Dr. Karen Bruhn
kbruhn@asu.edu
Sage Hall South 161
Barrett, the Honors College
At Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
85287-1612
(480) 727-6721
Education
Ph.D., Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
M.A., Religious Studies, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
B.A., Religion/Literature, City University of New York, summa cum laude
1998
1993
1991
Positions Held
Faculty Fellow and Principle Lecturer, Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University
2009-present
Faculty Fellow and Senior Lecturer, Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University
2004-2008
Faculty Fellow and Lecturer, Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University
1998-2003
Courses Taught
Arizona State University
HON 171 and HON 272 The Human Event. Two-semester seminar for first-year honors
students based on primary texts culled from various religious, literary, and political
works. Covers ancient to modern times.
HST 352 Europe’s Reformations. Upper level course examining reform movements in
15th- and 16th-century Europe. Primary and secondary texts.
HON 492 The Early Mediterranean World. Upper level course taught as part of the
Honors Summer Abroad Program to Athens Crete and Rome. Texts include
primary and secondary texts that address the political, social, and religious world of
early Greece and Italy. Class time includes visits to historically significant sites.
HON 494 Religion and Culture in Shakespeare’s England. Upper level course taught as
part of the Honors Summer Abroad Program in the British Isles. Texts include six
plays as well as various religious and political texts from the period. Class time
includes attending the Globe Theatre in London, as well as various visits to
historically significant sites.
HON 394 Religion, Authority, and Identity. Upper level seminar examines how different
religious traditions can shape personal and/or communal identity. Primary religious
texts as well as some imaginative literature.
University of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, 1994-1996
REL 30 Critical Issues in Western Religious Thought. Subtitled, “Christianity Then and
Now: Martyrs, Monks, and Madonna.” A survey of the history of Christianity with
an emphasis on changing definitions of the religious self.
REL 10 Introduction to World Religions. Course taught at the North Carolina Women’s
Correctional Facility through the Continuing Education Program at the University
of North Carolina.
Publications
“’If Power Change Purpose:’ Authority, Leadership, and Religion in Measure for
Measure.” In Leadership and Elizabethan Culture ed. Peter Iver Kaufman (New York:
Palgrave MacMillan, 2013), forthcoming.
Review of The Reformation of the English Parish Church. Church History, June 2011.
Review of The Impact of the European Reformations: Princes, Clergy and People. Church
History, June 2010
Article: “’Sinne Unfoulded’: Time, Election, and Disbelief Among the Godly in Early
Modern England” (Journal of Church History, Vol. 77, no.3, September 2008 ).
Review of Calvin and the Grounding of Interpretation: Calvin's First Commentaries
Church History,Vol.77, no.2, June, 2008.
Review of Martyrdom and Literature in Early Modern England. Shakespeare Yearbook,
XVII, June, 2007.
Article: “Miles Coverdale” in The Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Routledge, 2005.
Article: “John Whitgift” in The Encyclopedia of Protestantism, Routledge ,2005.
“Review Article: ‘The Idolatrous Eye’ and ‘Image, Idolatry, and Iconcoclasm in Late
Medieval England,’” The Journal of Anglican and Episcopal History, March,
2004.
Review of Long Travail and Great Paynes: A Politics of Reformation Revision. Church
History,Vol. 73 no. 3, September, 2004.
“Pastoral Polemic: William Perkins, The Godly Evangelicals, And The Shaping of A
Protestant Community In Early Modern England.” The Journal of Anglican and
Episcopal History, Vol. LXXII, no.1 March, 2003.
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“Reforming Saint Peter: Protestant Constructions Of Saint Peter The Apostle In Early
Modern England.” The Sixteenth Century Journal, Vol. 33, no. 1 Spring, 2002.
Review of Seeing Beyond the Word: Visual Arts and the Calvinist Tradition. Church
History, vol.69, no. 3, September, 2000.
Conference Presentations
“The Interdisciplinary First Year Seminar.”Conference on Excellence in Higher Education,
October 2012.
“Developing Critical Thinking Skills: An Honors Curriculum (panel member),” National
Conference of Honors Colleges National Meeting, Phoeniz, October 2011.
“Us and Them: Inclusions and Exclusions in the History of Christianity” (moderator),
American Academy of Religion Conference, Montreal, November, 2009.
“Teaching with Texts in the History of Christianity: Textbooks and General Histories for a
Changing Field” (panel member), American Academy of Religion Conference, San
Diego, November, 2008.
“Brawling Discontent: Protestant Self-Definition in Shakespeare” American Society of
Church History Conference, Salt Lake City, April 2007
“Constructing National and Christian Identities” (panel moderator) American Academy of
Religion Conference , Washington DC, November, 2006
“For An Age AND For All Time: Teaching Shakespeare as Literature and History” Rocky
Mountain Modern Language Association Conference, Tucson, October, 2006
“The Accidental Apostate: Deconversion Among the Godly in Late Sixteenth- and Early
Seventeenth Century England” American Academy of Religion Conference ,
Philadelphia, November, 2005
"'A Certen Perswation’: The Rhetoric of Self in Sixteenth-Century English
Calvinist Texts” Society for Church History Conference, Seattle, January, 2005
“Drowsie Protestants and the Tongue of the Learned: Pastoral Strategies in William
Perkins’” Society for Church History, Chicago, January, 2003
“Religious Studies in the Honors Curriculum,” National Collegiate Honors Conference
Washington, D.C, October, 2001.
