 | Jon Butler |
Jon Butler, newly designated as the Howard R. Lamar Professor of American Studies, History and Religious Studies, is a historian of American religion and the new dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (he assumes the post July 1).
Butler is noted for calling attention to a facet of American historical development that he has described as being largely ignored after the age of the Puritans: the American religious landscape, including both institutionalized religions and informal traditions and sects. In his book "Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People," the Yale historian challenged the notion that New England Puritanism constituted the touchstone of the American religious experience. The book won the American Historical Association's Beveridge Award for the best book on American history in 1990.
In his 2001 book "Becoming America: The Revolution Before 1776" -- a History Book Club selection -- Butler describes how the early colonists, although ethnically and religiously diverse, developed a distinctive American culture. He also co-edited the 17-volume "Religion in American Life," published by Oxford University Press for adolescent readers.
Butler's other publications include the book "The Huguenots in America: A Refugee People in New World Society," among others. With his Yale colleague Harry S. Stout, he co-edited "Religion in American History: A Reader."
Butler earned his B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota and taught at California State College and the University of Illinois at Chicago before joining the Yale faculty in 1985. He was named the William Robertson Coe Professor of American Studies and History in 1990. He has chaired the American Studies Program (1988-1993) and the Department of History (1999-2004), and was director of the Humanities Division (1997-1999). From 1993 to 2000, Butler and Stout co-directed the Pew Program in Religion and American History, a national fellowship program funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts that supports first books and Ph.D. dissertations by junior faculty and graduate students on the subject of religion and American history.
Butler was a Distinguished Lecturer for the Organization of American Historians 2001-2004. He has won numerous honors for his books as well as a number of prestigious fellowships.
T H I S
Jon Butler appointed the
Howard R. Lamar Professor
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