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  5. World Religions World Church

World Religions World Church

Students in World Religions and World Church (WRWC) explore world religions, global Christianity, and the history of interactions between the Church and the religions of the world. This provides the intellectual foundations for engaging with religions of the world and the diversity of Christianity's expressions across time and culture from within a Christian theological paradigm.

These foundations both enable the study of the world’s religions with specific attention to their own particular historical contexts and modes of theological discourse and provide the necessary preparation for informed inter-religious dialogue. Because it adopts a theological paradigm for approaching both of these issues, a Ph.D. in WRWC requires substantive work in one of the other five major areas of doctoral concentration.

What will I study?

WRWC’s strengths include:

  • Theologies of the Global South (African, Latin American, and Asian)
  • Early Islam and the history of Quranic interpretation
  • Muslim-Christian relations
  • African Christianity
  • Tibetan Buddhism
  • Christian missions
  • Chinese religions

WRWC students take two methodologically focused courses. Their coursework and candidacy exams will focus on a particular religion or a particular region of the World Church, but they will also study more broadly within the area. Students will minor in one of the other area concentrations of the department and may also pursue resources and faculty for their course of study in other units of the university.

Upcoming Events

Faculty

  1. A headshot of a man with dark brown skin and a shaved head, smiling, wearing a dark suit jacket and white collared shirt, against a gray background.

    Emmanuel Katongole

    Professor

  2. Headshot of a smiling priest wearing a black suit jacket and clerical collar against a gray background. He wears clear-framed glasses.

    Paul Kollman, CSC

    Associate Professor

  3. Headshot of a man with short, dark curly hair, smiling at the camera. He wears a light brown tweed jacket over a purple and white plaid button-down shirt. The backdrop is a plain light gray.

    David Lantigua

    Associate Professor

  4. A smiling man with dark skin wearing a clerical collar and dark suit stands in front of bookshelves.

    Paulinus Odozor, C.S.Sp.

    Professor

  5. A smiling man with glasses and a green plaid shirt sits with his hands clasped in front of him at a wooden table. Two wooden bookcases filled with books are visible over his shoulders.

    Trent Pomplun

    Associate Professor

  6. Headshot of a man with short, dark hair, graying at the temples, wearing a dark gray t-shirt. He is smiling against a blurred background of green foliage.

    Gabriel Said Reynolds

    Jerome J. Crowley and Rosaleen G. Crowley Professor of Theology

  7. Headshot of a man wearing glasses, a dark suit jacket, and a light blue collared shirt with a patterned tie featuring gold, red, green, and blue details against a gray background.

    Mun'im Sirry

    Associate Professor

  8. Headshot of a woman with dark hair pulled back, wearing round, dark-rimmed glasses and a navy blue v-neck top. She smiles warmly against a light gray background.

    Xueying Wang

    Assistant Professor

  9. Headshot of a man with glasses and a white mustache, wearing a white collared shirt over a black undershirt, against a plain gray background.

    Todd Whitmore

    Associate Professor

Graduate Students

  1. Shohag Gabil

  2. Young man with dark hair, smiling broadly, wearing a navy suit, white shirt, and red patterned tie. Dark wood background.

    Marcus Haworth