Jason Bruner is an ethnographer and historian studying Christians and Christianity in Sub-Saharan Africa, Europe, and the United States. He is especially interested in issues of conversion, lived religion, violence, and globalization.
His first book, Living Salvation in the East African Revival in Uganda (University of Rochester Press, 2017), is a cultural history of a Christian revival movement in Uganda from the early 1930s to the mid 1950s. His second monograph, Imagining Persecution: Why American Christians Believe There is a Global War Against Their Faith (Rutgers Univ. Press, 2021), provides a genealogy of American Christian discourses of global religious violence. It gives particular attention to the ways that religious persecution has come to frame American perceptions of Christianity worldwide. This research was supported with a project grant for researchers from the Louisville Institute.
His current work includes a co-edited book (with David Kirkpatrick) provisionally titled, Global Visions of Violence: Agency and Persecution in World Christianity. He is also co-editor (with Dima Hurlbut) of a special issue of Religions on Conversion in Africa (expected fall 2020). He has begun working on an ethnographic study of Christians in the metro-Phoenix area.
In addition to scholarly journal articles and book chapters, Dr. Bruner’s writing has appeared in publications such as the Oxford American, the Marginalia Review of Books, the Chronicle of Higher Education, Religion Dispatches, Religion & Politics, and Sacred Matters. He has published creative nonfiction pieces at River Teeth, Image Journal, and The Revealer. His photography has appeared in Breadcrumbs Magazine, Analog Cafe, and Gnu Journal. He is collaborating with David Blakeman, a photographer, for a zine on the canals and waterways in and around Phoenix.
ASU's State Press and ASU Now have published profiles on his work and teaching.
He serves as the Associate Head of Undergraduate Studies for Religious Studies.
History of Christianity
Anthropology of Christianity
Religion in Africa
East Africa
Uganda
History of World or Global Christianity
European Imperialism
Christian Missionary Movement
Evangelicalism
Books
Craft Book
Jason Bruner and David Blakeman. Sonoran Water. Desert Legends (forthcoming).
Peer-reviewed Journal Articles (selected)
Book Chapters
Encyclopedia Articles
Jason Bruner. “Uganda" and "Missions and Anthropology." In Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, George Thomas Kurien and Mark Lamport, ed. New York: Rowman and Littlefield, 2018.
Digital Publications, Essays, and Creative Nonfiction (selected)
Book Reviews (selected)
1. Jason Bruner and David Kirkpatrick. Review of Daniel Philpott and Timothy Shah, eds., Under Caesar’s Sword: How Christians Respond to Persecution, in Journal of World Christianity 10:1 (2020).
2. Jason Bruner. Review of Rachel McBride Lindsey, A Communion of Shadows: Religion and Photography in Nineteenth-Century America, in Anglican and Episcopal History 88:3 (2019).
3. Jason Bruner. Review of David Hollinger, Protestants Abroad, in the Journal of Presbyterian History 97:2 (2019).
4. Jason Bruner. Review of Paddy Musana, et al., eds., The Ugandan Churches and the Political Centre, in International Bulletin of Mission Research 42:4 (2018).
5. Jason Bruner. Review of Derek Cooper, Introduction to World Christian History (Downers Grove: IVP Academic, 2016), in Anglican and Episcopal History 87:3 (2018).
6. Jason Bruner. Review of Derek Peterson, Ethnic Patriotism and the East African Revival: A History of Dissent, c. 1935-1972 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013), in The Historian 78:1 (2016).
7. Jason Bruner. Review of Wilbert R. Shenk, The History of the American Society of Missiology, 1973-2013 (Elkhart: Institute of Mennonite Studies, 2014), in International Bulletin of Missionary Research 39:2 (2015).
8. Jason Bruner. Review of Michael A. Rutz, The British Zion: Congregationalism, Politics, and Empire, 1790-1850 (Waco: Baylor University Press, 2011), in Anglican and Episcopal History 83:3 (2014).
Visual Arts
1. “Untitled portrait, 2019,” Analog Forever Magazine. June 15, 2020. “The Eye of the Beholder” online analogue photography exhibition.
2. “So-So, 2” Color Tag Magazine. Spring 2020.
3. “At work on Central Avenue.” Analog Café. May 4, 2020. Series of 35mm and 120mm photographs.
4. “So-So.” Analog Forever Magazine. January 13, 2020. “The Future’s So Bright…” online analogue photography exhibition.
5. “Resplendent.” GNU Journal; 2019 Nonfiction; digital photograph.
6. “Tryna eat.” Breadcrumbs Magazine Dec. 26, 2018; digital photograph
7. “Her face.” Broad River Review vol. 26 (2004); graphite on paper.
