Donald Heinz, Ph.D. Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley.
Trinity 244
(530) 898-5221
dheinz@csuchico.edu

I teach courses in religious ethics, sociology of religion, Christianity, and death and dying. My chief research interest is the role of religion in public space. My angles of approach include theology, social ethics, sociology, anthropology, and ritual studies. I am committed to non-reductive approaches to religion and to the re-imagination of the role of religion in the evolution of culture. I am convinced that religion is necessary for a fully adequate account of the human condition, and I believe that "adequacy to the human condition" is a good test of religion's value and relevance. I have published "The Last Passage: Recovering a Death of Our Own" (Oxford, 1999), as a normative study of the adequacy of American ritualization of death. I have completed a manuscript "The Three Story Universe: The Long Coming of God, the Ascent of Humanity, and the Reenchantment of Earth" and am completing a manuscript "Christmas: A Celebration of Christian Culture." My next two manuscripts will explore "Sabbath Life" as a study of the rhythm of work, rest, and reflection and "Sound Life," a narrative of a year lived on Puget Sound.

Publications