Anthony B. Pinn

Anthony B. Pinn is an American professor working at the intersections of African-American religion, constructive theology, and humanist thought. Pinn is the Agnes Cullen Arnold Professor of Humanities and Professor of Religious Studies at Rice University. He is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning in Houston, Texas, and Director of Research for the Institute for Humanist Studies in Washington, D.C. He graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in 1986, and earned his Ph.D. in the Study of Religion at Harvard University in 1994. His dissertation was entitled "I Wonder as I Wander: An Examination of the Problem of Evil in African-American Religious Thought." The topic of theological responses to evil and suffering in Black religion provided the foundation of Pinn's early work. Today, Pinn's research interests span theory and method in the study of religion, black religious aesthetics, religion and popular culture, and African-American humanism.