Zachary Thomas Settle Graduate Department of Religion, Vanderbilt University 411 21st Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37240 [email protected]
Education
Vanderbilt University: PhD in Theological Studies Anticipated Completion Date: March 2020 Minor Concentration: Philosophy Dissertation: “On the Use of the Self: The Economic Implications of Theological Anthropology.” Committee: Paul DeHart (adviser), Ellen Armour, Bruce Morrill, Laurel Schneider, D. Stephen Long
Vanderbilt University: M.A. in Theological Studies Completed Fall 2018
University of Denver: M.A. in Religious Studies Concentration in Philosophy of Religion. Completed June 2014: Summa Cum Laude
Union University: B.A. in Philosophy & Theology (Double Major), Union University. Completed May 2012: Magna cum Laude
Research Areas
Theology & Economics (method, formal analysis, labor, distribution, criticism); Systematic Theology (creation, divine/human agencies, God-world relation, theological anthropology, eschatology); Historical Theology (Origen, Cappadocians, Augustine, Aquinas, Barth, Moltmann); Augustinian Studies; Liberation theology; Contemporary theology; Political theology; Theology and film
Publications
Edited Book:
2016 Dreams, Doubt, and Dread: A Spiritual Phenomenology of Film. Eds. Taylor Worley and Zachary Thomas Settle. Seattle, WA: Cascade. Reviews: Journal of Religion and Film 21.2 (2017).
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles:
2019 “Using the Fruits of the World: An Augustinian Economic Proposal” [Under review]
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2019 “Spinning Survival with Witch Words: Or What Mary Daly Taught Me About Theological Language,” Feminist Studies in Religion 35.2.
2014 “Miracles and Militancy,” with Tim Isaacson, The Journal for Cultural and Religious Theory 14.1, 84-103.
Book Chapters:
2020 “The Plasticity of Neoliberal Subjectivity: A Theological Treatment of Capitalism’s Formation of Selfhood,” in Media-ting Religion, edited by Jione Havea. Minneapolis, MN: Lexington & Fortress Press (forthcoming).
2016 “James Baldwin and The Political Possibilities of Film: Perpetuating and Disrupting the White Gaze” in Dreams, Doubt, and Dread: A Spiritual Phenomenology of Film, edited by Taylor Worley and Zachary Thomas Settle. Seattle, WA: Cascade.
2016 “Thinking How Film Feels,” co-authored with Taylor Worley in Dreams, Doubt, and Dread: A Spiritual Phenomenology of Film, edited by Taylor Worley and Zachary Thomas Settle. Seattle, WA: Cascade.
2016 “Indeterminable Forgiveness: Economic Madness and The Possibility of an Impossible Task” in Forgiveness and Philosophy, edited by Court Lewis. Wilmington, DE: Vernon Press.
Book Reviews:
2019 Against the Academics: St. Augustine’s Cassiciacum Dialogues, Volume 1, translated by Michael P. Foley, Augustinian Studies [forthcoming].
2015 Bonhoeffer’s Black Jesus: Harlem Renaissance Theology and an Ethic of Resistance by Reggie L. Williams, The Other Journal. Vol. 25: Trauma.
2014 Nietzsche, Psychology and First Philosophy by Robert B. Pippin, Essays in Philosophy, Vol. 15.1
2013 Gilles Deleuze & Félix Guattari: Intersecting Lives by François Dosse, Essays in Philosophy Vol. 14.2
Non-Refereed:
2020 “On Time, Memory, Family, and Place: An Interview with Wendell Berry.” Wendell Berry and Zachary Settle. The Other Journal, Vol. 32: Family. [forthcoming]
2018 “The Theological Legacy of Money and Debt: An Interview with Devin Singh.” Devin Singh and Zachary Settle. The Other Journal, Vol. 30: Authority.
2016 “Kinpolitics and the Figure of the Migrant: An Interview with Thomas Nail.” Thomas Nail and Zachary Settle. The Other Journal, Vol. 26: Sport.
2015 “The Cinematic Experience as Experiment.” The Other Journal Vol. 24.5 “Sundance Issue.”
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2015 “The Politics of Consumption: Re-imagining a Politic of Participation.” Curator.
