Matthew Engelke (born 1972) is an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and author specializing in religion, media, public culture,

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on Secularity, secular, Naturalism (philosophy), naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the Separation of church and state, separation of relig ...

, and

humanism Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

. Regionally, his ethnographic focus is on

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Education and career

He received his bachelor's degree from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

in 1994 and graduated with a Ph.D. in Anthropology from the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United S ...

in 2002. Engelke taught at the Department of Anthropology in the London School of Economics and Political Science from 2002–2018. In 2018, he left his position at the London School of Economics and became a professor at the Department of Religion at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

; he is also the director of the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public life at Columbia. He has taught summer seminars at the

School of Criticism and Theory The School of Criticism and Theory, now at Cornell University, is a summer program (offered in six-week seminars) in social science and literature. It is one of the most influential such programs in the United States to propagate the new dominant s ...

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

. He is the executive editor of Prickly Paradigm Press and is the Anthropology and Religion section editor for

Public Books ''Public Books'' is an American book review website that publishes accessible reviews written by academics and public intellectuals. Overview Founding editors Caitlin Zaloom, and Sharon Marcus launched ''Public Books'' in mid-2012 to "give sch ...

. Additionally, he was the editor for the

Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization * Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal, ...

from 2010–2013, and previously wrote as a columnist for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Works

Engelke is the author of three books. His first book, ''A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in An African church'', published in 2007, is a study of the Friday Masowe apostolics of Zimbabwe (founded by

Johane Masowe Johane Masowe is a name attributed to fellowship and the white garment African church. Its founding can be traced back in 1932, in the Norton, Marimba park , Mashonaland West province, in Zimbabwe. It was founded by Shoniwa Masedza (born 1914– ...

). The text focuses on how the rejection of biblical textual authority creates a situation where certain semiotic forms of speech and song are understood by believers as 'live and direct' expressions of divine presence. The book was awarded the Geertz Prize in the Anthropology of Religion in 2008 and the 2009 Victor Turner Prize for Ethnographic Writing. His second book, ''God's Agents: Biblical Publicity in Contemporary England'', published in 2013, is an ethnography of the

British and Foreign Bible Society The British and Foreign Bible Society, often known in England and Wales as simply the Bible Society, is a non-denominational Christian Bible society with charity status whose purpose is to make the Bible available throughout the world. The Soc ...

and focuses on how the charitable organization worked to 'publicize' the Bible in an effectively secular nation. His third book, ''How to Think Like an Anthropologist'' was published in the United Kingdom in 2017 as a part of the Pelican Books imprint. The novel is an introduction to anthropology for non-specialists and stresses the importance of learning "to think critically about our own assumptions regarding people across the globe who may seem exotic to us" by avoiding "exoticizing these 'others'" without "reducing cultural differences to the point of inconsequence."

Major publications

* The Problem of Belief: Evans-Pritchard and Victor Turner on “The Inner Life.” ''Anthropology Today'' 18(6): 3-8. (2002) *''A Problem of Presence: Beyond Scripture in an African Church'' (2007) *Past Pentecostalism: Rupture, Realignment, and Everyday Life in Pentecostal and African Independent Churches. ''Africa'' 80(2): 177-199. (2010) *Angels in Swindon: Public Religion and Ambient Faith in England. ''American Ethnologis''t 39(1): 150-165. (2012) *''God’s Agents: Biblical Publicity in Contemporary England'' (2013) *Christianity and the Anthropology of Secular Humanism. ''Current anthropology'' 55(S10): S292-S301 (2014) *Secular Shadows: African, Immanent, Post-colonial. ''Critical Research on Religion'' 3(1): 86-100. (2015) *''How to Think Like an Anthropologist'' (2017) *The Anthropology of Death Revisited. ''Annual Review of Anthropology'' 48: 29-44. (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Engelke, Matthew Living people 1972 births British anthropologists Anthropologists of religion American anthropologists University of Chicago alumni University of Virginia alumni Academics of the London School of Economics Columbia University faculty