Research and writing on theology, education, attention, and human formation.
I am a theologian and educator whose work explores attention, participation, literacy, and Christian formation across educational, ecclesial, and public life. Drawing on theology, philosophy of education, and classroom practice, my research examines how persons are shaped through habits of perception, judgment, discipleship, and shared life.
Alongside teaching in universities, seminaries, secondary schools, and literacy intervention settings, I write and speak on theology and education, children and spirituality, attentional formation, and the challenges contemporary culture poses for meaningful learning and participation.
Research
Attention, theology, AI, literacy, and human formation
Writing & Publications
Essays, sermons, and reflections on theology, education, and formation
Teaching
Teaching philosophy, courses, educational leadership, and pedagogy
Speaking & Collaboration
Invited talks, workshops, conferences, and public engagement
Connect
Send me a message about speaking, collaboration, or professional inquiries.
What is “Attentive Belonging”?
You are what you attend to. Formation happens whether we direct it or not.
Attentive belonging describes the ways persons are formed through habits of attention, participation, and shared life. Education is never simply the transfer of information. It shapes perception, judgment, desire, and our capacity to participate meaningfully in the world.
My work draws on theology, philosophy of education, and classroom and ministry experience to explore how educational practices, technological culture, and emerging forms of artificial intelligence shape human agency, attention, and belonging.
Recent Writing and Speaking
“The Structure of Theology: Creation and Recreation in the Breviloquium and De sacramentis,” in Saint Bonaventure: Friar, Teacher, Minister, Bishop, ed. T. Johnson, K. Wrisley-Shelby, M. K. Zamora (2021)
“The Original Vision: Edward Robinson and the Spiritual Life of Children,” Church Life Journal (2024)
“The Secret Spiritual Lives of Children: Edward Robinson and the Wholeness of Becoming,” forthcoming in an edited volume supported by the McGrath Center for Church Life, University of Notre Dame and the Lilly Endowment (2026)
”Attentive Belonging in the Age of AI: Reclaiming Formation, Participation, and Human Agency in Education,” for the Science and Religion Capstone, The McGrath Center for Church Life, University of Notre Dame (Summer 2026)
“Attentive Belonging: Wisdom Formation, Attention, and Shalom in the Age of AI,” with Cyrus Olsen (Scranton) and Ian Marcus Corbin (Harvard Medical) for “Wisdom in the Age of AI” Conference, Kuyers Institute, Calvin College (October 2026)