PETER A. HUFF
T. L. James Associate Professor of Religious Studies
Chair, Department of Religious Studies
Centenary College of Louisiana
2911 Centenary Boulevard
Shreveport, LA 71134-1188 USA
(318) 869-5049 FAX: (318) 869-5168
966 Audubon Place
Shreveport, LA 71105 USA
(318) 865-0399
Education
- Ph.D. in Historical Theology 1994
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, Missouri
- Dissertation: “Trace of the Fugitive Gods: Allen Tate and the Catholic Revival”
Director: Belden C. Lane
- Graduate Study in Religious Studies 1985-87
Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
- M.Div. 1984
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Louisville, Kentucky
- B.A. in History and Religion 1980
Magna cum laude
Mercer University Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Teaching Experience
- T. L. James Associate Professor of Religious Studies 2001-Present
Centenary College of Louisiana
- Associate Professor of Theology 2000-2001
Saint Anselm College
- Assistant Professor of Theology 1995-2001
Saint Anselm College
- Assistant Professor of Religion 1994-95
University of Puget Sound
- Teaching Assistant 1991-94
Saint Louis University
- Associate Instructor 1985-87
Indiana University
Courses Taught
Centenary College of Louisiana:
REL473 Senior Seminar in Religious Studies
REL430W Global Fundamentalism
REL420W Religion in the South
REL411W Portraits of Jesus
REL280 Introduction to Islam
REL265 Introduction to Hinduism
REL260 Introduction to Buddhism
REL230 Introduction to Christianity
REL204 Introduction to World Religions
REL199 The Mormon Experience in America (Travel Module)
REL160 American Religious Experience
REL111 Religion and Culture
Saint Anselm College:
TH45 Special Topics: Fundamentalism: American and Global
TH44 American Catholic Thought
TH43 Religion in America
TH42 Christian Spirituality
TH40 Reformation Theology
TH24 Religions of Asia
TH23 Religions of the West
TH20 Senior Seminar: Thomas Merton
TH10 Biblical Theology
HU03/04 Humanities
University of Puget Sound:
REL362 Modern and Contemporary Christian Thought
REL361 Ancient and Medieval Christian Thought
REL105 Religion in the Modern World
REL101 World Religions
Saint Louis University:
THA237 Religious Traditions of Asia
THA225 American Christianity
THA220 Religion in American Culture
THA220 Religion in the South
Adjunct Teaching Experience
- Franciscan School of Evangelization, Duns Scotus College
- Greco Institute, Diocese of Shreveport
- Macomb Community College
- Pastoral Ministry Institute, Notre Dame College
Fellowships, Awards, Honors
- Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2004-05
- Ralph Waldo Emerson Award 2004
All Souls Unitarian Universalist Church
- Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers 2003-04
- Summer Research Grant 1997
Saint Anselm College
- Faculty Fellowship 1996
Collegium Summer Institute
- Excellence in Teaching Award 1994
Graduate Student Association
Saint Louis University
- Dissertation Fellowship 1993-94
Saint Louis University
- Who's Who Among Students 1992
in American Universities and Colleges
- Graduate Essay Prize 1985
Department of Religious Studies
Indiana University
- History Award 1980
Mercer University Atlanta
Honorary Societies
•Alpha Sigma Nu
•Phi Beta Kappa
Academic Service
- Co-Convener, American Catholic Life and Thought Section 2002-2005
College Theology Society
- Chair, Department of Theology 2000-2001
Saint Anselm College
- Director, Catholic Studies Program 1999-2001
Saint Anselm College
Academic Service (Centenary College)
- Chair, Department of Religious Studies 2002-Present
- Member, Advisory Board, Christian Leadership Center 2006-Present
- Member, Collections Management Committee, Meadows Museum 2005-Present
- Member, Advisory Board, Center for Theological Studies 2004-2006
- Member, Faculty Personnel Committee 2003-2006
Secretary, 2003-04; Chair, 2005-2006
- Chair, Search Committee for Theological Center Director 2004
- Member, James Chair in Psychology Search Committee 2002-2003
- Member, Enrollment Management Committee 2002-2003
Publications
Books:
Knowledge and Belief in America: Enlightenment Traditions and Modern Religious Thought, co-editor with William M. Shea (Cambridge University Press, 1995).
Allen Tate and the Catholic Revival: Trace of the Fugitive Gods, Isaac Hecker Studies in Religion and American Culture (Paulist Press, 1996).
What Are They Saying About Fundamentalisms? (Paulist Press, forthcoming).
