معرفی
David Harrington Watt serves as the Douglas & Dorothy Steere Professor of Quaker Studies at Haverford College. His teaching portfolio includes courses such as "Ethical Struggles in Catastrophic Times," "Quakers, War, Slavery, and Freedom," "Reinventing Quakerism," and "Religion in the United States."
Watt earned his AB from the University of California, Berkeley and his PhD from Harvard University. He hails from the deserts of Southern California and the American South.
His scholarly focus centers on Quaker responses to the Shoah (Holocaust), the historical development of Quaker diversity, and critical analyses of fundamentalism and evangelicalism in American society. Watt's research examines religion's intersection with social power, cultural reproduction, and secular-religious dynamics, with particular emphasis on how religious communities navigate ethical crises and historical trauma. His methodological approach combines archival research with contemporary theological analysis.
Watt's publications reveal consistent engagement with Quaker history and American religious movements, evolving from early work on evangelicalism to recent scholarship on Quaker responses to the Holocaust and the creation of modern Quaker diversity. His research demonstrates increasing specialization in Quaker studies while maintaining connections to broader themes of religious identity and social justice.
Watt's research has been supported by numerous prestigious organizations including the American Philosophical Society, Fulbright Scholars Program, Lilly Endowment, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Harvard University, Princeton University, and the University of Chicago. As founding editor of NYU Press's "North American Religions" series, he has facilitated publication of over thirty volumes exploring lived religion and religious-social power dynamics.
