Mary-Jane Rubenstein is a scholar of

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

science studies Science studies is an interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary research area that seeks to situate scientific expertise in broad social, historical, and philosophical contexts. It uses various methods to analyze the production, representation an ...

, and gender studies. At

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a Private university, private liberal arts college, liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1831 as a Men's colleges in the United States, men's college under the Methodi ...

, she is Dean of

Social Sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

, Professor of Religion and Science and Technological Studies. She has also been an affiliated member of the departments of Philosophy, Environmental Studies and Feminist, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. From 2014 to 2019, she was co-chair of the Philosophy of Religion Unit of the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholarly method, scholars in the List of academic disciplines, field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a profess ...

. She is a Fellow of the

International Society for Science and Religion The International Society for Science and Religion (ISSR) is a learned society established in 2001 for the purpose of the promotion of education through the support of inter-disciplinary learning and research in the fields of science and religion c ...

. Her book, ''Worlds without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse'', served the inspiration material for the

Oscar-winning The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

2022 American film,

Everything Everywhere All at Once ''Everything Everywhere All at Once'' is a 2022 American Independent film, independent Absurdist fiction, absurdist comedy-drama film written and directed by Daniels (directors), Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, who produced it with Russo brot ...

Education

Rubenstein earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion and English ''(summa cum laude)'' at

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

in 1999. With the support of a Dr. Herchel Smith Fellowship, she studied philosophical theology at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, where she earned a Post-Graduate Diploma in 2000 and an MPhil in 2001. She was granted a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship to pursue doctoral work at

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, where she received a PhD in Philosophy of Religion in 2006.

Career

From 2005 to 2006, Rubenstein was Scholar-in-Residence at the

Cathedral of St. John the Divine The Cathedral of St. John the Divine (sometimes referred to as St. John's and also nicknamed St. John the Unfinished) is the cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York. It is at 1047 Amsterdam Avenue in the Morningside Heights neighborhoo ...

. In 2006, she earned Columbia University's

Core Curriculum In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...

Award for Graduate Teaching and served as the Doctoral Commencement Speaker. Rubenstein was appointed Assistant Professor of Religion at Wesleyan University in 2006, Associate Professor in 2011, and Professor in 2014. She won the Wesleyan Binswanger Prize for Excellence in Teaching in 2017.

Research

Rubenstein's research uncovers the mythological and theological legacies of contemporary philosophy and science. While her early work investigated the disavowal of wonder in

phenomenology Phenomenology may refer to: Art * Phenomenology (architecture), based on the experience of building materials and their sensory properties Philosophy * Phenomenology (Peirce), a branch of philosophy according to Charles Sanders Peirce (1839� ...

and

deconstruction In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between text and meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques Derrida, who described it as a turn away from ...

, her more recent writing has moved into the metaphysical underpinnings of

cosmology Cosmology () is a branch of physics and metaphysics dealing with the nature of the universe, the cosmos. The term ''cosmology'' was first used in English in 1656 in Thomas Blount's ''Glossographia'', with the meaning of "a speaking of the wo ...

astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

and space travel,

general relativity General relativity, also known as the general theory of relativity, and as Einstein's theory of gravity, is the differential geometry, geometric theory of gravitation published by Albert Einstein in 1915 and is the current description of grav ...

and

quantum mechanics Quantum mechanics is the fundamental physical Scientific theory, theory that describes the behavior of matter and of light; its unusual characteristics typically occur at and below the scale of atoms. Reprinted, Addison-Wesley, 1989, It is ...

, and non-linear biology and ecology. Her 2023 book, ''Astrotopia'', speaks of her objections to the "corporate space race".

Publications

* ''Astrotopia: The Dangerous Religion of the Corporate Space Race'' (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022). * ''Image: Three Inquiries in Technology and Imagination'', with Thomas A. Carlson and Mark C. Taylor (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2021). * ''Pantheologies: Gods, Worlds, Monsters'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2018

loth Loth may refer to: People Given name *King Lot, figure in Arthurian legend * Loth Schout (1600–1655), Dutch brewer Surname * Agnete Loth (1921–1990), editor and translator of Old Icelandic texts * Andreas Loth (born 1972), German ice hockey ...

2021 aper. * ''Entangled Worlds: Science, Religion, and New Materialisms'', co-edited with Catherine Keller (New York: Fordham University Press, 2017). * ''Worlds without End: The Many Lives of the Multiverse'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2014

2015 aper. * ''Polydox Reflections'', co-edited with

Kathryn Tanner Kathryn Eileen Tanner (born 1957) is an American Anglican theologian who serves as Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School. Biography Born on March 29, 1957, Tanner earned her BA, MA, MPhil, and PhD degrees ...

(London: Wiley-Blackwell, 2014). * ''Strange Wonder: The Closure of Metaphysics and the Opening of Awe'' (New York: Columbia University Press, 2009

2011 aper. Rubenstein has also published numerous articles, chapters, and interviews.

Personal life

Rubenstein has a partner, two children, and a wide extended family of relatives and friends. She lives in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...

References

External links

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Publications

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