Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley: Jerome Baggett

Assistant Professor of Religion and Society
B.A., Boston College; M.T.S., Weston School of Theology; S.T.L., Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley; Ph.D., Graduate Theological Union/University of California, Berkeley

Phone: (510) 549-5060
Email:
Office hours: Thursdays 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Download a course syllabus for the following courses:
RSCE 3160: Religion & Politics In The US
RSCE 3178: Religion And Cultural Analysis
RSCE 2701: Sociology of Religion
RSCE 3048: Church, Power, Justice
RSCE 5027: Foundational Social Theory

"I've often heard people wistfully say, in the United States at least, that the 'good old days' for party politics was the Jacksonian era, for literature it was the turn of the 20th century and for professional baseball it was the 1950s and '60s.

"Well, I'm convinced that those days are now for theology and religious studies. The intellectual challenges, the unprecedented religious and spiritual eclecticism and the all-too-glaring need for a faith that does justice makes this a rather singular time for religious scholarship and ministry and, not surprisingly, for the Jesuit School as well."

These words of Dr. Jerome Baggett, Assistant Professor of Religion and Society, convey his enthusiasm towards theological studies and his belief in the work he does at the Jesuit School.

Dr. Baggett is active on the Jesuit School campus as a professor and mentor to his students. He teaches courses ranging from Religion and Politics in the United States to Spirituality and the Religious Quest in Modern America, and often accompanies his students on trips to religious events in the San Francisco Bay Area.

"I encourage students to observe, attend, survey, measure and revel in the near-dizzying array of religious and cultural diversity and innovation surrounding us... usually in the form of what is most unfamiliar to us."

Dr. Baggett's particular interests include the sociology of religion, social theory, voluntarism and civic participation, congregational studies, nonprofit sector studies and Catholic social thought and justice issues. He recently published Habitat for Humanity: Building Private Homes, Building Public Religion (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001).

"I'm glad I'm doing what I do at this critical time," he surmises. "And I'm glad I'm here."