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Associate Professor, Religious Studies & Theology
Chair, Center for the Global Study of Religion
As a religious studies major at San Jose State University, Timothy H. Wadkins wrote his senior thesis on colonial era preacher and philosopher Jonathan Edwards. What was meant to be a capstone paved the way for his future graduate work in history and theology. Wadkins earned a master of divinity degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a PhD in historical studies from Graduate Theological Union.
Today, his passion to promote religious tolerance through interfaith dialogue is realized on the Canisius campus and in the community through his work as chair of the Center for the Global Study of Religion. Funded by a Peter Canisius Professorship, Wadkins created the program to provide students with exposure to diverse cultures. They learn real-life lessons about politics and religion as they travel to Third World countries. They also experience firsthand how different people live and how they practice their faith.
In his classroom, students enjoy a healthy exchange of religious studies ideas, theories and philosophies. It is an environment that evokes meaningful discussions about God and values.
Wadkins says, “A liberal arts education in the Catholic Jesuit tradition is more about how the whole culture of the college is infused by a sacramental understanding of reality. Everything we do here at Canisius – the exploration of ideas, lab experiments, research projects, athletic endeavors, justice concerns, service and immersion programs, and especially the various ways that we learn to understand and accept others outside our cultural and religious enclaves – is an engaged effort to investigate, interpret and ethically implement the life-giving presence of the Creator within the creation.”