu.
  8. Gary Dorrien, Imperial Designs: Neoconservatism and the New Pax Americana (New York: Routledge, 2003, 2012), x.

External links