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DAVID KLINE, Ph.D.
University of Tennessee Department of Religious Studies 515A McClung Tower Knoxville, TN, 37996-0450 USA Phone: (512) 791-1387 Email: [email protected]
EMPLOYMENT
August 2017 to Present American Religion and Modernity (2017-present) Department of Religious Studies University of Tennessee, Knoxville
EDUCATION
Ph.D. Doctor of Philosophy in Religion, Rice University, August 2017
Dissertation: “The Apparatus of Christian Identity: Religious (Auto)Immunity, Political Theology, and the Making of the Racial World” (Passed with Distinction)
Advisor: Anthony B. Pinn
M.A. Master of Arts in Religious Studies, Rice University, 2017
Certificate in Critical and Cultural Theory, Rice University Center for Critical and Cultural Theory (3CT), 2014
M.Div. Master of Divinity, Duke University (Summa Cum Laude), 2012
M.Litt. Master of Letters in Bible and the Contemporary World, St. Andrews University, 2009
B.M. Bachelor of Music, University of Texas at Austin, 2007
AWARDS
F. Stanley Lusby and John O. Hodges Teaching Award for excellence in teaching, University of Tennessee, Academic Year 2018-2019
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Humanities Research Center, Rice University. Public Humanities Initiative (Medical Humanities) Grant for New Courses Taught by Graduate Students, Spring, 2016
Graduate Student Association Travel Grant, Rice University, Spring, 2015
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University of Tennessee, Knoxville:
WGS 493, Independent Study on “Queer Theory and Theology” (Fall 2020)
REST 306, “Contemporary Christian Thought” (Fall 2019)
REST 493, Independent Study on “History, Constructivism, and Theology” (Summer 2019)
REST/AFST 353, “American Religion and Colonialism” (Spring 2019, Spring 2020)
REST/AFST 353, “Religion, Race, and Ethnicity in the Americas” (Fall 2018)
REST/AMST/HIUS 359, “American Religious History” University of Tennessee (Fall 2017-Fall 2020)
REST 102, “Religion and Social Movements in a Global Context” (in class and online) (Fall 2017-Fall 2020)
REST 233, “Religion and Social Movements in North America” (Online) (Summer 2019)
REST/AMST 355, “Christianity and Race” University of Tennessee (Spring 2018)
REST/AMST 355, “American Christianity, Race, and Science” University of Tennessee, (Fall 2017)
University of Texas Health Science Center:
“Introduction to Ethics and Professionalism” University of Texas Health Science Center (Spring 2017)
(With Thomas Cole, Ph.D.) “Climate Change, Film, and Human Life,” McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, University of Texas Health Science Center (Fall, 2016)
(With Thomas Cole, Ph.D. and Susan Pacheco, M.D.) “Climate Change and Human Health: Scientific and Humanistic Perspectives,” McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, University of Texas Health Science Center (Fall 2015, Spring 2016) Kline 3
Rice University: “American Christianity, Race, and Biology, 1700-Present,” Rice University (Spring 2016)
Teaching Assistant: “Hip Hop and Religion,” Rice University (Fall 2013)
Teaching Assistant: “Introduction to Religion,” Rice University (Spring 2014)
Lone Star College:
“Introductory English Composition” (in class and online versions) Lone Star College, Kingwood (Summer 2015)
PUBLICATIONS
Monographs (In progress) Antinomian Flesh: American Religion and Resistance from Puritanism to the Black Radical Tradition
Racism and the Weakness of Christian Identity: Religious Autoimmunity (Routledge, 2020)
Co-Authored Books
Embodiment and Black Religion: Rethinking the Body in African American Religious Experience with CERCL Writing Collective (Equinox Press, 2017).
Edited Volumes
(Under review) Word made Flesh: Sylvia Wynter and Religion, co-edited with Justine Bakker
Book Chapters
“Humanism Against Religion” in The Oxford Handbook of Humanism ed. Anthony B. Pinn, (Oxford University Press, 2020).
“Introducing Climate Change to Medical Students: A Humanities Approach” first author with Thomas Cole and Susan Pacheco in Teaching Health Humanities (Oxford University Press, 2019).
