Pierce Program in Religion
The Pierce Chair of Religion was the first Distinguished Chair of Emory University to be established at Oxford College. A gift from the family of D. Abbott Turner created the Pierce Chair of Religion in 1976, and in 1979 Oxford established the Pierce Program in Religion with the Pierce Chair of Religion as the director of the program.
The Pierce Program in Religion has undergone many changes since its creation, but currently we support the strategic priorities of Oxford College in two main areas:
- Its focus on social justice (ethics) involves “a sense of purpose driven by core values and social justice through innovating, expanding, and investing in high-impact pedagogical practices” (e.g., “community-engaged, experiential, and project-based learning,” especially “high-impact, high-touch ‘beyond the classroom’ experiences”) and “to enhance the broader Newton County community.”
- Pierce’s support of interfaith dialogues seeks to foster “inclusive communities of inquiry, collaboration, creativity, and belonging.”
The Pierce Program in Religion currently includes
Oxford students in the Pierce-sponsored College in Prison program join incarcerated students at Burruss Correctional for discussions of literature, history, philosophy, art, and music.
Social justice (ethics) is a main priority of Pierce, soit supports and collaborates with high-impact, student-driven and faculty-led initiatives that fit within the parameters of Pierce’s social justice mission. Students, faculty, and staff can learn more and apply for a Pierce Social Justice Grant here.
2023 lecture, "Life after Perfect," with Dr. Kate Bowler, a four-time New York Times bestselling author, award-winning podcast host, and Professor of Religious History at Duke University.
This series includes programs and lecturers in interfaith dialogues, religious studies, ethics, and other religion-related subjects.
The 2024 Dana Greene Distinguished Lecturer, Dr. Kevin M. Kruse Professor of History, Princeton University: “Seeking Justice: The Civil Rights Movement and the Federal Government.”
Left to right: Senior Associate Dean Kristin Bonnie, Dean Badia Ahad, Dr. Kruse, Mr. Richard Roesel, Dr. Susan Ashmore, Dr. David Gowler.
This lecture series is in honor and memory of Dr. Dana Greene (1942–2023), former Dean of Oxford College of Emory University, whose life and work epitomize the goals of this lecture series. These lectures strive both to exemplify and encourage various types of intellectual discovery and creativity. They aim to explore not only the content of those intellectual and creative efforts; they also strive to exhibit the personal, professional, communal, and ethical contexts of those endeavors. Oxford faculty members can read the full description and apply to host a Dana Greene Distinguished Lecture here.
2024 Global Connections trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland
Group photo at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Sponsored by the Pierce Program in Religion and housed in the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, Global Connections is a travel experience designed to help students create meaning in their lives and connect their religious and spiritual convictions with social justice issues, including peace, poverty, human rights, and the environment. Click here for more information about Global Connections.
Pierce-sponsored Early Christians and Their Art (Emory Studies in Early Christianity, volume 27, Society of Biblical Literature Press)
Pierce-sponsored Early Christians and Their Art (Emory Studies in Early Christianity, volume 27, Society of Biblical Literature Press).
Emory Studies in Early Christianity and Rhetoric in Religious Antiquity, both published by the Society of Biblical Literature, are book series that investigate early Christian literature in the context of Mediterranean literature, religion, society, and culture.
The Religion faculty offers courses that fulfill general education requirements at Oxford College and Emory College as well as requirements for a religion major or minor, Jewish Studies, and Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS).
- Maren Jill Adams, Associate Teaching Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies
- David B. Gowler, Pierce Chair of Religion
- Eve Mullen, Associate Professor of Religion
- Florian Pohl, Associate Professor of Religion