Thomas (Tal) A. Lewis
Dean of the Graduate School and Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Professor, Religious Studies and German Studies
Academic focus:
Religion, ethics and politics in Western modernity, with a focus on German intellectual traditions.
Current research project:
“The Eclipse of Ethical Practices in the Modern West: On the Cultivation of Character in Everyday Life”
Previous positions :
- Professor, Department of Religious Studies, Brown University, 2015-2025
- Laurance S. Rockefeller Visiting Faculty Fellow, Princeton University Center for Human Values, 2015-16
- Associate Professor (with tenure), Department of Religious Studies, Brown University, 2010-15
- Vartan Gregorian Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Department of Religious Studies, Brown University, 2007-2010
- Assistant Professor, Committee on the Study of Religion and the Divinity School (joint appointment), Harvard University, 2003-2007
- Visiting Fellow, Center for the Study of Religion, Princeton University, 2002-2003
- Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies, University of Iowa, 1999-2003
- Lecturer, Program in Religious Studies, University of California at Davis, 1999
Academic background:
- Ph.D., Religious studies, Stanford University, 1992-99
- A.B., Religious studies, Brown University, 1986-1990
Last book read:
“Americanah,” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In your own time/when not working:
Biking, backpacking, running, reading and family
Courses you’re most looking forward to teaching:
- Religion, Reason, and Ethics from Kant to Nietzsche
- On Being Human: Religious and philosophical conceptions of the self
(though I won’t be teaching this year)
What most excites you about Cornell:
Working with outstanding colleagues; traditions of interdisciplinarity, access, and scholarly excellence
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