James Wellman

Contact
- jwellman@uw.edu
- (206) 543-0339
- Thomson 420
- https://sites.uw.edu/jwellman/
- @wellman4444
About
James Wellman is Professor and Chair of the Comparative Religion Program in the Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. In 2017, he received a Five-Year Term Professorship in Global Christianity; this professorship supports his recent initiative to create a Center of Global Christian Studies in the Jackson School. He is also the director the new Carnegie grant on Cross Cultural Religious Literacy. His areas of expertise are in American religious culture, history, and politics. He also works on and teaches in religion and global issues, particularly related to religious violence, human security and US foreign policy. He has received numerous nominations for the Distinguished Teaching Award. Wellman’s publications include an award-winning book, The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto: Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism (Illinois, 1999); edited volumes: Belief and Bloodshed: Religion and Violence Across Time and Tradition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007), and Religion and Human Security: A Global Perspective (Oxford University Press, 2012). His 2008 monograph, Evangelical vs. Liberal: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest (Oxford University Press), received Honorable Mention for the Distinguished Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. In 2012, he published a biography on the megachurch pastor, Rob Bell and the New American Christianity. His forthcoming book, High on God: How the Megachurch Conquered America, will be published with Oxford University Press in 2019. Wellman can be followed on twitter at wellman4444. He is a regular blogger for Patheos.com and can be read at: http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jameswellman/.
Education
- University of Chicago, PhD , Religion and the Human Sciences, 1995
- Princeton Theological Seminary, MDiv, Practical Theology, 1984
- University of Washington, BA, With Distinction, English, Honors Program, 1981
Selected Courses
- CHID 380 Theories Study Religion
- JSIS 202 Cultural Interactions in an Interdependent World
- JSIS 498 Religion, Secularization & International Conflict
- JSIS C 201 Introduction to World Religions: Western Traditions
- JSIS C 205 Religion, Violence, and Peace: Patterns Across Time and Tradition
- JSIS C 254 American Religions
- JSIS C 380 Theories in the Study of Religion: Religion and Modernity in Western Thought
- JSIS C 501 Approaches to the Study of Religion
- JSIS C 502 Religion in Comparative Perspective
- JSIS C 590 American Religion and US Foreign Policy
- RELIG 101 A Life Worth Living: Meaning, Morals and Money
Selected Publications
“God Is Like a Drug…” -Explaining Interaction Ritual Chains in American Megachurches
Publication type:
Article
Co-Author(s):
Katie E. Corcoran and Kate Stockly-Meyerdirk
Published in:
Sociological Forum
Publication Date:
2014
Rob Bell and a New American Christianity
Publication type:
Book
Publisher:
Abingdon Press
Publication Date:
2012
Religion and Human Security -A Global Perspective
Publication type:
Book
Co-Author(s):
Clark Lombardi
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Publication Date:
2012
Evangelical vs. Liberal -The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest
Publication type:
Book
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Publication Date:
2008
Belief and Bloodshed -Religion and Violence across Time and Tradition
Publication type:
Book
Publisher:
Rowman & Littlefield
Publication Date:
2007
Is Religious Violence Inevitable?
Publication type:
Article
Published in:
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Volume 43, Issue 3
Publication Date:
2004
The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto -Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism
Publication type:
Book
Publisher:
University of Illinois Press
Publication Date:
1999