R. Gustav Niebuhr

R. Gustav Niebuhr

Director of the Religion & Society Program, Syracuse University

Gustav Niebuhr is an associate professor of religion and the media, an interdisciplinary position in the College of Arts & Sciences and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Since June 2004, the “On Faith” panelist has directed the Religion & Society Program, an interdisciplinary undergraduate major. Niebuhr served as a visiting fellow/scholar in residence at the Center for the Study of Religion at Princeton University from December 2001 to 2003. Supported by a Ford Foundation Grant, he conducted research on religious diversity and interfaith collaboration. Prior to his academic tenure, Niebuhr was a national correspondent for The Washington Post, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal, writing feature and analytical articles, and reporting on news about religion. He won several awards, including the 1993 Templeton Religion Writer of the Year Award from the Religion Newswriters Association. His articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the New York Times Book Review, the Carnegie Reporter, the Christian Century, Tricycle: The Buddhist Review and Beliefnet.com. An experienced public lecturer,Niebuhr most recently spoke at Auburn Theological Seminary in May 2006 on “Is ‘Tolerance’ a Social Good?” and at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in May 2005, he lectured on “Religion as News.” Close.

R. Gustav Niebuhr

Director of the Religion & Society Program, Syracuse University

Gustav Niebuhr is an associate professor of religion and the media, an interdisciplinary position in the College of Arts & Sciences and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. Since June 2004, the “On Faith” panelist has directed the Religion & Society Program, an interdisciplinary undergraduate major. more »

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January 9, 2007 4:15 PM

A 19th Century Decision Resonates Still

I suppose if I had a "most formative religious experience," it didn't actually take place in my lifetime, but occurred to a teenage boy 126 years ago. He was my great-grandfather, Gustav Niebuhr, after whom I'm named.

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April 2, 2007 1:55 PM

Mass Media? Diverse Media, Diverse Treatments of Faith

As I read through some of my fellow panelists' comments on this question, I found myself nodding in agreement--perhaps especially with points made by Susan Jacoby, Mike Otterson, the Rev. Thomas Reese, and Bishop N.T. Wright--people I've spoken with at some point or whose works I've read and whom I respect. To say the obvious, each of them stands at a very different theological/philosophical location on the map of human experience, each site with its own history and heroes. I wouldn't try to fit those widely differing traditions into a single box. Somewhat similarly, I can't do that with the vast universe called the "mass media."

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