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Josef Sorett

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Josef Sorett is an American scholar of religion and race in the Americas. He has served as the Dean of Columbia College of Columbia University since July 2022.[1]

Education[edit]

Josef Sorett received a Bachelor of Science in Health and Exercise Science from Oral Roberts University, an MDiv in Religion and Literature from Boston University, and his PhD in African American Studies from Harvard University.[2]

Career[edit]

Sorett first taught at Columbia University in 2009, and he became Professor of Religion and African American and African Diaspora Studies, Chair of the Department of Religion, and Director of the Center on African-American Religion, Sexual Politics and Social Justice. His research focuses on how religion has shaped cultures of Black communities and movements in the United States, from a perspective that straddles history, literature, religion, art, and music.[2] Sorett is the editor of The Sexual Politics of Black Churches published by Columbia University Press in 2022.[3] The book investigates the politics of sexuality within Black churches and their communities.[2]

Dean of Columbia College[edit]

Since July 2022, Sorett served as the Dean of Columbia College and Vice President of Undergraduate Education.[2]

During Columbia University students' 2024 Pro-Palestine campus protests, Sorett sent an email to students on April 18 urging them to "avoid the false surety of familiar assumptions" of their peers' thoughts, intentions, and motivations.[4] Sorett sent an email to Columbia alumni on April 24 about the campus protests, denouncing antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric.[5] On May 1, Sorett sent a follow-up statement to Columbia College students that quoted Martin Luther King Jr., "Where do we go from here: chaos or community?"[6]

During Columbia's annual alumni reunion on May 31, 2024, Sorett engaged with texts by three Columbia administrators disparaging a panel about antisemitism on campus, at one point responding "LMAO" to one of the text messages. The three other staff members were placed on leave and removed from their administrative positions.[7][8] Minouche Shafik, President of Columbia University, stated that the messages were "unacceptable and deeply upsetting." University Provost Angela Olinto issued a statement that "Dean Sorett and I will work together to mend relationships, repair trust, and rebuild accountability".[8] On July 8, Sorett apologized, noting that "while not intended as such, some of the text messages exchanged may call to mind antisemitic tropes."[9][10] He said, "As a scholar of religion and race, my work has long been defined in relationship to communities struggling to think and talk together across all kinds of difference, in service to the whole. I continue to see my work as dean in this vein."[10]

Books[edit]

  • Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics (Oxford University Press, 2016)[11]
  • The Sexual Politics of Black Churches (Columbia University Press, 2022) editor[12]
  • Black is a Church: Christianity and the Contours of African American Life (Oxford University Press, 2023)

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Josef Sorett | Department of Religion". religion.columbia.edu. Retrieved December 9, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Bollinger, Lee C (May 24, 2022). "Dr. Josef Sorett (STH '00) Appointed Dean of Columbia College". Boston University School of Theology. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  3. ^ "Three African American Scholars Who Have Been Appointed Deans". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. June 6, 2022. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  4. ^ Bernstein, Noah; Huddleston, Sarah (April 18, 2024). "Sorett issues statement on arrests, encourages students to avoid 'familiar assumptions'". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  5. ^ Vogt, Adrienne (April 4, 2024). "'Difficult moment' for Columbia: College dean sends email to alumni". CNN. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  6. ^ Sorett, Josef (May 1, 2024). "Where do we go from here?". Columbia College. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  7. ^ Meko, Hurubie (June 22, 2024). "3 Columbia Deans Placed on Leave Over Conduct at Antisemitism Panel". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  8. ^ a b Rosman, Katherine (July 8, 2024). "Columbia Removes Three Deans, Saying Texts Touched on 'Antisemitic Tropes'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  9. ^ "3 Columbia University officials lose posts over texts that 'touched on ancient antisemitic tropes'". NBC New York. Associated Press. July 8, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Sorett, Josef (July 8, 2024). "A Message from the Dean". Columbia College. Retrieved July 9, 2024.
  11. ^ Winters, Joseph (December 9, 2018). "Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics by Josef Sorett (review)". African American Review. 51 (2): 155–158. doi:10.1353/afa.2018.0027. Retrieved December 9, 2023 – via Project MUSE.
  12. ^ Thyssen, Ashwin Afrikanus (August 1, 2023). "The sexual politics of black churches: edited by Josef Sorrett, New York, Columbia University Press, 2022, 280 pp., $ 35 (paperback), ISBN: 9780231188333". Politics, Religion & Ideology. 24 (4): 614–616. doi:10.1080/21567689.2023.2242682. Retrieved December 9, 2023 – via CrossRef.

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