Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Chair of the Philosophy Department
434.544.8645
dawson.s@lynchburg.edu
Carnegie Hall 123
Experience
- 2017 – present: Associate Professor of Religious Studies, University of Lynchburg
- 2010 – 2017: Assistant Professor of Religion and Philosophy, University of Lynchburg
Education
- PhD, Religious Studies, concentration in religion and culture – Boston University
- MTS, Theology, concentration in religious ethics – Boston University School of Theology
- BA, English, concentration in creative writing – George Mason University
Recent Publications
- Review of Defining Religion: Essays in Philosophy of Religion by Robert Cummings Neville. Reading Religion, 27 April 2018.
- Review of Taking Back Philosophy: A Multicultural Manifesto by B.W. Van Norden. Reading Religion. February 2018.
- Review of Confucianism and American Philosophy by M.A. Foust. Reading Religion. September 2017.
- “The Importance of Open Inquiry to Philosophy of Religion: A Response to Kevin Schilbrack’s Philosophy and the Study of Religions: A Manifesto.” Syndicate Religion. August 2017.
- Review of Philosophy of Religion in the Classical American Tradidtion, by J.C. Clanton. Reading Religion. May 2017.
- Review of The Good is One, Its Manifestations Many, by R.C. Neville. Reading Religion. February 2017.
- “Multidisciplinary, Comparative, and Interactive: Toward a Global Philosophy of Religion,” Religious Studies Review 42(3), 143–74. 2016.
- “The Politics of Belief—John 20:19–31.” Political Theology Today, The Politics of Scripture blog. April 2015.
- Kujawski’s ‘The Myth of Religion’: The Lost Presentation. The Pedestal Magazine, 74. Fiction. June 2014.
- “The Religious Resurgence and International Relations Theory,” Religious Studies Review 39(4), 201–21. December 2013.
Recent Presentations
- (2018, April). “Robust Evaluation: Philosophy of Religion as a Way of Life.” Invited presentation at Appalachian State University, Boone, North Carolina.
- (2018, March). “Beyond Critics and Caretakers: Robust Evaluation as a Humanistic Practice.” Paper presented at the Southeast Commission for the Study of Religion, Atlanta, Georgia.
- (2017, March). “The Centrality of Comparison to Philosophy of Religion: A Response to Kevin Schilbrack’s Philosophy and the Study of Religion: A Manifesto.” Paper presented at the Southeast Commission for the Study of Religion, Raleigh, North Carolina.
- (2015, March). “Evaluating Religions: Why a Global Philosophy of Religion Needs a Peircean Theory of Inquiry.” Paper presented at the Southeast Commission for the Study of Religion, Nashville, Tennessee.
- (2014, May). “Critical Thinking as Defamiliarization: Studying the Bible in a Liberal Arts Curriculum.” Paper presented at the Lily International Conference on College and University Teaching and Learning, Bethesda, Maryland.
- (2014, March). The Valladolid Debates between Sepúlveda and Las Casas: At the Origins of the Modern Concept of Religion.” Paper presented at the Southeast Commission for the Study of Religion, Atlanta, Georgia.
Awards
- Junior Fellow, Institut für Die Wissenschaften vom Menchen, Vienna, Austria, July–December 2000.
Professional Affiliations
- American Academy of Religion
- North American Association for the Study of Religion
- Virginia Philosophical Association
Teaching Areas
Philosophy
- God, Faith, and Evil
- Introduction to Ethics
- Introduction to Philosophy
- Knowledge and Reality
Religious Studies
- Introduction to the New Testament
- Introduction to the Old Testament
- Religions of Asia
- Seminar on Contemporary Religious Thinkers (Spring 2015: Michael Walzer)
- Seminar on Religion in America
- Seminar on Religious Ethics
- Islamic Ethics of War and Peace
- Cults and Religious Freedom in the United States
Dr. Dawson has also co-led study abroad trips to Vietnam and Cambodia (J-Term 2017, with Dr. David Lipani) and India (J-Term 2018, with Dr. Laura Henry-Stone), and will co-lead a trip to Greece in Summer 2018 (with Dr. Lipani).