Grants, Fellowships, and Awards (External to ASU)
Principal Investigator. Louisville Institute. Project Grant for Researchers (2017-2018) $25,000
Grants, Fellowships, and Awards (Internal to ASU)
Co-Principal Investigator (with Volker Benkert and Lauren Harris). 2016-2017. Project Title: “Comparative Genocide Testimony Project”. Lincoln Center for Applied Ethics Fellowship. Arizona State University. $2,604
Co-Principal Investigator (with Gaymon Bennett and Christine Buzinde). 2015-2016. Project Title: “Making Religion Visible in Global Health". Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict, seed grant. Arizona State University. $6,700
Co-Principal Investigator (with Volker Benkert, Lauren Harris, Mark Tebeau, Don Fixico, and Michael Simeone). 2014-2015. Project Title: “Never Again is Not Enough: Researching and Representing Genocide Comparatively”. Institute for Humanities Research. Arizona State University. $11,808
Co-Principal Investigator (with Volker Benkert). Project Title: “Armenian Genocide in Comparative Perspectives”. 2015. Seed Grant. School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies. Arizona State University. $2,000
Co-Principal Investigator (with Gaymon Bennett and Christine Buzinde). Project Title: “Making Religion Visible in Global Health. 2015. Seed Grant. School of Historical, Philosophical, and Religious Studies. Arizona State University. $1,800
Co-Principal Investigator (with Volker Benkert, Lauren Harris, and Mary Hutchinson). Office of Knowledge and Educational Development Grant (co-investigator) (2014). Science and Citizen Engagement. 2014-2015. Project title: “MOORS (Massive Open Online Research), Memory and the Museum". Arizona State University. $10,000
Co-Principal Investigator (with Volker Benkert, et al.) Research cluster grant. 2013-2014. Institute for Humanities Research. Arizona State University. $2,000
Spring 2021 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 371 | New Testament |
REL 493 | Honors Thesis |
REL 592 | Research |
Fall 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 307 | Religion: Theory and Practice |
HST 454 | History of Genocide |
REL 454 | History of Genocide |
REL 492 | Honors Directed Study |
Summer 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
HST 790 | Reading and Conference |
Spring 2020 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 592 | Research |
Fall 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 371 | New Testament |
REL 405 | Problems in Religious Studies |
Spring 2019 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 371 | New Testament |
REL 493 | Honors Thesis |
REL 592 | Research |
Fall 2018 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 287 | Topics Film, Media & Religion |
Spring 2018 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 371 | New Testament |
REL 492 | Honors Directed Study |
WST 494 | Special Topics |
REL 494 | Special Topics |
ENG 494 | Special Topics |
Fall 2017 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 287 | Topics Film, Media & Religion |
REL 371 | New Testament |
REL 494 | Special Topics |
Spring 2017 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 207 | Ritual, Symbol, and Myth |
REL 270 | Introduction to Christianity |
REL 592 | Research |
Fall 2016 | |
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Course Number | Course Title |
REL 287 | Topics Film, Media & Religion |
REL 371 | New Testament |
REL 599 | Thesis |
Conference Papers
“‘All One in Christ Jesus’ – Except for the Catholics: Ethnicity and the Limits of Christian Unity in the East African Revival, c. 1930-1950.” American Catholic Historical Society annual conference. January 2016.
“Dissent and Creativity in the East African Revival.” “Religion as Creativity” symposium at Miami University (Ohio). October 2-4, 2015.
“Coming from the Outside: Why did Uganda want to ‘kill the gays’?” American Society of Church History/American Historical Association Conference. 2-5 January 2015.
“‘The testimony must begin in the home’: Re-making Families in the East African Revival.” Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of World Christianity. New College, University of Edinburgh. 26-28 June 2014.
“Migration, Integration, and the Fellowship Networks of the East African Revival.” American Society of Church History/Ecclesiastical Historical Society. Oxford, UK. 3-5 April 2014.
“Dissenting Discourse in Colonial-Era Uganda.” Pacific Coast Conference on British Studies annual meeting. Riverside, CA. 7-9 March 2014.
“Public Confession and the Moral Universe of the East African Revival.” Yale-Edinburgh Group on the History of World Christianity. University of Edinburgh. Edinburgh, UK. 28-30 June 2012.
“Secrecy and the Limits of Colonial Knowledge: Uganda in the 1940s.” Mid-Atlantic Conference on British Studies. Penn State University, Abington. Abington, PA. 21-22 April 2012.
“Public Confession and the Crossing of Colonial Boundaries and Barriers in the East African Revival.” Boston University’s Graduate Student Conference in African Studies. Boston University. Boston, MA. 30-31 March 2012.
“‘We are in train – are you too?’ Technology and Networks of Knowledge in the Development of the East African Revival.” Empires and Technologies in World History, Northeastern University. Boston, MA. 24-25 March 2012.
"Religion and Public Healing at the Uganda Museum." Windows of Empire: Colonial Celebrations & the Imperial World, 1780-1950. University of Bristol. Bristol, UK. 15-16 September 2011.
"Fishers of Men and Hunters of Lion: English Missionaries and Big Game Hunting in Colonial East Africa, ca. 1880-1930." Guns and Identity in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Conference. University of Kent. Canterbury, UK. 5-6 May 2011.
"The Cambridge Seven, Late Victorian Culture, and the Chinese Frontier." American Society of Church History. Grand Rapids, MI. 7-10 April 2011.
"A Colonial World of Light and Darkness: Reading 1 John 1:5-10 in the East African Revival." Society of Biblical Literature, Mid-Atlantic Region Conference. New Brunswick, NJ. 15 March 2011.
“Inquiring into Empire: Princeton Seminary’s Society of Inquiry on Missions and the British Empire, ca. 1820-ca. 1850.” American Society of Church History. Montreal, Canada. April 2009.
Connected Academics, Champion Mentor Award (ASU)
Marginalia Review of Books, Global Christianity
American Society of Church History
American Historical Association
Director of Undergraduate Studies (2018-present)
General Studies Council (2016-2019)
Religious Studies Forum, chair (2015-2018)
Global Futures Initiative, Human Factors Collaborative (Fall 2018-)
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Future Collaborative (Fall 2018-)
History of Christianity lecturer search committee member (Fall 2018-Spring 2019)
World War II Studies Clinical Assistant Professor search committee member (Fall 2018)
Institute for Humanities Research board member (Fall 2018-)
Interdisciplinary Health Humanities certificate advisory committee (Spring 2018)
“Sports, Cultures, and Ethics” undergraduate certificate advisory committee (2017-2018)
ASU Fulbright Interview Committee, Middle East and North Africa/Sub-Saharan Africa (Fall 2016-Spring 2019)