Chapters in books:
“On The Restructuring of American Religion: An Analysis and Critique” in Religions of the Book, College Theology Society Annual Volume 38, ed. Gerard S. Sloyan (University Press of America, 1996), pp.,239-244.
“Paul Giles and the Tar-Baby” in American Catholic Traditions: Resources for Renewal, College Theology Society Annual Volume 42, ed. Sandra Yocum Mize and William Portier (Orbis Books, 1997) pp. 167-181.
“Jesus Turns the Wheel of Dharma: Emerging Christologies of Contemporary Buddhism” in Christology: Memory, Inquiry, Practice, College Theology Society Annual Volume 48, ed. Anne M. Clifford and Anthony J. Godzieba (Orbis Books, 2003), pp. 159-174.
“Vivekananda’s Contribution to Christology: A Christian Appreciation” in The Cyclonic Swami: Vivekananda in the West (Samvad India Foundation, 2005), pp. 86-96.
“The Pilgrimage of a Catholic UU” in Christian Voices in Unitarian Universalism, ed. Kathleen Rolenz (Skinner House Books, 2006), pp. 29-43.
“Authority in the Catholic Tradition” in By What Authority? Religious Authority in Christianity ed. Robert Millet (forthcoming).
“Where Dialogue and Doxology Meet: John Paul II and the Liturgical Dimension of Interfaith Dialogue” in The Liturgical Legacy of Pope John Paul II (Hillenbrand Books, forthcoming).
Encyclopedia article:
“Haredim,” Encyclopedia of Fundamentalism, ed. Brenda E. Brasher (Routledge, 2001).
Articles in refereed journals:
“Divine Art: George Herbert’s Poetic Reflections on the Priesthood,” American Benedictine Review 46 (March 1995): 45-52.
“Separation Incomplete, Communion Imperfect: Vatican II’s Ecumenical Strategy,” One in Christ 21 (1995): 52-62.
“Donald Davidson and ‘America’s Other Lost Generation,’” Modern Age 37 (1995): 226-232.
“Allen Tate and the Catholic Revival,” Humanitas 8 (1995): 26-43.
“’With the Body of This World’: Allen Tate’s Quarrel with Modern Gnosticism,” Fides et Historia 27 (Fall 1995): 77-94.
“New Apologists in America’s Conservative Catholic Subculture,” Horizons 23 (Fall 1996): 242-260.
“John Locke and the Prophecy of Quaker Women,” Quaker History 86 (Fall 1997): 26-40.
“Calvin and the Beasts: Animals in John Calvin’s Theological Discourse,” Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 42 (March 1999): 67-75.
“The Desert Freely Embraced: The Spiritual Geographies of Kathleen Norris and Terry Tempest Williams,” Selected Papers of the 1998 Northeast Regional Conference on Christianity and Literature (Saint Anselm College Press, 1999): 86-97.
“The Challenge of Fundamentalism for Interreligious Dialogue,” Cross Currents 50 (Spring/Summer 2000): 94-102.
“Comparative Theology and the Future of Fundamentalism Studies,” Sewanee Theological Review 45 (Christmas 2001): 75-83.
Articles in non-refereed journals and newspapers:
“From Dragons to Worms: Animals and the Subversion of Hierarchy in Augustine’s Theology,” Melita Theologica 43 (1992): 27-43.
“’The Charity of a Wayfarer’: Love and Teleology in the Moral Theory of Thomas Aquinas and Jonathan Edwards,” Journal of Theta Alpha Kappa 18 (1994): 21-41.
“The Spirit of Richard Crashaw’s Hymn to St. Teresa,” Melita Theologica 48 (1996): 53-61.
“Historical Foundations for Pastoral Care to the Poor,” Pastoral Life 46 (January 1997): 8-14.
“The Bible, the Qur’an, and Jesus,” Pastoral Life 51 (October 2002): 3-11.
“Taking Away the Occasion of Terrorism,” Pastoral Life 52 (May 2003): 12-20.
“Gandhi, King, and the Virtue of Hyphenated Religious Identity,” The Unitarian Universalist Christian 58 (2003): 91-97.
“Pope’s Legacy Characterized by a Commitment to Human Dignity” (op-ed), The Shreveport Times (4 April 2005): 7A.
Book Reviews: Anglican Theological Review (2) Church History (4) Cross Currents (1) East-West Connections (1) Education About Asia (1) Horizons (3) International Journal of Hindu Studies (2, forthcoming) International Journal on World Peace (2) Journal of the American Academy of Religion (1)Journal of Buddhist Ethics (1) Missiology (2) Pastoral Life (1) Religious Studies and Theology (2), ,Theological Studies (3).