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“Toward a New Humanism in the Age of Anthropogenic Climate Change: On Sylvia Wynter,” first author with Thomas Cole, Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2017).
Peer reviewed Journal Articles
(Under review) “Antinomian Flesh”
“Observing Whiteness: The System of Whiteness and the Religious Fantasy of Absolute Immunity” Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation, and Culture, Forthcoming.
“The Pragmatics of Resistance: Framing Anti-Blackness and the Limits of Political Ontology,” Critical Philosophy of Race Vol. 5 no. 1, January 2017
Online and Public Audience Publications
“Of Spirit, Flesh, and Imagination” The Other Journal, www.theotherjournal.com, June 6, 2020
“Cool Like Martin,” Opinion Piece, The Daily Beacon, January 20, 2020 http://www.utdailybeacon.com/opinion/cool-like-martin/article_2819fe2e-3b8d-11ea- ad9c-d3f8d3156bfd.html
“Studying Together” Opinion Piece, The Daily Beacon, August 28, 2019. http://www.utdailybeacon.com/opinion/letters_to_editor/studying- together/article_1e49ecb6-c995-11e9-94fd-ef48b04d44e1.html
“The History of Religion, Race and American Identity” Opinion Piece, The Daily Beacon, April 5, 2018. http://www.utdailybeacon.com/opinion/the-history-of-religion- race-and-american-identity/article_971f32a4-3896-11e8-81f5-9374530657fc.html
“Race, Theology, and the Politics of Abjection: An Interview with J. Kameron Carter,” The Other Journal, www.theotherjournal.com, March 26, 2012
“The Banal Road to Perdition: Cliché, Political Failure, and What the Tea Party can Teach Us” with Daniel Rhodes, The Other Journal, www.theotherjournal.com, March 15, 2012.
“The Grammys as White Nostalgia?” Racialicious, www.racialicious.com, March 1, 2012
Book Reviews
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Review of Gil Anidjar, Blood: A Critique of Christianity” (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), Religious Studies Review 42 no 3 Sep 2016, p. 194
Review of Ward Blanton, A Materialism for the Masses: St. Paul and the Philosophy of Undying Life” (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014), Religious Studies Review 42 no 3 Sep 2016, p. 194
CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS
“Autopoiesis and Auto-religion: Sylvia Wynter’s Philosophy of Religion,” (Philosophy of Religion Unit, “Sylvia Wynter and the Philosophy of Religion), American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, San Diego, November 2019
“You have power over my body, but the Lord Jesus Christ hath power over my body and Soul: Anne Hutchinson and early American Biopolitics,” Political Theology Network Conference, Union Seminary, New York City, October 2019
“Heretical Humanities: Thinking a New Human Future with Sylvia Wynter” Critical Race Symposium (Panel: Critical Race Theory in the Arts and Humanities), University of Tennessee, Knoxville, April 2019
“Can the Ship be Steered? On Sylvia Wynter, Religion, and Autopoietic Social Systems” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, (Wildcard Session, “Sylvia Wynter and Religion”), Denver, Colorado, November, 2018
“Out of the Shipwreck: Musical Drifts and Descents" American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, (Theology and the Arts), Denver, Colorado, November, 2018
“The Fugitive and the Katechon: Escaping Political Theology” Political Theology Network Inaugural Conference, Emory University, Atlanta, February 2018
“Humanism and the Anthropocene: On Sylvia Wynter” Health Humanities Consortium: Diversity, Cultures, and Health Humanities, Houston, Texas, March, 2017
“Resisting White American Christian Immunity: Genre, System, Observation” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference, (Theology and Continental Philosophy Section), San Antonio, Texas, November, 2016
“Teaching Climate Change to Medical Students” with Thomas Cole and Susan Pacheco, Cambridge Consortium for Bioethical Education, Paris, France, July, 2016
“Theological Resistance within the Biopolitical and the Autoimmunization of Apocalyptic” Society for Literature, Science and Arts Annual Conference: After Biopolitics, Houston, Texas, November 2015
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“Protecting Apocalypse: The New Apocalyptic and the (Auto) Immunization of the Christ Event” Subverting the Norm III: Political Perspectives on Postmodern Theology and Church Practices, Springfield, Missouri, November 2015
“Sovereignty, State Racism, and Contemporary White Supremacy in the United States: Reflections on J. Kameron Carter’s Political Theology” American Academy of Religion Annual Conference (Theology and Continental Philosophy Section), San Diego, California, November, 2014
“The Inverse Theology of Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” American Academy of Religion Southwest Regional Meeting (Arts, Literature, and Religion Panel), Dallas, TX, March, 2013.
