David McDuffie
Senior Lecturer, Department of Religious Studies, and Member of the Environment and Sustainability Program Advisory Council, Department of Geography, Environment, and Sustainability
Liberal and Professional Studies
Email Address: dcmcduff@uncg.edu
Education
D.Min. The School of Theology, Sewanee: The University of the South
M.A. Philosophy, University of Georgia
M.A. Religion, University of Georgia
B.A. Political Science, University of Georgia
Graduate Certificate Environmental Ethics, University of Georgia
Graduate Certificate Global Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Courses Taught
- REL 100: Introduction to World Religions (Online)
- REL 101: Introduction to Religious Studies
- REL 101: Introduction to Religious Studies (Online)
- REL 109: Religion and Contemporary Culture (Religion and Politics)
- REL 109: Religion and Contemporary Culture (Religion and Politics) (Online)
- REL 115: Religion and Science
- REL 115: Religion and Science (Online)
- REL 210: Christianity to the Reformation
- REL 210: Christianity to the Reformation (Online)
- REL 212: Christianity from the Reformation to the Present
- REL 212: Christianity from the Reformation to the Present (Online)
- REL 231: Religion in America
- REL 231: Religion in America (Online)
- REL 249: Religion and Public Health
- REL 249: Religion and Public Health (Online)
- REL 250: Religious Traditions and Care of the Earth
- REL 250: Religious Traditions and Care of the Earth (Online)
- REL 324: Philosophical Issues in Religion: Religious Naturalism (Online)
- ENV 100: Introduction to Environmental Studies
- ENV 100: Introduction to Environmental Studies (Online)
Research
McDuffie’s primary teaching schedule includes courses in World Religions, Religion in America, Christian History, Religion and Environment, Religion and Science, Religion and Public Health, and Religion and Politics. Broadly, his research and teaching interests involve the subject area of Religion and Culture, which includes but is not limited to the relationships between religion and politics, science, and health care. Most of McDuffie’s research revolves around the interdisciplinary conversations between religion and the natural sciences and the ways in which these conversations contribute to ecological conservation and public health. The following question orients his work: In a time of widespread ecological degradation, what is the potential for religion or the religious to offer a significant contribution toward the attainment of sustainable human cultures, which includes a commitment to the valuation and protection of human and non-human life? McDuffie explores this question with reference to conceptions of the natural environment from established religious traditions (with a particular emphasis on Christian tradition) as well as through an examination of whether concern and care for life on Earth can be understood as a form of religious expression.