Advisory Council

Aaron Rosen

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Dr. Aaron Rosen is Professor of Religion & Visual Culture and Director of the Henry Luce III Center for the Arts & Religion at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.  As director of the Luce Center, he overseas research, teaching, and outreach, as well as exhibitions at the seminary's Dadian Gallery.  He is also Visiting Professor at King’s College London, where he was previously Senior Lecturer in Sacred Traditions & the Arts and Deputy Director of the Center for the Arts and the Sacred.  Rosen began his career at Yale, Oxford, and Columbia Universities, after receiving his doctorate from the University of Cambridge.  He has lectured widely around the world, and held various honorary posts, including visiting professor at University College Utrecht, The Netherlands.

 

Rosen is the author of four books:  What Would Jesus See? (Broadleaf, forthcoming); Brushes with Faith (Cascade, 2019); Art and Religion in the 21st Century (Thames & Hudson, 2015; pbk 2016), named one of the best books of the year by The Times; and Imagining Jewish Art (Legenda, 2009).  His edited books include: Religion and Sight (Equinox, 2020); Encounters:  The Art of Interfaith Dialogue (Brepols, 2018); Visualising a Sacred City:  London, Art and Religion (I.B. Tauris, 2016); and Religion and Art in the Heart of Modern Manhattan (Ashgate/Routledge, 2015; pbk 2018).  He is currently working on a monograph entitled The Hospitality of Images: Modern Art and Interfaith Dialogue for Cambridge University Press.  His research has been supported by numerous scholarships and grants, including a major grant from Templeton Religion Trust for a project on aesthetic understanding and spiritual discernment. 

 

Rosen is the visual arts editor for Image Journal, and the editor of book series for Brill, Brepols, and Bloomsbury publishers.  He has written widely for publications including CNN.com, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, Apollo, Times Higher Education, and Art in America and often comments for radio and television in the US and UK, including PBS and BBC.  He was curator in residence at the Jewish Museum in London and is the co-founder of the international public arts project Stations of the Cross.  He also writes books for young people, including Where’s Your Creativity? and Journey through Art, which has been translated into seven languages.

 

He is married to the Rev. Dr. Carolyn Rosen, and they live in a centuries-old parsonage on the coast of Maine with their son Arthur and dog Basil.

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