“Hegemony, Civil Society, and the Racialized Subject,” Reading Classical Social Theory Conference, Rice University, Houston, TX, December 2012.
INVITED PUBLIC, CLASS LECTURES, AND PANELS
“Christianity and Anti-Semitism,” Panelist for Veritas Forum on Anti-Semitism within Christian history and thought, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, February 27, 2020
“White Christianity and the Auction Block,” Veritas Forum, “After the Weeping Time: Hope and Resilience in a Nation Marked by Slavery,” with Dr. Anne C. Bailey, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, February 28, 2019
“The Theological Legacy of James Cone” Church Street United Methodist Church, Race and Religion group, October 15, 2018
“What White Christians Can Learn from Black Lives Matter,” Church Street United Methodist Church, Summer Lecture Series, June 24, 2018
“Political Theology and Race in America,” College Scholars Seminar, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, January 31, 2018
“Race and Contemporary Medicine: The New Genetics of Racial Identity,” Rice Medical Humanities Student Club, March 21, 2016
“St. Paul, Post-modern Philosopher,” Rice University, “St. Paul” class, October 20, 2015
“Evangelical Hip Hop and the New Christianity,” Rice University, Hip Hop and Religion class, November 7, 2013
“Political Theology,” University of Houston, “Introduction to Christianity” class, March 14, 2014 Kline 7
“Christianity and the Discovery of the New World,” University of Houston, “Introduction to Bible” class, March 19, 2013
RELEVANT WORK AND SERVICE EXPERIENCE
Lecturers’ Representative, Lecturer Committee, Religious Studies Department, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Fall 2019 to present)
Faculty Sponsor, Interfaith Network at the University of Tennessee, student organization (Spring 2017 to Spring 2018)
Producer and Coordinator, “UTK Religion Podcast Series,” University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Religious Studies Department. See https://soundcloud.com/user-856842937
Committee Member, Kaelynn Stewart Senior Project, “Holler!” (Novel on southern identity and religion), University of Tennessee Honors College, Spring 2019
Committee Member, Peyton White Senior Project, “Sermon Linguistics and Race,” University of Tennessee Honors College, Fall 2019 – Spring 2020
Research Associate, McGovern Center for Humanities and Ethics, University of Texas Health Science Center, June 2015-July 2017 • Conducted research and organized events for ongoing project on Climate Change, Human Health, and the Humanities, with Dr. Thomas Cole • Developed and Co-Taught courses in Medical Humanities, Ethics, and Environment in UTHSC Medical School
Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL), Rice University, 2012-2017 • Organized and judged an annual Houston area high school essay contest • Organized and lead an annual essay-writing workshop for Houston area high school students • Coordinated visiting scholar lecturers as part of the African American Religious Studies Forum speaker series at Rice University • Produced and coordinated podcast interview series “What’s the Thesis?” for African American Religious Studies forum visiting speakers (https://www.cercl.rice.edu/afamforum)
Research Assistant, Dr. J. Kameron Carter, Duke University (May 2011-May 2012) • Conducted research for ongoing book project on Political Theology and Race • Helped write Grant Proposal for National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Stipend Program
The Other Journal, Theology Editor, 2011-2013 Kline 8
• Recruited and edited essays, interviews, and book reviews for “Theology Section” of journal
LANGUAGES
French (Basic Reading)
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS
American Academy of Religion
Political Theology Network
REFERENCES
Anthony B. Pinn, Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University [email protected] 713.348.2710
Elias Bongmba, Harry and Hazel Chavanne Chair in Christian Theology and Professor of Religious Studies, Rice University [email protected] 713.348.2759
Cary Wolfe, Bruce and Elizabeth Dunlevie Professor of English and Director of 3CT, Center for Critical and Cultural Theory, Rice University [email protected] 713.348.4582