Jessica DeCou

Jessica DeCou received a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago, where she earned fellowships from the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion and the Louisville Institute. As of 2012, she is a visiting faculty member at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, having taught at the University of Chicago and McCormick Theological Seminary as well. Her works employ interdisciplinary methods in order to explore the evolving relationship between religion and culture in the modern period, with a special interest in the significance of Karl Barth's life and work. Her first book, "Playful, Glad, and Free: Karl Barth and a Theology of Popular Culture," examines Barth's relevance for the study of popular entertainment. Her forthcoming book will provide the first detailed chronicle of Barth's sole visit to the U.S. in 1962. Her work has also appeared in the International Journal of Systematic Theology, Word & World, and the Marty Center's Religion and Culture Web Forum, with more popular essays and entertainment reviews appearing in Christianity Today and Sightings. Her lectures include talks given at the American Church in Paris and Princeton Theological Seminary.