2015 “Questioning Our Vision: Learning to See with David Hammons.” Curator.
2014 “On the Possibility of Death in Advent.” The Other Journal: Vol. 25: Trauma.
2014 “Towards a Material Belief.” The Other Journal. Vol. 23: Bodies.
2014 “The New Iraq War and Agamben’s State of Exception” Critical Theology.
2013 “Overcoming Metaphysics: Overcoming Racial Oppression.” The Other Journal. Vol. 22: Marxism. Mentioned in the New York Times’ ‘Stone’ Philosophy Column, edited by Simon Critchley.
Editorial Introductions:
2019 “Family,” The Other Journal. (With Justin Phillips, Dan Rhodes, and Andrew David). Vol. 32.
2019 “Time, History, and Eschatology,” (with Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 31.
2018 “Authority,” (with Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal. Vol. 30.
2017 “Environment,” (with Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 28.
2016 “Identity,” (with Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 27.
2015 “Sport,” (with Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 26.
2015 “Into the Noise at Sundance” (with Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 25.5.
2015 “Trauma,” (with Tom Ryan, Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 25.
2014 “Geography,” (with Tom Ryan, Dan Rhodes and Andrew David) The Other Journal: Vol. 24.
Works in Progress:
The Use of the World [manuscript in preparation].
“Becoming Worthy of the Wonder: Thinking with and Beyond Rahner On Origen’s Doctrine of the Spiritual Senses.” [essay in preparation]
“Reading & Narrative Selfhood: An Augustinian Analysis of David Foster Wallace’s The Broom of the System.” [essay in preparation].
“Working with Affection: On the Eco-economic Witness of Wendell Berry.” [essay in preparation].
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Grants, Awards, and Fellowships
2019 Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza New Scholar Award (First Place), Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion
2019 Graduate Research Fellowship, Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice at Vanderbilt
2018 Annual Meeting Travel Grant, American Academy of Religion
2018 Travel Grant, Barth Graduate Student Colloquium at Princeton Theological
2018 Annual Meeting Travel Grant, American Academy of Religion
2017-20 Graduate Student Travel Grant, Vanderbilt University
2017-19 Doctoral Fellowship, Louisville Institute (Lilly Foundation)
2015-16 Doris K. & William E. Farley Scholarship for Constructive Theology at Vanderbilt
2015-20 Vanderbilt University Fellowship: Comprehensive Support for Doctoral Study
2015 Graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Denver
2012-14 Arts and Humanities Dean’s Scholarship, University of Denver
2018 Academic Merit: Highest GPA in Religious Studies, University of Denver
2018 Inducted into Theta Alpha Kappa chapter, University of Denver
2012 Union University School of Theology’s Philosophy and Theology Award
2012 Union University Academic Excellence Medal (Philosophy)
2012 Union University Academic Excellence Medal (Theology)
Presentations
Peer-Reviewed Conference Presentations:
2019 “Labor in Liturgical Terms: Augustine and Agamben on The Role of Monastic Work” Presented in Augustine and Augustinianisms Theology section at The American Academy of Religion.
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2019 “Augustine and the End of Labor” Presented at Fellowship of Protestant Ethics’ Annual Meeting at the University of Notre Dame.
2019 “Labor as Liturgy: On the Economic Implications of Augustine’s Theological Anthropology” Presented at the “Signs of the Times: A Conference on Christianity and Socialism,” jointly hosted by the Baylor’s Department of Religion, Department of Religious Studies, and the Maguire Chair in Ethics at Southern Methodist University.
2019 “Human Being as Laboring Animal: Derrida and Augustine on the Work of the Animals” Presented at the 2018 Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion’s (regional AAR) annual conference.
2018 “Organizing the End: An Eschatological Analysis of Worker Self-Directed Enterprises.” Presented at the Class, Religion, and Theology unit at the American Academy of Religion.
2018 “Being New in the Old: Barth on Dialectical Being in Romans 5,” Presented at Princeton’s Center for Barth Studies’ 2018 Barth Graduate Student Colloquium: August 9, 2018.
