Andrew Connolly studies religion and spirituality in American print and popular culture. He has published work on a wide variety of subjects, including James Baldwin, religion, and race;  Don DeLillo, baseball, and Harper’s Magazine; Frank Peretti and the Evangelical marketplace; and the deconversion narratives of  Katy Perry and Megan Fox. His most recent article on Shirley MacLaine and branding the New Age has recently been accepted to the Journal of the American Academy of Religion. This article is part of a larger project in which he examines the way publishers and booksellers used the labels occult, New Age, and spirituality to market books, and indirectly helped define those terms for a general audience.

Teaching Statement: 
I have always tried to understand who my students are and how they relate to the material I am teaching. Part of this process is creating an atmosphere where students feel comfortable expressing themselves. In my classes, students have the opportunity to decide which aspects of readings we examine in class, often selecting specific passages to read carefully. My overall approach to teaching both literature and writing is one that negotiates balance. I try to learn and connect with students’ prior knowledge and interests while pushing them to explore and grow academically and personally. I empower them to succeed inside and outside the academy. I introduce them to strategies for interpreting and analyzing cultural texts while also exposing them to diverse voices and perspectives on important contemporary issues. Ultimately, my goal is contributing to a wholistic education for my students.

Selected Publications:
Apocalypse Deferred: American Evangelicalism in the End Times of White Christian America, special issue of Journal of American Culture, vol. 47, no. 1, March 2024 (Edited with Ken Paradis).

Lynching and Its Legacies: Racial Dynamics of Discipline and Punishment in American Culture, special issue of Canadian Review of American Studies, vol. 48, no. 1, Spring 2018 (Edited with Chris Vanderwees).

Peer-Reviewed Articles

“Queen of the New Age: How Booksellers, Publishers, and Journalists Used Shirley MacLaine to Rebrand the Occult.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion (forthcoming).

“Masculinity, Political Action, and Spiritual Warfare in the Fictional Ministry of Frank E. Peretti.” Christianity and Literature, vol. 69, no. 1, March 2020, pp. 53-72.

“Not Real Good at Modern Life: Pentecostalism in the Works of Lee Smith.” South: A Scholarly Journal, vol. 49, no. 1, Fall 2017, pp. 79-100.

“She May Be Hot, but She is Also Really Crazy: Celebrity Deconversion Narratives.” The Canadian Review of American Studies, vol. 46, no. 3, Winter 2016, pp. 409-31.

“Counterpoint and Counternarrative: Baseball, DeLillo’s ‘Pafko and the Wall’ and Harper’s Folio.” American Periodicals, vol. 26, no. 1, Spring 2016, pp. 25-43.

“Shame, Rage, and Endless Battle: Systemic Pressure and Individual Violence in Baldwin’s Go Tell It on the Mountain.” CEA Critic, vol. 77, no. 1, March 2015, pp. 120-42.