Presentations at Professional Meetings
“’Lead, Kindly Light’: Authority for a Catholic Pluralist” (Invited Paper), Conference on Religious Authority in Christianity, Brigham Young University, April 7-8, 2006
“John Paul II and the Liturgical Dimension of Interfaith Dialogue,” The Liturgical Legacy of Pope John Paul II, The Liturgical Institute, University of Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary, April 5-7, 2006
“John Paul II’s Christian Humanism,” Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship, November 4-7, 2004
“Christian Perspectives on Pope John Paul II’s Contribution to Interreligious Dialogue” and “Fundamentalism: The Final Frontier for Interreligious Dialogue,” Parliament of the World’s Religions, Barcelona, Spain, July 7-13, 2004
Session Respondent, “Catholicism and Civil Rights in the Twentieth-Century South,” Roman Catholic Studies Group, American Academy of Religion, November 22-25, 2003
“Vivekananda’s Contribution to Christology: A Christian Appreciation,” Conference on “The Impact of Swami Vivekananda’s Voyage to the West,” Center for Indic Studies, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, June 28-29, 2003
“’By Whatever Path . . .,’ Except Fundamentalism? Global Fundamentalism, Pluralism, and Perennial Philosophy,” Society for Indian Philosophy and Religion, Calcutta, India,
July 30-August 2, 2002
“The Fundamentalist is My Brother: Interior Dialogue and the Quest for Genuine Pluralism,” World Association of Vedic Studies, July 12-14, 2002
“Jesus Turns the Wheel of Dharma: Emerging Christologies in Contemporary Buddhism,” College Theology Society, May 30-June 2, 2002
Panel Chair, “Secular and Religious Ideologies in the Islamic World,” Third World Studies Conference, October 4-6, 2001
“Comparative Theology and the Future of Fundamentalism Studies,” The Spiritual Supermarket: Religious Pluralism and Globalisation in the 21st Century, London School of Economics, April 19-22, 2001
“The 1999 Parliament of the World’s Religions: Report from South Africa,” College Theology Society, June 1-4, 2000
“The Challenge of Fundamentalism: The End of Modernity and the Future of Interreligious Dialogue,” Parliament of the World's Religions, Cape Town, South Africa, December 1-8, 1999
“The Paradise of Forgotten Places,” Christian Spirituality Group, American Academy of Religion, November 20-23, 1998
“The Desert Freely Embraced,” Northeast Regional Conference on Christianity and Literature, October 22-24, 1998
Session Respondent, Consultation on American Catholic Life and Thought, College Theology Society, May 29-June 1, 1997
“Paul Giles and the Tar-Baby: Problems of the American Catholic Imagination,” College Theology Society, May 30-June 2, 1996
“’The Whole Hog of Reaction’: Catholic Trajectories in Allen Tate’s Southern Agrarianism,” American Catholic Historical Association, March 22-23, 1996
“Public Catholicism and the Revenge of the New Apologists,” College Theology Society, June 1-4, 1995
“New Apologists in the Conservative Catholic Subculture,” Pacific Northwest Region AAR/SBL, April 27-29, 1995
“From Dayton to Rome: The Strange Career of Allen Tate’s Christian Humanism,” North Carolina Religious Studies Association, October 7, 1994
“John Locke and the Prophecy of Quaker Women,” College Theology Society, May 26-29, 1994
“’Fundamentalism’ in Allen Tate’s Agrarian Discourse,” Southeast Commission for the Study of Religion AAR/SBL, March 18-20, 1994
“With the Body of This World: Allen Tate and Gnosticism,” College Theology Society, June 3-6, 1993
“Agrarianism and ‘America’s Other Lost Generation,’” Mid-America American Studies Association, April 16-18, 1993
“Allen Tate and the Catholic Revival,” Conference on the Spirituality of the Laity, October 23-25, 1992
Panel Participant, Consultation on American Catholic Life and Thought, College Theology Society, May 28-31, 1992
Professional Societies
- American Academy of Religion
- American Society of Church History
- College Theology Society
- North American Academy of Ecumenists
- Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies
- Society for Hindu-Christian Studies
Other Organizations
•Ralph Waldo Emerson Society
•Unitarian Universalist Christian Fellowship
Community Service
•Board Member, National Conference for Community and Justice 2002-2004
Shreveport, LA Region
•Board Member, World Religion Day, Shreveport, LA 2002-Present