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“Anglo-American Puritan Reform” ( panel moderator) Society for Church History,
Chicago, January, 2000.
“Reforming Peter: Late Elizabethan and Early Stuart Constructions of Saint Peter the
Apostle”, Sixteenth Century Studies Conference, Toronto, October, 1998.
“The Survey Course, or ‘If It’s Tuesday It Must Be The Renaissance’” Group For
Early Modern Cultural Studies Conference, Chapel Hill, North Carolina,
October, 1997.
Invited Presentations (selected)
“Under the Tuscan Sun.” Barrett Drescher Talks 2011.
“Reading Secretary Hand.” Barrett Drescher Talks, 2010
“Teaching Shakespeare On Site.” Barrett Drescher Talks, 2008.
“The Protestant Reformation.” Spirit of the Senses, 2007.
“World Religions for the Middle Schooler.” Changing Hands Book Store, 2006.
“A Short History of the History of Christianity.” Business of God Association, 2006.
“Critical Analysis of John Dominic Crossan’s In Search of Paul.” The Foundation for
Contemporary Theology, 2005.
.“Calvinist Constructions of the Self.” Barrett Drescher Talks 2005.
“The Bible as History.” Spirit of the Senses, 2004.
Awards and Distinctions
Devils’ Advocates “Apple Polisher” Faculty Appreciation Honoree, 1999, 2006, 2008,
2011, 2012
ASU Alumni Association’s Founders Day Award for Teaching Achievement, 2012
Barrett Award For Excellence in Teaching, 2006
Barrett Award For Excellence in Service, 2010
Sol and Esther Drescher Faculty Development Summer Grant, 2000, 2004, 2006,
2007, 2010
Cited as “most influential teacher” in ASU graduating senior surveys, 1998-2001,
2002-2006
George Heller Memorial Graduate Fellowship, 1993-4
Charlotte Newcomb Undergraduate Award for Women, 1990-1991
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Jewish Foundation for Women Scholarship, 1989-91
Committee and Service Work (selected)
Chair of the Barrett Faculty, 1999-2001, 2007-2009, 2010-2013
Chair of Barrett Curriculum Committee 2009-2010
Senator-at-large, Faculty Senate, Arizona State University, 2005-2007.
Board of Directors, Episcopal Campus Ministries, 2006-Present
Chair, Faculty Search Committee, Barrett College, 2005.
Chair, Subcomittee on HON 172 Curriculum, Faculty Honors Council, 2004.
Chair, Curriculum Committee, Barrett Honors College, 2002-2003.
Personnel Committee, Barrett College, 2002-2004.
ASU President’s Task Force on Status of Permanent Non-tenured Faculty, 2000-2001.
ASU Provost’s Consultative Committee, 1999-2001, 2005-2006.
Faculty Search Committee, Barrett Honors College, 1998-1999.
Faculty Advisor, “Students for A Cure,” 2004-2008
Faculty Advisor, Flinn Scholars, Gammage Scholars, Dorrance Scholars 2001-2003.
Faculty Advisor, Barrett Honors College Student Council, 1998-2000.
Independent Studies
“Literature of English Puritanism,” Ryan Lind, Spring, 2008
“Teaching and Learning Strategies in the Undergraduate Seminar” John Paul Parikh,
Evan Rap, Spring 2007
“Teaching and Learning Strategies in the Undergraduate Seminar” Guy Gerace,
Cassandra Zwick, Paul Chaon, Fall 2006
“Teaching and Learning Strategies in the Undergraduate Seminar” Brandon
Hendrickson, John Sehorn, Fall 2005
“Historiography of Historical Jesus,” Brandon Hendrickson, John Sehorn, Spring
2004
Honors Theses Directed (selected)
“Mithraism and Christianity in Late Ancient Rome,” Ashley Cruz, 2013
“Influence of Scholasticism in the Wittenburg Reformation,” Jack Sanchez, 2013
“The Reformation Pamphlet Wars and the Fall of the Berlin Wall: Biases Within Media
Coverage Through the Years,” Stephanie Russo, 2013
“Elizabeth I: Policy and Attitudes towards Catholic Dissidents,” Sydney Mirza ,2012
“Coptic Monasticism Then and Now” Amye Farag, 2011
“The Reformation Self in English Puritan Literature,” Andrea Belovich, 2011
“Cromwell’s Bible: The 1651 Annotated King James Bible,” Kelly McVey, 2011
“Atonement Theory in Puritan Thought," Ryan Lind, 2010
"The Expansion of Education in Sixteenth Century England," Lauren Romero (second
reader), 2010
“Celtic Spirituality and Synod of Whitby,” Cassandra Zwick, 2009.
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“’Thanatopsis:’ A Composition for Chamber Orchestra and Voice,” Tom Peterson
(second reader), 2008.
“Jesus' Community and the Hope of Israel,” Brandon Hendrickson (second reader), 2005.
“Royal Davidic Ideology,” John Sehorn (second reader), 2005.
“Bart D. Ehrman, Epistemological Skepticism, and the Consideration of an Alternative
Presupposition,” Brandon Crowe (second reader), 2005.
Professional Memberships
American Academy of Religion (Member of Steering Committee for History of
Christianity section, 2006-2012)
Society of Church History
Sixteenth Century Studies Conference
American Historical Association
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