2018 “The Plasticity of Neoliberal Subjectivity: A Theological Treatment of Capitalism’s Formation of Selfhood,” Presented at Discernment and Radical Engagement (DARE) (Council for World Mission) Global Forum in Mexico City, May 2018.
2017 Panelist for discussion on Dreams, Doubt, and Dread: The Spiritual in Film, edited by Zachary Thomas Settle and Taylor Worley. Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Breakout Session at the American Academy of Religion.
2017 “Spinning Survival: What Mary Daly Taught Me About Theological Language.” Joint Session between Feminist Theory & Religious Reflection Unit and Women of Color Scholarship, Teaching, and Activism Unit at the American Academy of Religion.
2016 “The Spectacle, Mediated Sociality, and the Primacy of the Economic” at the Virginia Graduate Colloquium in Theology, Ethics and Culture.
2016 “Historical Materialism, Confession, and the Articulation of Atrocity” at the Southeastern World History Association 2016 annual conference.
2016 “James Baldwin and the Politics of Film: Rupturing Screened Whiteness” at the 2016 Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion’s (regional AAR) annual conference.
2015 “American Racism, Homo Sacer, and the Coming of the Third” at Harvard Divinity’s 2015 “Ways of Knowing” Theology Conference.
2015 “Questioning Our Vision: Learning to See with David Hammons” at the Between Two Worlds: Contemporary Art and the Church, 2015 Biennial CIVA conference.
2015 “The Politics of Consumption: Reimagining a Politic of Participation” at the Festival of Faith & Music, March 30 2015, hosted by Calvin College.
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2014 “The Task of the Philosopher: A Generative Critic” at the University of Denver’s “Beyond the Silos” Graduate Fair.
2012 Overcoming Metaphysics: Overcoming Racial Oppression.” Presented at Union University’s 2012 Scholarship Symposium.
2011 “The Problem of the Self in the Social and Christological Thought of Bonhoeffer and Kierkegaard.” Presented at Union University’s 2011 Scholarship Symposium.
Invited Presentations/Panels:
2019 “Augustine and the Gift of an Impossible Autobiography.” Presented at St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church Theology on Tap Series.
2018 “Films to Teach and Preach With.” Participant on the Assembly: Political Theology Podcast. Episode 05.
2018 “Get Out from Three Billboards!” Participant on the Assembly: Political Theology Podcast. Episode 04.
2015 “The Spectacle, Mediated Sociality, and the Primacy of the Economic,” presented to the Women’s and Gender Studies Group’s Monthly Colloquia Series at Vanderbilt University.
2014 Panel participant for the screening and discussion of Silenced, in the ‘HumanDocs’ series at Lipscomb University, hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences.
Guest Lectures:
2017-18 “Aquinas, Divine Simplicity, and the Possibility of Theological Knowledge,” presented in Laurel Schneider’s “Introduction to Christian Theology” at Vanderbilt University.
2017 “The Imperial Context of Christology’s Development,” presented in David Michelson’s “Formations of Christian Traditions” at Vanderbilt Divinity School.
2015 “Emmanuel Levinas and First Philosophy” in Gregory Alan Thornbury’s “Continental Philosophy” at The Kings College.
2014 “The Bible and the Moral Argumentation: Justice,” presented in Dr. Justin Phillips’ “Understanding the Bible.” Belmont University.
2012 “The Prophetic Genius of Wendell Berry,” in Dr. Richard Goode’s “Freshmen Seminar” at Lipscomb University.
2011 “The Barthian Divide,” in Dr. Taylor Worley’s “Introduction to Christian Doctrine” at Union University.
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Editorial Experience
Editorial Offices: 2014-20 Theology Editor, The Other Journal 2013-14 Assistant Theology Editor, The Other Journal
Edited Journal Issues: 2020 “Family,” The Other Journal: Vol. 32. 2019 “Time, History, and Eschatology,” The Other Journal: Vol. 31. 2018 “Authority,” The Other Journal: Vol. 30. 2017 “Health/Care,” The Other Journal: Vol. 29. 2017 “Environment,” The Other Journal: Vol. 28. 2016 “Identity & Election,” The Other Journal: Vol. 27. 2016 “Sport,” The Other Journal: Vol. 26. 2015 “Encounter,” The Other Journal: Vol. 25.5 2015 “Trauma,” The Other Journal: Vol. 25. 2015 “Into the Noise at Sundance,” The Other Journal: Vol. 24.4 2014 “Geography,” The Other Journal: Vol. 24. 2013 “Bodies,” The Other Journal: Vol. 23. 2013 “Marxism,” The Other Journal: Vol. 23.
