MOLLY WORTHEN [email protected] Department of History CB# 3195, Hamilton Hall, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599

EMPLOYMENT

Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of North Carolina Fall 2012 to present

Lecturer, Toronto School of , University of Toronto Fall 2011 to Spring 2012

Instructor, Yale University Spring 2010

EDUCATION

PhD, American Religious History, Yale University, awarded with Distinction, 2011

MPhil and MA, American Religious History, Yale University, 2008

BA in History, Yale University, Magna cum Laude, with Distinction in the Major, 2003

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Books

Apostles of Reason: The Crisis of Authority in American (Oxford University Press, 2013)

The Man On Whom Nothing Was Lost: The Grand Strategy of Charles Hill (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Book Chapters, Refereed Articles, and Review Essays

“The Theological Origins of the Christian Right,” in Julian Zelizer, Andrew Preston, and Bruce Schulman, eds., Faithful Republic: Religion and Politics in Modern America (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015), 101-117.

“The Recovery of American Liberal Religion,” Modern Intellectual History vol. 11, no. 2 (August 2014), 505- 518.

“The National Association of Evangelicals,” in Oxford Encyclopedia of American Social History (Oxford University Press, 2012).

“The Chalcedon Problem: Rousas John Rushdoony and the Origins of Christian Reconstructionism,” Church History 77:2 (June 2008), 399-437.

Mainstream Print Media

Affiliations

Contributing opinion writer, New York Times [Spring 2015 to present]

Worthen 2 Articles

“Stop Saying ‘I Feel Like,’” New York Times, May 1, 2016 “Who Are the Gay Evangelicals?” New York Times, February 27, 2016 “Hallelujah College,” New York Times, January 17, 2016 “Lecture Me. Really.” New York Times, October 17, 2015 “Donald Trump and the Rise of the Moral Minority,” New York Times, September 26, 2015 “A Rise in Secular Libertarianism, Not Liberalism,” New York Times, June 29, 2015 “Wanted: A Theology of Atheism,” New York Times, May 30, 2015 “Onward, Christian Healthcare?” New York Times, January 31, 2015 “The Election in North Carolina is Not About Nothing,” New York Times, November 4, 2014 “Charismatic Catholicism is Alive and Well,” Crux (Boston Globe), September 26, 2014 “As Vermont Goes, So Goes the Nation?” New York Times, April 6, 2014 “Francis and His Predecessors,” American Prospect, March/April 2014 “Texas Textbooks: A Case Study for Creationism’s Staying Power,” Religion & Politics, January 14, 2014 “Billy Graham and the Fracture of American Evangelicalism” Christian Century blog, November 13, 2013 “How Billy Graham Became an American Icon,” CNN.com, November 9, 2013 “Single Moms with Family Values,” New York Times, October 27, 2013 “Love Thy Stranger As Thyself,” New York Times, May 11, 2013 “One Nation Under God?” New York Times, December 22, 2012 “The Power of Political Communion,” New York Times, September 15, 2012 “Southern Baptist Convergence,” New York Times, June 18, 2012 “John Stott, C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien: Why American Evangelicals Love the British,” Religion & Politics, May 1, 2012 “Leaps of Faith,” New York Times, March 1, 2012 “The First Principles of Rick Santorum,” New York Times, February 9, 2012 “The Complicated History of Catholics, Protestants, and Contraceptives,” Slate, February 9, 2012 “Can the GOP Become the Party of the Working Mom?” Slate, December 5, 2011 “Who Is John Galt and Why Is He On Lululemon Bags?” Slate, November 18, 2011 “Brother’s Keepers,” Foreign Policy, August 2, 2011 “Sign Here, and Here, and Here,” Slate, July 13, 2011 “The Missionary Position,” Foreign Policy, June 13, 2011 “Thou Shalt (Sometimes) Kill,” Foreign Policy, May 11, 2011 “Housewives of God,” New York Times Magazine, November 14, 2010 “The Reformer,” Christianity Today, October 2010 (cover story) “The Controversialist,” Christianity Today, April 2009 “Who Would Smack Down?” New York Times Magazine, January 6, 2009 “Not Your Father’s L’Abri,” Christianity Today, March 2008 “The Unexpected Monks,” Boston Globe, February 3, 2008 “Onward Christian Scholars,” New York Times Magazine, Sept. 30, 2007 “Sects Appeal: Evangelicals v. Mormons,” New Republic, Nov. 20, 2006

Mainstream Multimedia “Life in the Public Square: The Life and Thought of Richard John Neuhaus” (panel discussion on CBC Radio show Ideas, broadcast May 5, 2015)

History of Christianity II: From the Reformation to the Rise of Evangelicalism (36-lecture course for the Teaching Company’s Great Courses series, scheduled for release in 2018)

Book Reviews Review of Todd Brenneman, Homespun Gospel: The Triumph of Sentimentality in Contemporary American Evangelicalism. Church History Vol. 84, No. 1 (March 2015), 281-283.

