James Wellman is a Professor in the Comparative Religion Program and Term Professor for the Initiative for Global Christian Studies in the Jackson School of International Studies. Teaching at the University of Washington since 2002, his areas of expertise are in American religious culture, history, and politics, as well as in religion, conflict and international studies. He has taught his popular REL 101 A Life Worth Living course for eight years. He is returning from sabbatical in Fall, 2025. And from his research, he is teaching a brand new course: RELIG 105: Jesus: A Global Biography. This course cover the early beginnings of Christianity and extend to its powerful impact on global culture into the 21st century.
Prof. Wellman is returning from leave for 25/26: Here are his plans:
Wellman is working on multiple new projects: First, he is leading an Initiative for Global Christian Studies. We are seeking to build a unique study of Global Christianity at the heart of the Jackson School of International Studies. This does not exist anywhere else. Over the last five years we have made great strides: Prof. James Felak as a Term Professor in Global Catholic Studies. Felak studies major figures in European Catholic thought in the twentieth century. Prof. Hajin Jun joined us four years ago to do path breaking research in Asian Christianity. And most recently, Prof. Chris Tounsel arrived to teach African Christianity. We have plans to develop our work and research on Christianity in the Global South. Listen to more about our plans here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOXwIAsNylg&t=89s. If you are interested in GCS or in contributing to this Initiative, please get in touch with: jwellman@uw.edu. And, if you would like to give directly, use the link in this sentence.
Second, Wellman is working on expanding, developing, and publishing on his popular course: A Life Worth Living. In this course he uses religious, philosophical, sociological, and psychological resources to help students move to the next level in their lives–not just vocationally, but in every dimension of the self in its social, psychological, spiritual, and political life. He believes that A Life Worth Living enables a person to become fully alive to all dimensions of the self in the world. In 2021, an outside team of sociologists studied the course, and verified that students found the course to be overwhelmingly successful in moving them forward in their lives. The course is offered each Spring quarter.
Wellman’s most recent book is the most up to date and comprehensive study of American megachurches on the market: High on God: How Megachurches Won a Nation was published by Oxford University Press in February 2020. In this book he explores Durkheim’s concept of homo duplex, explaining how megachurches make meaning possible for humans by simultaneously meeting their personal and communal needs. Along with his co-authors, Katie Corcoran and Kate Stockly, we use a large data set on megachurches to show a six-step process that megachurches engage to give humans the “high” of knowing that their lives have meaning in relation to a larger community.
Wellman’s other publications include an award-winning book, The Gold Coast Church and the Ghetto: Christ and Culture in Mainline Protestantism (Illinois, 1999); two edited volumes: The Power of Religious Publics: Staking Claims in American Society, with Bill Swatos (Praegers, 1999), and Belief and Bloodshed: Religion and Violence Across Time and Tradition (Rowman and Littlefield, 2007). His 2008 monograph, Evangelical vs. Liberal: The Clash of Christian Cultures in the Pacific Northwest (Oxford University Press), received Honorable Mention for the 2009 Distinguished Book Award by the Society for the Scientific Study of Religion. In 2012, Wellman’s book, Rob Bell and a New American Christianity (Abingdon Press), explored one of the most well-known and controversial evangelical ministers in America, explaining his success and the sources of his charisma, including his decision to step aside from his ministry.
Wellman is married to Brooke Wellman and lives in the Seattle area. He has four daughters, Constance, and Georgia, both of whom attended and graduated from the University of Washington. Constance married Eli Chin, a fellow Husky. They recently had their first baby, Coco! We are all rejoicing! Jim and Brooke have two daughters Simone James Wellman (6) and Blaise Brooke Wellman (4). Each of these amazing women and men are his “bright and shining morning stars.”