Profile

Evan Berry

Assistant Professor
Department of Philosophy and Religion

  • Evan Berry is Assistant Professor of Philosophy and Religion at American University and Co-Director of the Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs master's program. His research interests focus on ideas of nature in modern western culture, particularly the religious roots of contemporary environmental discourse. Trained in both social scientific and theoretical methodologies, his current scholarship includes a book project on the religious roots of the American environmental movement and an analysis of the role of religious ideas and organizations in the global politics of sustainability.

  • Degrees

    PhD, Religious Studies, University of California Santa Barbara; MA Religious Studies, University of California Santa Barbara; BA, Religion, The Colorado College

  • OFFICE

  • CAS - Philosophy and Religion
  • Battelle Tompkins - 111
  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays 9-11

  • CONTACT INFO

  • (202) 885-2493 (Office)
  • (202) 885-1094 (Fax)
  • Send email Profile UserID

  • FOR THE MEDIA

  • To request an interview for a
    news story, call AU Communications
    at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.

Teaching

  • Fall 2013

    • GNED-130 General Education Area 3 Topic: Religion and Globalization
    • Description
    • UCOL-100 Univ College Washington Lab: Religion and Globalization
    • Description

Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities

Research Interests

Professor Berry’s scholarship focuses on the interplay between religion and nature in modern western culture. Trained in both the sociology of religion and the philosophy of religion, his most recent research, part of an interdisciplinary collaboration called Ecotopia Revisited, was an ethnographic study of intentional communities in the Pacific Northwest. Such communities give expression to the rich connectivity between American spiritualities and ecological yearnings for a green future. This religious substratum beneath American ideas about and practices towards nature provides the basis for his ongoing academic research.

Selected Publications

       
  • “Religion, Nature and Daily Life,” in Religion in the Practice of Daily Life, Richard Hecht and Vincent Biondo, eds. (Greenwood) 2009
    •    
  • “Great Chain of Being” and “Puget Sound,” in The Encyclopedia of American Environmental History, Kathleen Brosnan, ed. (Facts on File) 2009
    •    
  • “Epilogue,” Death and Religion in a Changing World, K. Garces-Foley, ed. (M.E. Sharpe) 2005 
    •    
  • “Wilson, Edward O.” and “Religion and Environmental Concern: The Challenge for Social Science” (with James Proctor), in The Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature, Bron Taylor, ed. (New York: Continuum Press) 2005     

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships

       
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Lewis and Clark College, 2008
    •    
  • Mendell Endowed Graduate Fellowship, Capps Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life, 2007
    •    
  • Erasmus Institute Graduate Fellowship, 2005

       
  • “Seeking and Dwelling in Ecotopia: Spirituality and Community in the Pacific Northwest,” Understanding Sustainability: Perspectives from the Humanities, May 2009
    •    
  • “The Road to Nature: Automobile Pilgrimage and Nature Spirituality,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, November 2007
    •    
  • “Sacred Histories and Prophetic Spaces: Civil Religion in Museums of the American West,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, November 2006
    •    
  • “Origins and Adaptations of Secularization Theory in the American Context” (with Masen Uliss), International Society for Intellectual History Conference, April 2005
    •    
  • “Historical Issues in Religion and Ecology,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, November 2004
    •    
  • “Interrogating the Relationship among Religiosity, Spirituality, and Environmentalism,” Association for the Sociology of Religion Annual Meeting, August  2004
    •    
  • “Dimensions of the Sacred: Secular Worldviews, Place, and Environmentalism,” Religious Studies: What’s the Point? Lancaster, U.K., December 2003
    •    
  • “Interpreting Environmentalist Usage of ‘the Other’,” American Academy of Religion, Western Regional Meeting, March 2003

AU Expert

Area of Expertise: Environmental ethics, religion and environmental issues, environmental issues and popular culture, religion in American public life

Additional Information: Evan Berry is assistant professor of philosophy and religion at American University and co-director of the Ethics, Peace, and Global Affairs master's program. His research focuses on ideas of nature in modern Western culture, particularly the religious roots of contemporary environmental discourse. Trained in both social scientific and theoretical methodologies, his current scholarship includes an ethnographic study of intentional communities in the Pacific Northwest, a critique of the philosophical assumptions of climate-change ethics, and a book project on the role of religious language in the birth of the American environmental movement.
 

Media Relations
To request an interview please call AU Media Relations at 202-885-5950 or submit an interview request form.

AU News and Achievements