President Raymond Carr
President Raymond Carr (PhD) is an international public theologian. His research interests are theologically ecumenical, historically sensitive, and radically inclusive. Carr is a research associate at the Moses Mesoamerican Archive and Research Project at Harvard University and director of the “Codex Charles H. Long Papers Project,” a project that will bridge the gap between religion and theology.
During his tenure in the academy, Carr has received several distinctions in scholarship and teaching, including the pre-tenure teacher of the year award at Pepperdine University where he served as an assistant professor of Theology and Ethics from 2012-2019. He has also lectured as an international visiting professor in Heidelberg, Germany; Lausanne, Switzerland; and Shanghai, China. Most recently, Carr served as a visiting scholar/professor at Harvard Divinity School (Spring-Fall 2023).
He has published and presented papers on theological aesthetics, theomusicology, and black religion. His forthcoming trilogy in theological aesthetics, Theology in the Mode of Monk: An Aesthetics of Barth and Cone on Revelation and Freedom (Cascade, 2024), employs the music of Thelonious Monk as a form of parabolic suggestiveness in order to advance the thinking of Karl Barth, the Swiss Protestant theologian, and James Cone, the father of Black Theology. Cornel West has described Dr. Carr as "one of the few groundbreaking and path-blazing theologians of his generation," describing his forthcoming trilogy as "magisterial" and a work that "gives us new terrain in our grim and dim times." The three books will release simultaneously in August. Raymond Carr | Wipf and Stock Publishers
He complements his teaching, writing, and lectures with involvement in ENGAGE: A Youth Theology Initiative—a Lilly Funded pre-college program at Lipscomb University—guiding students who are interested in constructive theology and politics (2017-2024). Carr’s service to several organizations is distinguished by his current service as President of the Society for the Study of Black Religion (SSBR) and his role on the board for the International Thomas Merton Society (ITMS). He is a veteran of the United States Air Force.
To learn more about Raymond visit www.raymondcarr.com.