Eric Bain-Selbo

Eric Bain-Selbo serves as Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Southeast Missouri State University, with his office located in Memorial Hall 208A. His contact information includes phone (573) 986-4987 and email ebainselbo@semo.edu.

Dr. Bain-Selbo's research spans multiple interconnected fields:

• Religion and Sports Studies, with particular focus on American football culture
• Popular Culture Analysis and its religious dimensions
• American South Cultural Studies and identity formation
• Philosophy of Religion and Ethics
• Social Theory related to tribalism and compassion
• Humanities in Democratic Society and civic education

His scholarly trajectory reveals a significant evolution from early work in comparative religious studies toward his signature exploration of sports as quasi-religious phenomena in American culture. Bain-Selbo's research demonstrates how sporting events function as modern ritual spaces that generate communal identity, meaning-making, and spiritual experience, particularly within Southern U.S. contexts. Recent publications address contemporary societal challenges including pandemic-era tribalism, religious freedom in sports contexts, and the vital role of humanities in sustaining democratic values. His work consistently bridges academic theory with accessible cultural analysis, making complex ideas relevant to contemporary debates about religion, sports, and American cultural identity.

Dr. Bain-Selbo's publications show a clear progression from examining specific cultural phenomena (particularly Southern college football as religious experience) toward broader philosophical and societal questions about democracy, freedom, and the future of higher education. His scholarship consistently engages with questions of ethics, community formation, and the search for meaning in contemporary American culture.

As an academic administrator, Dr. Bain-Selbo has contributed to educational policy discussions through works like 'REPORT TO THE UNIVERSITY CURRICULUM COMMITTEE' (2010) and 'Higher Education and the Arts and Humanities in a Consumer Society' (2011), reflecting his commitment to preserving and promoting humanities education in an increasingly vocational educational landscape.