Joshua Wright
Assistant Professor of Religion
Dr. Joshua Wright is an intellectual and cultural historian of modern Christianity, with an emphasis on nineteenth- and twentieth-century American Christianity. His courses include American Jesus, Religion in America, and Christianity and the Arts in the U.S. He also regularly teaches a First Year Seminar titled Divine Comedy: Taking Humor Seriously.
Dr. Wright鈥檚 first book, Comic Belief: How Religion Became a Laughing Matter in Modern America, is forthcoming from New York University Press. It explores how both religious Americans and skeptics 鈥� from Christian theologians and clergy to cartoonists and stand-up comics 鈥� employed humor and satire to influence public attitudes toward institutional Christianity from the mid-twentieth century to the present.
He is currently at work on two additional projects. The first is a study of modernism and the 鈥渁esthetic turn鈥� in twentieth-century theology. The second is a survey of Christian debates about hell and divine love in the modern period.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
- History of American Christianity
- Religion, comedy and satire
- Theology, art and aesthetics
- Religion and American politics
- Secularism and modernity
- Religion, media and print culture
EDUCATION
- Ph.D., the study of religion, Harvard University, 2023
- M.A., religious studies, University of Colorado Boulder, 2016
- M.A.R., philosophy of religion & philosophical theology, Yale Divinity School, 2014
- B.A., politics, philosophy and economics, The King's College, 2012
PUBLICATIONS
- Comic Belief: How Religion Became a Laughing Matter in Modern America, New York University Press, forthcoming
- 鈥淎 Rabbi, A Priest, and a Minister鈥�: Ecumenical Humor in Midcentury 鈥楯udeo-Christian鈥� America, 1945-1965,鈥� Studies in American Humor, forthcoming
SELECTED RECENT PRESENTATIONS
- 鈥淛esus and Jest: Comedy and Christianity in the 1960s,鈥� invited panel presentation, Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Washington University in St. Louis, 2024
- 鈥淪aint Lenny: Lenny Bruce, Countercultural Comedy, and the American Iconography of Spiritual Authenticity,鈥� presentation at American Academy of Religion annual meeting, 2023
- 鈥淯ncivil Irreligion: The Realist and the Satirical Attack on Mid-century 鈥楯udeo-Christian鈥� America,鈥� presentation at Society for US Intellectual History annual meeting, 2021
- 鈥淪atire or Sacrilege? Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You, Religious Dark Comedy, and the 1980s Culture Wars,鈥� presentation at American Academy of Religion annual meeting, 2021
- 鈥淐artooning Religion: Underground Jesus 鈥楥omix,鈥� Satire, and the American Counterculture,鈥� presentation at Harvard鈥揧ale鈥揃rown Conference in Book History, 2021
OUTSIDE THE COLLEGE
Dr. Wright enjoys reading fiction and literary nonfiction, going on walks with his family, and doing some (very) amateur birdwatching. He is a fan of the Denver Broncos.