To Rome to Discuss the Katechon and the Antichrist – then to Full Professor!

On May 18th, I had the distinct honor to present my work, “A Culture cannot survive without Strong Gods,” wherein I discussed the New Testament’s notion of the Katechon, or “restrainer” of the Antichrist, and its extension into political theology. The paper was entitled, “He who restrains the Apocalypse: The Katechon in St. Paul, Carl Schmitt, and Alexander Dugin,” and it will be published later in the journal Islamic Perspective. This paper was especially important as it relates to how Russia’s current war on Ukraine is seen through apocalyptic and eschatological lenses, via the Russian philosopher, Alexander Dugin – the founder of Neo-Eurasianism and the “Fourth Political Theory.” I was joined by my dear friends Mlado Ivanovic of Northern Michigan University, Jeremiah Morelock of Boston College, and Panayota Gournari of Boston University. The 14th annual Critical Theory conference was held at Loyola University John Felice Center in Rome, Italy.

Soon after I returned to Kalamazoo from Rome, I was informed that the Board of Trustees at Olivet College had unanimously voted to confer the status of full professor on me. That’s awesome news. I started teaching as an adjunct at Olivet College in 2004, started my tenure track in 2008, and after being an Assistant and Associate Professor, I’m now Full professor! Good feeling, for sure.