Presenter

Dr.Anthony B. Pinn

Anthony B. Pinn received his BA from Columbia University, Master of Divinity and PhD in the study of religion from Harvard University. He is currently the Agnes Cullen Arnold Distinguished Professor of Humanities and professor of religion at Rice University. Pinn is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa (2026-2029), as well as a visiting scholar at Harvard University Divinity School. Pinn is the founding director of the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning, and served as the inaugural director of the Center for African and African American Studies both at Rice University. He is on the advisory board of several journals, including the Journal of Religion (University of Chicago), and he is the editor of five books series, including the New York University Press series, Religion and Social Transformation, with Stacey Floyd-Thomas. In addition, he is Director of Research for the Institute for Humanist Studies – a Washington, DC-based think tank, and a member of the advisory council for the Smithsonian’s Center for the Study of African American Religious Life. Pinn’s research interests include religion and culture; black religious thought; humanism; and Hip Hop culture. He is the author/editor of over 50 books, including Interplay of Things: Religion, Art, and Presence Together (Duke University Press, 2021), Biblical Outlaws: What the Bible’s Most Despised Characters Can Teach Us (Yale University Press, 2026), and a novel, The New Disciples (Pitchstone Publishing, 2017).