Joseph Kip Kosek
Title — Director of Graduate Studies
Associate Professor of American Studies
Address — 2108 G Street, Room 103
Phone — 202-994-7318
E-mail — kosek@gwu.edu
Areas of Expertise —
cultural history, religion, social thought, reform movements, political culture
Current Research
Professor Kosek’s first book is Acts of Conscience: Christian Nonviolence and Modern American Democracy, published by Columbia University Press in 2009. The book tells the stories of some religious radicals who responded to the catastrophic bloodshed of the twentieth century by inventing a new form of militant nonviolence. This group’s audacious “acts of conscience” – public performances of moral dissent such as sit-ins, boycotts, and conscientious objection to war – gained remarkable power by blending Christian ideals, Gandhian strategy, and novel uses of mass media. Acts of Conscience received the American Academy of Religion’s award for Best First Book in the History of Religions.
One of Professor Kosek’s current areas of research focuses on the roles that religion played in the civil rights movement. Specifically, he has been exploring the phenomenon of “kneel-ins,” dramatic protests aimed at segregated churches. He is also researching the history of American secularism, as understood in the light of recent theories of an emerging “post-secular” world.
Education
PhD, Yale U., 2004
Publications
Book:
Acts of Conscience: Christian Nonviolence and Modern American Democracy (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009).
Article:
“Richard Gregg, Mohandas Gandhi, and the Strategy of Nonviolence,” Journal of American History 91, no. 4 (March 2005), pp. 1318-48.
Essays:
“Henry Ford for President!” History News Network, May 2, 2011.
“Why I Banned Laptops,” GW Hatchet, March 11, 2010.
“Prisoner of War,” Reviews in American History 37, no. 1 (March 2009), pp. 78-84.
“Selling Gandhi,” History News Network, March 16, 2009.
“Brett Favre, Catholic Hero,” Sightings (Martin Marty Center, University of Chicago Divinity School), March 27, 2008.
Featured Media Appearances:
Podcast on Acts of Conscience for “New Books in History” program, September 2010.
Book talk on Acts of Conscience at the Library of Congress, March 25, 2009.
Classes Taught
AMST 2011.80/HIST 2011.80: Modern American Cultural History (undergraduate lecture)
AMST 2350.80/HIST 2350.80: U.S. Religion and Politics (undergraduate lecture)
AMST 6420.80/HIST 6420.80: Religion and American Culture (graduate seminar)