Teaching Experience
Tennessee Prison for Women (via Lipscomb LIFE Program) “Great Ideas in Philosophy” Instructor: Spring 2020 “Liberation Theology” Instructor, Life Workshop: Fall 2012
Lipscomb University “Ancient & Medieval Philosophy” Instructor: Fall 2019 “Mistakes Were Made: Ethics & US History” Co-Instructor: 2015-19 (taught 5x)
Belmont University “Introduction to Ethics” Instructor: 2020 (taught 2x) “Introduction to Philosophy” Instructor: 2018-2019 (taught 4x)
Vanderbilt University, Programs for Talented Youth “Philosophy of Film” Instructor: Summer 2018 “Philosophy and Contemporary Media” Instructor: Summer 2018 “Rhetoric & Writing in the Digital Age” Instructor: Fall 2018 “Consumerism & Identity” Instructor: Summer 2017 “Consumerism & American Culture” Instructor: Summer 2017
Vanderbilt Divinity School “Constructive Christian Theology” Teaching Assistant with Bruce Morrill “Formations of Christian Traditions” Teaching Assistant with David Michelson
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“Between God and the Excluded” Teaching Assistant with Joerg Rieger
Union University “Philosophy of Film” Teaching Assistant with Taylor Worley “Christian Doctrine” Teaching Assistant with Taylor Worley “Beauty” Teaching Assistant with Taylor Worley “Contemporary Christian Life & Practice” Teaching Assistant with Taylor Worley “New Testament” Teaching Assistant with Taylor Worley “Old Testament” Teaching Assistant with Taylor Worley
Pedagogical Training
2018 Certificate in Humanities Teaching and Learning: Vanderbilt Center for Teaching 2017 Vanderbilt University: Instruction Training, Programs for Talented Youth 2015 Vanderbilt Graduate School: Teaching Assistant Orientation and Training
Academic Service
2019- Co-Host of the ASSEMBLY Podcast, Political Theology Network 2019- Strategic Planning Committee: Fellowship of Protestant Ethics 2019-20 Research Assistant for Dr. Ellen Armour, Vanderbilt University 2017-19 Research Assistant for Dr. Joerg Rieger, Vanderbilt University 2017-19 Class, Religion, and Theology (AAR Unit) Communications Moderator 2016-17 Theology Colloquia Facilitator: Vanderbilt Graduate Department of Religion 2015 Session Moderator: Calvin College Festival of Faith & Music 2014 Workshop Facilitator: Lipscomb LIFE Academy at Tennessee Prison for Women 2011 Faculty and Staff Orientation Student Leadership Panel: Union University 2009-12 Research Assistant for Dr. Taylor Worley, Union University 2009-12 Student Leadership Association at Union University: Member
Ministry // Related Professional Experience
2019-21 Undergoing ordination process in Episcopal church 2019-20 Theology on Tap Organizer & Speaker: St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN 2018-19 3rd – 4th Grade Sunday School Teacher: St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN 2018-19 West Nashville Contemporary Fiction Club 2018-19 Stewardship Committee Member: St. Bartholomew’s Episcopal Church, Nashville, TN 2018 Weekly Volunteer and Book-Club Participant at Riverbend Maximum Security Prison
Languages
English: native French: reading German: reading
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Koine Greek: reading Latin: reading
Professional Memberships
American Academy of Religion Society of Christian Ethics Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (Regional AAR) Fellowship for Protestant Ethics Theta Alpha Kappa
References (contact information available upon request)
Paul DeHart Professor of Theology Vanderbilt University
Ellen Armour E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Chair in Feminist Theology Vanderbilt University
Bruce Morrill Edward A. Malloy Chair of Catholic Studies Vanderbilt University
Laurel Schneider Professor of Religious Studies Vanderbilt University
Richard Goode Professor of History Lipscomb University
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