2017 AAR Presidential Address - Eddie Glaude: Religion and the Most Vulnerable

Eddie S. Glaude Jr. is the William S. Tod Professor of Religion and African American Studies at Princeton University. He is chair of the Department of African American Studies, a program he first became involved with shaping as a doctoral candidate in Religion at Princeton. His books on religion and philosophy include African American Religion: A Very Short Introduction, Democracy in Black: How Race Still Enslaves the American Soul, In a Shade of Blue: Pragmatism and the Politics of Black America, and Exodus! Religion, Race and Nation in Early 19th Century Black America, which was awarded the Modern Language Association’s William Sanders Scarborough Book Prize. Currently Glaude is at work on a book about James Baldwin, tentatively titled James Baldwin’s America, 1963–1972. Glaude left his home in Moss Point, Mississippi at age 16 to begin studies at the Morehouse College. He holds a master’s degree in African American Studies from Temple University, and a Ph.D in Religion from Princeton University. He began his teaching career at Bowdoin College. He has been a visiting scholar at Amherst College and Harvard. In 2011 he delivered Harvard’s Du Bois lectures. Known to be a convener of conversations and debates, Glaude takes care to engage fellow citizens of all ages and backgrounds — from young activists, to fellow academics, journalists and commentators, and followers on Twitter in dialogue about the course of the nation. His scholarship and his sense of himself as a public intellectual are driven by a commitment to think carefully with others in public. Accordingly, his writing and ideas are cited and shared widely. Glaude has written for The New York Times and The Huffington Post. He is a columnist for Time Magazine and regularly provides commentary on radio and television news programs like Democracy Now!, Morning Joe, and The 11th Hour. Prior to Dr. Glaude’s address, former AAR President Emilie M. Townes presented a tribute to Executive Director Jack Fitzmier, who will be retiring in 2018. This session was recorded during the 2017 Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion on November 18, in Boston, Massachusetts.