Visiting Asst. Prof. of Religion; Centre College (2023-Present)

Visiting Asst. Prof. of Religious Studies; University of Lynchburg (2021-2023)

Postdoc Research Fellow; 'Money in the Making of World Society' Human Economy Programme; University of Pretoria (01/2016-12/2018)

Ph.D. Interdisciplinary Study of Religion; University of Durham
B.A. Anthropology; University of Utah
M.A. Philosophy; University of Amsterdam
B.A. Philosophy and Psychology; Boston University

Instagram: @dr.b.b.bae

painting by Joon Bae

Journal Articles & Book Chapters (Peer-Reviewed)

2022 Bae, B. B., Dahlmanns, E., Wielenga, C., & Matshaka, C. ‘Mending Social Relations: A Community Court in a Namibian Village and Extending a Relational Quality of Justice on the Ground’, In. C. Wielenga (ed.) African Feminisms and Women in the Context of Justice in Southern Africa. pp. 41-56. Palgrave

2021 Bae, B. B. ‘Conflict Mediation and Bungoma Activism in a South African Township’, Journal of Religion in Africa, 49 (3-4): 289-311

2020 Bae, B. B. ‘Translating Religious Conversions to Social Conversions; Money and Social Identity for the Homeless’, In. S. Sremac & I. Jindra (eds.) Conversion and Lived Religion: Recovery, Imprisonment, and Homeless. pp. 215-236. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan

2017 Bae, B. B. ‘Believing Selves and Cognitive Dissonance: Connecting Individual and Society via Belief’, In D. Davies & M. Thate (eds.) Religion and the Individual: Belief, Practice, and Identity. pp. 6-19. Basel: MDPI (Reprint)

2017 Bae, B. B. ‘Belief and Acceptance for the Study of Religion’, Method and Theory in the Study of Religion, 29: 57-87

2016 Bae, B. B. ‘Christianity and Implicit Racism in the U.S. Moral and Human Economy’, Open Theology, 2: 1002-1017

2016 Bae, B. B. ‘Believing Selves and Cognitive Dissonance: Connecting Individual and Society via Belief’, Religions, 7, 86, doi: 10.3390/rel7070086

Invited Talks

2022 Invited Talk: Exploring Transitional Justice on the Ground University of Lynchburg “Courageous Conversation” talk series

2021 Invited lecture: What can the U.S. learn from the Healers of South Africa? Redlands University “Public Square” talk series

2018 Invited lecture on Human Economy and Epistemic Injustice; University of Witswatersand

2018 Panel Discussant on Connecting local and global systems of justice; Embassy of The Netherlands

2017 Public Seminar on Alexandra’s Traditional Healers’ Mediation Court; Embassy of Sweden & Embassy of Switzerland

Conference Presentations & Workshop Papers

2023 ‘Grief, Crisis, and Ritualizing an Art Praxis through a Korean Lens’ Religion & Theology: Redeeming Autonomy V; Rome, Italy

2018 ‘Activism between moralities of reproduction: Healers in the township’ Exploring Religious Activism in Southern Africa workshop; Gaborone, Botswana

2018 ‘A Human Economy of Traditional Healers and the Struggle for Economic Democracy’ Struggle for Economic Democracy in Africa workshop; Pretoria, South Africa

2017 ‘Knowledge, Responsibility, Power in the Human Economy of Traditional Healers’ Responsibility, Knowledge, and Power workshop; Johannesburg, South Africa

2017 ‘Looking for Ubuntu; a few questions from the Study of Religion’ Ubuntu and the Everyday Colloquium, Univ. of Pretoria

2015 ‘Revisiting Rodney Needham’s Abandonment of Belief’ British Sociological Association Sociology of Religion Annual Conference; Hoddesdon, UK

2014 ‘Religious Belief and Emotions; an Interdisciplinary Approach’ ‘Rationality and Emotions’ workshop w/ Antonio Damasio & Sabine Döring

2013 ‘Exploring Cognitive Dissonance between Embodiment and Tacit Knowledge: Expectation and Experience in Religion, Sexuality and Death’ ‘Understanding Beyond the Linguistic Dogma – Cognitive Metaphors and Embodiment as Non-Propositional Knowledge’ w/ Markus Wild & Neil Gascoigne

2012 ‘Religious Experience, Courage and Responsibility’ Durham University Postgraduate Conference; Durham, UK

2010 ‘Culture of Salvation, Meaning and Experience’ Annual conference for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) and Religious Research Association (RRA); Baltimore, Maryland

2009 ‘Reconciled Identities in Story; Sex, Mormonism, Cognitive Dissonance and Identity’ Joint Biennial Conference for the Society for Psychological Anthropology (SPA) and Society for Anthropology of Religion (SAR); Asilomar, California

2008 ‘Same yet not the Same; Mormonism via Korean’ Annual conference for the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion (SSSR) and Religious Research Association (RRA); Louisville, Kentucky