Joshua Canzona

Assistant Dean of Academic Affairs and Part-Time Assistant Teaching Professor of Theology

Canzona completed his doctoral work at Georgetown University with a dissertation examining consciousness and sociality in the work of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, SJ and Muhammad Iqbal, the intellectual father of Pakistan. His published articles include studies of John Henry Newman on miracles and the ethics of chemically-induced mysticism in the counterculture sixties. His current research interests include comparative mysticism, religious pluralism, and religion in film. He has recently taught courses examining comparative theology, contemplative theology, Muslim-Christian dialogue, and best practices for dismantling Islamophobia. A former public high school teacher, he also writes and conducts workshops on classroom practice, curriculum design, and assessment. Canzona is a board member of the American Teilhard Association and an active member in both the Mystical Theology Network and the American Academy of Religion.

Education

BA, Loyola University of New Orleans; MA, University of Chicago; MTS, Harvard Divinity School; EdM, Harvard Graduate School of Education; PhD, Georgetown University

Religious Affiliation

Roman Catholic

Courses Taught

• Muslims in America; Muslims are America
• Islam and Islamophobia
• Comparative Mysticism
• Comparative Theology
• Classics in Contemplative Theology

Select Journal Articles, Book Chapters, Book Reviews

• “Lust in Film” and “Metaphor in Film” in Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2019.
• “John Henry Newman on Miracles and Skepticism.” Newman Studies Journal 9:2 (2012), 55-64.
• “Teaching Islam with Graphic Novels and Comics.” Wabash Center: Teaching Islam Blog, June 2016.
• Review of The Qur’an and the West by Kenneth Cragg for American Academy of Religion: Reading Religion, April 2019.
• Review of Teaching Interculturally: A Framework for Integrating Disciplinary Knowledge and Intercultural Development by Amy Lee for Wabash Center: Reflective Teaching, September 2018.
• Review of The Practice of Islam in America edited by Edward E. Curtis for American Academy of Religion: Reading Religion, Februrary 2018.
• Review of Les Innocentes directed by Anne Fontaine. Journal of Religion and Film, April 2017.
• Review of The Archetypal Sunnī Scholar: Law, Theology, and Mysticism in the Synthesis of Al-Bājūrī by Aaron Spevack. Journal of Islamic Studies, May 2016.

Select Academic Lectures

• “Lust and Weibermacht in Biblical Film,” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting (forthcoming).
• “God from the Machine: Teilhardian Cosmogenesis and Artificial Intelligence.” Mystical Theology Network, March 2019.
• “Mysticism at the Front: The Significance of Wartime Service in the Thought of Teilhard de Chardin.” American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, November 2017.
• “Knowing God in the Abyss of Cosmic Time: An Analysis of Epistemology in Teilhard de Chardin.” Ways of Knowing, Harvard Divinity School, October 2016.
• “Breastfeeding and Nourishment in Bernard of Clairvaux.” Art and Articulation: Illuminating the Mystical, Medieval and Modern, Oxford University, January 2016.
• “The Tears of Saint Joan Against the Boundaries of Language.” Paris-Sorbonne Université, Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, March 2014.

Select Sermons, Educational Series, and Church Presentations

• Film and Discussion Series, “Looking at Art Cinema: Women Religious/Religious Women” at Aperture Cinema in Winston-Salem
• Panel Moderator for Seventh Art Stand Against Islamophobia at Aperture Cinema, Winston-Salem
• Film and Discussion Series, “Looking at Art Cinema: Faith, Doubt and Transcendence” at Aperture Cinema in Winston-Salem
• “The Troubling Historical Parallels of Infestations,” guest column for the Winston-Salem Journal, June 2018. 
• “Confronting Islamophobia,” Community Lecture at Emmanuel Church in the City of Boston

Professional Affiliations

• Board Member of the American Teilhard Association
• American Academy of Religion
• Mystical Theology Network