2 Worthen 3 Review of Austen Ivereigh, The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope. New York Times Book Review, December 21, 2014. Review of Randall Balmer, Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter and Jimmy Carter, A Call to Action: Women, Religion, Violence, and Power. New York Times Book Review, June 5, 2014 Review of George Marsden, The Twilight of the American Enlightenment: The 1950s and the Crisis of Liberal Belief. Democracy, Spring 2014 Review of David R. Swartz, Moral Minority: The Evangelical Left in an Age of Conservatism. New York Times Book Review, September 28, 2012 Review of T.M. Luhrmann, When God Talks Back: Understanding the American Evangelical Relationship with God. New York Times Book Review, April 29, 2012 Review of Randall Stephens and Karl Giberson, The Anointed: Evangelical Truth in a Secular Age. New York Times Book Review, January 8, 2012 Review of Jeffrey Owen Jones and Peter Meyer, The Pledge: A History of the Pledge of Allegiance. The Book (online review of The New Republic), February 7, 2011 Review of Susan Herbst, Rude Democracy: Civility and Incivility in American Politics. The Book, September 1, 2010 Review of Andrew S. Finstuen, Original Sin and Everyday Protestants: The Theology of , Billy Graham, and Paul Tillich in an Age of Anxiety. Books & Culture, September/October 2010, 24. Review of Marci McDonald, The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada. Toronto Globe & Mail, May 14, 2010, F10. Review of Claude S. Fischer, Made In America: A Social History of American Culture and Character. The Book, May 13, 2010

INVITED LECTURES

“Inside the Mind of the Christian Right: A Deep History of the Culture Wars,” Lehigh University (Connell Lecture), April 14, 2016 “The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism,” Gordon College (Crum Lecture), April 7, 2016 “Evangelicals and the Authority Problem,” Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, April 7, 2016 “The Curious History of the Christian Worldview: Theological Origins of the Culture Wars,” Messiah College (Schrag Lecture), Mar. 17, 2016 “Adventures in Ideas: American Christianity,” UNC Program in the Humanities, Feb. 12-13, 2016 “Religion and Politics in 2016: Reports from the Trenches,” Duke University, Jan. 21, 2016 “The Theological Origins of America’s Culture War,” Northwestern University, Nov. 9, 2015 “The Crisis of Authority in American Evangelicalism,” John Locke Foundation, July 13, 2015 “In Secularism We Trust?” Fordham University (Peter and Margaret Steinfels Lecture), Nov. 18, 2014 “Inside the Mind of the Christian Right,” University of Tennessee at Knoxville (Charles O. Jackson Memorial Lecture), Nov. 6, 2014 “Holy Minded: Evangelicals and the Problem of Anti-Intellectualism,” University of California at Berkeley, April 17, 2014 “Inside the Mind of the Christian Right: A Deep History of the Culture Wars,” University of Montana, March 11, 2014 “Women in American Religious History,” University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Nov. 16, 2013 “Holy Minded: Evangelicals and the Problem of Anti-Intellectualism,” University of Calgary (Christian Thought Lecture), Nov. 5, 2013 “Culture War and the Continental Divide: Rival Evangelicalisms in North American Life,” University of Calgary (Lecture in Christian Thought), Nov. 4, 2013 “Do You Really Need Theology to Explain the Christian Right?” Princeton University, March 11, 2013 “Land of Pilgrim’s Pride: American Exceptionalism and the Rise of the Christian Right,” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Oct. 6, 2012 “From Cold War to Culture War: Evangelicals and the Intersection of Politics and Ideas,” University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Feb. 9, 2012

3 Worthen 4 “From Cold War to Culture War: Evangelicals and the Intersection of Politics and Ideas,” Stanford University, Jan. 30, 2012 “From Cold War to Culture War: Evangelicals and the Intersection of Politics and Ideas,” George Mason University, Jan. 26, 2012 “Evangelicals and Foreign Affairs: Four Myths,” Boston University, December 5, 2011 “The Culture Wars: Reality and Rhetoric,” Yale College, March 31, 2010 “Culture Wars,” Amherst College, Amherst, Mass., May 5, 2009 “Jesus For President: Faith, Politics, and Why Americans Can’t Keep Them Apart,” University of Alberta (Edmonton), November 4, 2008 “The Renaissance of the Evangelical Mind,” The King’s University College (Edmonton), November 4, 2008 “Jesus For President,” University of Alberta (Camrose), November 3, 2008 “Jesus For President,” California State University (Chico), October 27, 2008 “Introduction to Mormon History and Theology,” Yale Divinity School, Oct. 30, 2007 “Facing Charlie: Biography and the Living Subject,” Yale University (Franke Lecture in the Humanities), March 21, 2006

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PANELS

“ and American Evangelicals.” Paper for Conference on Luther: Forgotten and Neglected Aspects of his Life and Work,” Northwestern University, Nov. 8, 2015.

