Contact Information

Office: I-410
Phone: (303) 765-3192
Fax: (303) 777-0164
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Curriculum Vitae

Education

B.A., The Evergreen State College
M.Div., Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Ph.D., Northwestern University

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Bio

When named to the Peck Chair in Religion and Public Communication Jeffrey Mahan said, “Much of my work has focused on religious and theological engagements with both fine and popular film, literature and television. Earlier in my career I had the delight of serving on ecumenical juries at the Montreal, Cannes’ and Berlin film festivals. I have also been interested in the news media and increasingly I have been thinking about what it means for us to live in what Michael Real called a ‘mass-mediated culture.’ I am thinking and teaching about what religion is like in a world we experience, perhaps principally, through the media, a world in which appearance in the various forms of mass media confirms meaning and value.”

A practical theologian trained in the study of religion and society, Mahan has also long been involved in field education and other courses that cultivate religious vocation and a practice of theological reflection on our lived experience of faith in church, community and culture. Through the Association of Theological Field Educators he has trained and mentored directors of field education.

His publications include Religion and Popular Culture in America, Shared Wisdom, A Long Way from Solving that One, and American Television Genres as well as numerous essays.

Mahan was founding co-chair of the Religion and Popular Culture Group of the American Academy of Religion and is the past vice president of the Association of Theological Field Educators. Currently he serves on the National Steering Committee, Center for Media, Religion and Culture, University of Colorado at Boulder and on the Editorial Board, Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. A clergy member of the Rocky Mountain Conference of the United Methodist Church, he served churches in Chicago and on the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary before joining the Iliff faculty in 1995.

Representative courses:

  • Media, Religion and Culture
  • Popular Culture: Myth, Religion and Story
  • Leadership: Vision, Administration and Ethics