Category: Travel

The University of Olivet in Italy 2026

From April 27th to May 10th, I led a group of students and friends on a journey to Italy to study Medieval and Renaissance Christianity. We began our trip in Venice, where we studied Venetian mercantilism, the history of the Doges, as well as the history of this unique water-bound city. We took a day trip to Padua to visit the Scrovegni Chapel as well as the Basilica of San Anthony. From Venice, we traveled to Florence, where we studied Dante Alighieri, Niccolò Machiavelli, Savonarola, and the Medicis. We visited the Santa Maria del Fiori, the Franciscan church of Santa Croce, the Uffizi Galleries, as well as the Galleria dell ’Accademia. By chance, while standing in line to visit the Museum of San Marco, I ran into the American travel guru, Rick Steves, with whom I had a wonderful conversation. He was there to update his Florence guidebook; I was there to see the martyr Savonarola. We had a wonderful concert of Pachelbel, Bach, Mozart, and Vivaldi. Leaving Tuscany, we traveled to Assisi, to study the life of St. Francis and St. Clare. This year has been declared the year of St. Francis by Pope Leo XIV, since it was 800 years ago that St. Francis died. Leaving Umbria, we traveled to Rome. While the students were all exhausted, we continued our studies, visiting the Colosseum, the Arch of Constantine, the Roman Forum, the Capitoline Museum, The Vatican Museum and St. Peter’s Basilica. We also spent some time at the catacombs of San Callixtus. In Rome, we saw our second concert, a mix of opera arias at an Episcopal Church. We had wonderful guides, wonderful dinners, and wonderful conversations. Overall, we had an amazing trip, which I hope the students learned a lot. Thank you, Witte Travel and Tours, for constructing this successful travel class.

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“Critical Theory in an Age of Social Disintegration” – ICST Conference in Bristol, UK

On July 17-19, the Institute for Critical Social Theory hosted their inaugural conference at the University of Bristol, UK. I was a great honor to welcome so many scholars to the ICST event. We had thirteen presentations, two plenary addresses, and a round table discussion about critical theory during times of war (See the schedule below). We are looking forward to our next conference in 2026, with Istanbul being the agreed upon destination. Keep an eye out for that Call for Papers.

ICST 2025 Conference ScheduleDownload

If you’d like to listen to my plenary address, wherein I discuss what it means to be critical in an age of social disintegration, you can find it on YouTube:

For more information on the Institute for Critical Social Theory, please visit our website: ICST

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Islamophobia in Granada, Spain

On May 22, 2025, I had the awesome opportunity to present my work on the metaphysics of Islamophobia at the Fourth Annual International Islamophobia Studies Research Association (IISRA) Conference, which took place in the shadow of the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The conference was sponsored by the Instituto de la Paz y los Conflictos (Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies) and Departments Studios Semiticos (Department of Semitic Studies), at the University of Granada. My presentation was based on my chapter in the new book, Secularism, Race, and the Politics of Islamophobia (University of Alberta Press), edited by Dr. Sharmin Sadequee. The chapter is entitled, “The Limits of the Translation Proviso: The Inherent Alien in the Willed-Community,” wherein I discussed Habermas’ “translation proviso” for Muslims in the West, its problems, and the rightwing retreat into metaphysical Islamophobia, especially in the concept of the “Volksgemeinschaft” (ethnic community), as a means of marginalizing Muslims in post-secular societies. No trip to Granada is complete without a tour of the Alhambra and the Albaicín part of the city, which is a historically Muslim part of the city. I also toured the Monastery of St. Jerome, Cartuja de Granada (Carthusian Monastery), and the Basílica Catedral Metropolitana de la Encarnación (Granada Cathedral), which sits on the remains of the central mosque of Granada. I also visited the Islamic madrasa (which is not a madrasa anymore) and the square in which Catholic Spaniards burned the Islamic books from the madrasa. This was an amazing conference and visit to Andalusia. I look forward to returning to visit Seville and Cordoba.

Fourth Annual International Islamophobia Studies Research Association (IISRA) ConferenceDownload

Buy the book here: Secularism, Race, and the Politics of Islamophobia.

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Institute for Critical Social Theory – Inaugural Conference, 2025

Come join the Institute for Critical Social Theory at our inaugural conference, July 17-19, 2025, at Bristol University (UK). Seyed Javad Miri and I are the plenary speakers in this three day conference. Our conference theme is “Critical Theory in an Age of Social Disintegration.” The Call for Papers is below, or visit us at the ICST website: Institute for Critical Social Theory.

ICST – Call for Papers – Bristol Conference 2025 2.0Download
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Talking Christian Nationalism in Scotland

On January 9th and 10th, I had the wonderful opportunity to participate in the “Whose Christianity Anyway: Theological Contestations in the Public and Political” conference at New College, School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh in Scotland. My presentation was entitled, “From the Cold War to the Warm Embrace: Russian Church-State Symphonia as a Template for the Re-Christianization of the United States.” The presentation sparked an excellent conversation about the nature of Christian Nationalism, why in particular the Russian model of “Symphonia” appeals to American Christian Nationalists, and the important differences between American Christian Nationalists and the Russian Orthodox Church. Our two keynote speakers, Jan-Werner Müller (Princeton) and Mariëtta van der Tol (Cambridge), gave very insightful presentations. A big thank you goes out to Thiu Elias and Stephen Dolan for all their hard work organizing the conference, and The University of Olivet for their financial support.

Whose Christianity Schedule and SessionsDownload

On the 11th of January, I was able to spend some time in Edinburgh as a simple American tourist, seeing numerous important landmarks, such as the Edinburgh castle, Victoria Street, Greyfriars Church and Kirkyard, and St. Giles Cathedral (where old fuss-and-feathers John Knox preached). Below are some pictures from the journey.

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Genius of the German World – The University of Olivet in Germany and Austria

From April 29th through May 12th, I had the great opportunity to teach a course entitled “Genius of the German World” for The University of Olivet. We traveled to Berlin, Wittenberg, Leipzig, Weimar, Erfurt, Eisenach, Nürnberg, Vienna, Hallstatt, and Salzburg, to study great philosophers, composers, artists, religious figures, and psychoanalysts. Seven UO students, Prof. Mike Fales (Religious Studies), my friends Karen and Ken, and the great Tracey and Bryce Katz accompanied us on this amazing trip. We visited numerous museums, attended two concerts and one dinner concert, visited a variety of cathedrals and churches, one Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, and got to know many locals on our trains. The logistics of the trip were put together by Witte Travel and Tours (Grand Rapids), who did an amazing job setting up another demanding tour I designed. Below are some pictures from our journey.

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