Theological Inquiry Across the University: Where Do We Go From Here?
April 24, 2025 | A Virtual Conversation
Below is the recording of the Virtual Panel Discussion in which three experts chart a path for Faith in the University, moderated by Karen Marsh. This was a companion event to the March 29 Scoper Lecture in Christian Theology.
Dr. Felicia Wu Song
Rev. Dr. Brandon Harris
Dr. John Kiess
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Felicia Wu Song is a cultural sociologist who studies the social effects of digital technologies on community and identity in contemporary life. She is author of Restless Devices: Recovering Personhood, Presence, and Place in the Digital Age (2021), Virtual Communities: Bowling Alone, Online Together (2009) and other academic articles on expectant women's online information-seeking habits and the cultural evolution of "mommy bloggers." Trained in history, communication studies, and sociology from Yale, Northwestern and University of Virginia, she has taught Mass Communication at Louisiana State University and been Professor of Sociology at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA.
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Rev. Dr. Brandon Harris is a higher educational professional and minister who now serves as the Director of Partnerships and Business Development at Forum for Theological Exploration where he focuses on Partner relationships (existing and developing) and matching constituents with programs. Dr. Harris has held several prominent positions, including Protestant Chaplain at Georgetown University, where he taught courses on African American religious thought and leadership, and was co-chair of the Martin Luther King Jr. Initiative. He also served as the youngest Senior Minister in the history of Peoples Congregational Church in Washington D.C. and most recently as Associate Dean for Religious & Spiritual Life at the University of Southern California. A passionate advocate for interfaith engagement and racial justice, Dr. Harris was ordained at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He earned his Bachelor of Arts from Lincoln University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Divinity from Emory University, and a Doctor of Ministry from New York Theological Seminary, focusing on the impact of gentrification on Black churches.
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John Kiess is an associate professor of theology at Loyola University Maryland. He completed his PhD in theology and ethics at Duke University. As a George J. Mitchell Scholar, he earned an MA in comparative ethnic conflict at Queen’s University Belfast and MPhil in theology from Cambridge University. His doctoral dissertation explored the ethics of war through the lens of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where he conducted fieldwork in 2008-2009. In addition to his work on conflict and peacemaking, he is also interested in political theology, political theory, and philosophy, and is the author of Hannah Arendt and Theology, (T&T Clark, 2016).