Program Update

I'm very pleased to say that, as of yesterday, I have passed my qualifying exams and am now a doctoral candidate! These exams were the most challenging aspect of my programs so far, but the work paid off with truly encouraging praise from my committee advisors. 

I'm now on to my dissertation, which is titled Theologies In Five Discourses: Critical Theory, Psychoanalysis, and the Symbolism of Anxiety. It aims to produce a novel theory of religious symbolism using Nietzsche, Lacan, and Tillich to examine resonances between American Christianity, late capitalism, and populist politics. I'm also excited to have more direct engagement with the Frankfurt school, liberation theologies, feminist critiques, and queer theory. By the end, I'll be discussing concrete social movements (BLM, Occupy Wall Street, fundamentalism, and the rise of neofascist or theocratic populism). With any luck, I'll have a (very) rough draft by summer. Thanks to everyone who has supported me!

During this phase, I'm continuing to polish up my second book (The Cynic & the Fool), which will present a more popularly accessible version of the theory I do in God Is Unconscious. So the dissertation will be my third, and it will round out these first three books which I collectively think of as my overarching project at the moment. I'm excited to do this!