John L ModernArthur & Katherine Shadek Professor of Religious Studies, Department Chair of Religious Studies
Biography
Modern teaches classes in American religious history, literature, technology, and aesthetics. In 2022 Modern was named the Arthur and Katherine Shadek Professor of the Humanities and Religious Studies. Modern is also co-director of the .
Modern is the author of , published by the University of Chicago Press. Neuromatic was named best book in 2022 by the International Society of Science and Religion. For an introduction to the vibe of Neuromatic, click . For an extended discussion of Neuromatic and the future of the humanities, click .
Modern is also the author of (University of Illinois Press, 2001) and (University of Chicago Press, 2011). Modern's work has appeared in journals such as History of the Present, Grey Room, American Literary History, Social Text, Journal of the American Academy of Religion, The Turnip Truck(s), Religion and American Culture, American Religion, Church History, Method & Theory in the Study of Religion as well as in a range of on-line venues.
Modern is currently working on a book about intelligence, memory, and mourning. Modern is also working on a long-term project that explores the end of the world through the lens of Akron, OH.
Modern served as the PI for (2021-23), a multi-media project funded by the Henry Luce Foundation and the Center for Sustained Engagement with Lancaster. In 2025 he produced (with Vincent Smaldone) "." He is currently PI for "The Religion of AI Observed: Investigations in Different Media" (John Templeton Foundation). Modern鈥檚 previous work has been funded by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Social Science Research Council.
Modern is a former member of the School of Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, NJ and, most recently, an ACLS Frederick Burkhardt fellow at the McNeil Center for Early American Studies (University of Pennsylvania) in 2018-19.
Modern was the co-curator of and co-editor of (both with Kathryn Lofton). Modern also serves on the editorial boards of American Religion and History of the Present and is a series editor for Critical AI.
Read interviews with Modern (2009) and (2021).
Listen to an interview with Modern (2020) or (2022) or (2022)
Watch Modern lecture on "The Mystical Brain" .
Be part of Modern's process of subjectivization .
Nerd out to Modern's CV .
Modern earned his B.A. in Religion from Princeton University in 1993, his MA in Comparative Religion from Miami University of Ohio (1996) and his Ph.D. in Religious studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2003.