“The Theological Turn in Intellectual History.” Roundtable presentation for the 2014 meeting of the Society for U.S. Intellectual History, Oct. 11, 2014.

“Defining Evangelicalism: Questions that Complement the ‘Quadrilateral.’” Paper for the 2014 meeting of the Conference on Faith and History, Sept. 26, 2014.

“Faith in 2024,” Roundtable presentation for the Aspen Ideas Festival, June 28, 2014.

“Religion and U.S. Foreign Relations.” Roundtable presentation for the 2014 meeting of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, June 20, 2014.

“The Cultural Turn in Evangelical Missions.” Response paper for the Danforth Distinguished Lecture Series, John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics at Washington University, Nov. 19, 2013

“Evangelicals, Hippies, and the Politics of Community.” Paper for the 2013 meeting of the Society for U.S. Intellectual History, Nov. 2, 2013.

“Is Evangelical an American Word? Mapping an Elusive Concept.” Roundtable presentation for the 2013 meeting of the Society for U.S. Intellectual History, Nov. 2, 2013.

“Culture War as State of Nature.” Paper for Historiographical Heresy: A Conference on the Legacy of Jon Butler, April 6, 2013.

“‘Plain-Folk Religion:’ Theology’s Place in a Political Story.” Paper for the 2013 meeting of the American Historical Association (Conference on Faith and History), Jan. 5, 2013.

“Barth, the Niebuhrs, and Other Demons: The American Evangelical Problem with Evil in the Twentieth Century.” Paper for the 2013 meeting of the American Historical Association, Jan. 4, 2013.

“God's New Grand Narrative: The Intellectual Mobilization of the Religious Right, 1970-2000.” Paper for the 2011 meeting of the American Historical Association, Jan. 7, 2011; also organized panel, “Sacred Politics: Rethinking the Rise of the Religious Right.” 4 Worthen 5

“Evangelicals and Edinburgh: The Fall and Rise of Conservative American Ecumenism.” Paper for the 2010 meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Oct. 30, 2010.

SELECTED AWARDS AND HONORS

Religion Newswriters’ Association Nonfiction Book Award, First Place, 2015. Prize for best nonfiction book of the year pertaining to the study of religion. Theron Rockwell Field Prize, 2011. University-wide award for “best poetic, literary, or religious work of scholarship.” Jacob K. Javits Fellowship, 2006-2010. U.S. government award to support doctoral studies and research. John Morton Blum Fellowship, 2009. Fellowship to support doctoral research in Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri and Tennessee. John F. Enders Fellowship, 2009. Fellowship to support doctoral research in locations listed above. Haynes/Historical Society of Southern California Research Stipend, 2009. Fellowship to support doctoral research in California. Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Humanistic Studies, 2005-2006. Fellowship to support doctoral studies. Kingsley Fellowship, 2001. Fellowship to support independent ethnographic fieldwork in Russian Orthodox Old Believers’ community in rural northern Alberta.

COURSES TAUGHT

History of Religion in North America Modern American Intellectual History Global Evangelicalism since 1600 Sin and Evil in Modern America History of Christianity Since 1648 (graduate) History of Christianity in North America (graduate) Problems in American Religious History (graduate) Introductory Colloquium in United States History since 1865 (graduate)

UNIVERSITY SERVICE

Editor, Department Historian (History Department biannual electronic newsletter), Fall 2014 to present Member, Chair’s Advisory Committee, Fall 2015 to present Member, Faculty Advisory Board, Program in the Humanities and Human Values Member, Graduate Studies Committee, Fall 2012—Spring 2014

STUDENT ADVISING AND COMMITTEES

Ph.D. Thesis Advisor for Francesca Langer, History (since 2016) Ph.D. Thesis Advisor for Joseph Block, History (since 2015) Ph.D. Examination Committee for Samuel Finesurrey, History (since 2015) Ph.D. Examination Committee for Joshua Tait, History (since 2015) Ph.D. Examination Committee for Ashley Mays, History (Ph.D. 2014) Ph.D. Examination Committee for Jennifer Donnelly, History (Ph.D. 2013) M.A. Examination Committee for Elizabeth Sawyer, History (M.A., 2013)

5 Worthen 6 Undergraduate Honors Thesis Advisor for Thomas Wolf (Fall 2013—Spring 2014) Undergraduate Honors Thesis Advisor for Eric Medlin (Fall 2013—Spring 2014)

ADDITIONAL PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

TIME Magazine, reporting intern, June-August 2003. Reported and wrote articles for the “Notebook” section.

Toledo Blade, reporting intern, June-August 2002. Reported for city and suburban news desks.

Dallas Morning News, reporting intern, March 2002. Reporter for Religion and Metropolitan desks.

LANGUAGES

Russian: reading knowledge Old Church Slavic: limited reading knowledge German: reading knowledge Spanish: reading knowledge

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