John C. Seitz

John C. Seitz is an Associate Professor in the Department of Theology at Fordham University. His scholarly work bridges historical and ethnographic approaches to U.S. Catholicism and theoretical questions in religious study. He has contributed extensively to journals such as Church History, Material Religion, and American Catholic Studies, and co-edited Working Alternatives: American and Catholic Experiments in Work and Economy (2020). He is currently working on a book about 20th-century U.S. priesthood and serves as Program Director for Fordham’s Taking Responsibility project addressing clergy abuse legacy.

• Education:
  • PhD in American Religions, Harvard University
  • MTS in Christianity and Culture, Harvard Divinity School
  • BA in Religious Studies, University of Colorado at Boulder (summa cum laude)

Seitz’s research explores religious practice at the intersection of tradition and improvisation, with a focus on Catholic social and emotional histories. His projects include Notre Dame’s Gender, Sex, and Power initiative and Fordham’s Francis and Ann Curran Center for American Catholic Studies. He also edits the Catholic Practice in the Americas book series and chairs the Roman Catholic Studies Unit at the American Academy of Religion.

Scientific Awards:

• Young Scholar in American Religion (Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, IUPUI)
• Project Fellow, Lived History of Vatican II (Notre Dame’s Cushwa Center)
• Research Fellow, Gender, Sex, and Power (Notre Dame) and Taking Responsibility (Fordham)