BUSTH announces David Anderson Hooker as Visiting Professor for Fall 2023
Boston University School of Theology is pleased to announce the appointment of David Anderson Hooker as visiting associate professor of religion and conflict transformation for the fall 2023 semester. Dr. Hooker will be teaching two courses this fall, TC 871 Spiritual Formation for Peacebuilders and TS 807 Transitional Justice and Reconciliation: Healing and Collective Wounds. Dr. Hooker is a lawyer and former community psychologist with more than 35 years’ experience as a mediator, trainer, and community builder, and his life’s work will be integral for students who wish to learn restorative and healing justice processes.
“Dr. Hooker brings global perspectives and hands-on engagement with communities across the world to his teaching,” says G. Sujin Pak, dean of the School of Theology. “Drawing upon his knowledge, skills, and expertise in theology, law, and public health, he implements an exquisite framework and set of practices that wrestle with issues of memory, historical harms, and the role of narrative in shaping human beliefs and practices. Every student should seize this amazing opportunity to take his classes! I am so thrilled to have him with us this fall.”
Q&A
Part of the Boston University School of Theology’s mission is to “seek peace with justice in a diverse and interconnected world.” How do you see some of your previous work building upon this mission?
This is the entirety of my work for the past 40+ years. I have sought to facilitate mediate convene restorative and healing justices processes that are directly pointing to peace with justice. My work in communities in several countries including the US, Bahamas, Myanmar, Bosnia and Serbia, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Somalia is all focused on avoiding the trap of “trading justice for harmony.” Durable peace must be achieved through a proper balance of Truth, Justice and Mercy.
In addition to your PhD, you hold degrees in public health (MPH and MPA), law (JD), and theology (MDiv). How do you navigate the intersections of your interdisciplinary academic background through your teaching?
All of my study and practice has been looking for frameworks for liberation and full flourishing. Each discipline has some contribution and some limitations in that pursuit. I try to bring the wisdom and language of each discipline to allow students to focus on peace liberation and full flourishing.
Do you feel you have a “default lens” through which you teach – i.e., do you approach issues of conflict transformation and peacebuilding as a lawyer, a theologian, or a public health advocate?
The primary/default lens that connects all of my work and all of the disciplines I work in and through is the role of narrative in shaping our lives. There is a significant distinction between narratives and stories. Our narratives undergird, shape and connect law, theology, psychology, and public health.
What are your learning goals for the students in each of your two classes? Do they differ?
Spirituality and peacebuilding is designed to be a reflection and formation class, transitional justice is a framework heavy content course. Each course will present an opportunity to examine our own implicit and explicit theories of peace justice and humanity.
What are you most looking forward to as a visiting professor at BUSTH for fall 2023?
The program in Religion and Conflict Transformation is highly regarded in both fields. It is one of the few places where the theories and practices of both fields and disciplines is given equal significance. I look forward to engaging with both faculty and a student body that wrestles regularly with these questions and seeks to advance them.