https://www.stfrancisxavieruniversity.ca/faculty-staff/matthew-anderson
Current Appointments
Gatto Chair of Christian Studies, St Francis Xavier University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada
Affiliate professor (adjunct), Concordia Department of Theological Studies, Montreal, Canada
Research Associate, University of Nottingham, Nottingham UK
Books
The Good Walk: Creating New Paths on Traditional Prairie Trails (University of Regina Press, 2024)
Prophets of Love: The Unlikely Kinship of Leonard Cohen and the Apostle Paul (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2023). (CBC interview about the book here).
Our Home and Treaty Land. Revised and Expanded Edition (with Raymond Aldred; Friesen Publishing, 2024; original version published with Wood Lake Books, 2022).
Pairings: The Bible and Booze (version francaise: Apocalypse et gin tonic; Novalis 2021/2022)
(CBC interview about the book here).
Publications: Book Chapters
2024 “The Violence of North American Settler Use of Biblical Texts” in The Bible and Violence. Edited by Joanna Stiebert et. al. T&T Clark, 2024.
2024 “’Unhomeness’ and Pilgrimage,” in Pilgrimage in the 21st Century. Edited by Ian S. McIntosh et. al. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2024.
2024 “Judeophobia and Pauline Scholarship,” in Judeophobia and the New Testament. Edited by Sarah Rollens, Meredith Warren, and Eric Vanden Eykel. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2024.
2024 “Paul’s collection and his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem” in Comparativism and Ancient Mediterranean Pilgrimage. Århus: Århus University Press, 2024.
2024 [Reprint] “’One of the Boys’: Jerome’s Fabulous Frontier Masculinity,” in Constructions of Gender in Late Antiquity, eds. Kathy Ehrensperger and Juni Hoppe, Lanham: Lexington Fortress, 2024.
2023 “The Promise and Peril of Walking Indigenous Territorial Recognitions carried out by Settlers,” in New Pilgrimage Routes and Trails, eds. Ian S. McIntosh, Daniel Olson and Dane Munro, 98-120. Lausanne: Peter Lang, 2023.
2021 « De Concordia à Kahnawà:ke en passant par l’Europe et la Saskatchewan. » 141-163, Éric Laliberté and Michel O’Neill, eds. Pèlerinage, marche pèlerine et marche de longue durée au Québec. Laval: Les Presses de l’Université Laval, 2021.
2020 “Settler-Aware” Pilgrimage and Reconciliation: The Treaty Four Canadian Context,” in Peace Journeys: A New Direction in Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage Research, eds. Ian S. McIntosh, Nour Farra Haddad and Dane Munro, 98-120. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Press.
2018 “Pilgrimage and the Challenging of a Canadian Foundational Myth.” Pilgrimage in Practice: Narration, Reclamation and Healing. 148-164. Eds. Ian S. McIntosh, E. Moore Quinn and Vivienne Keely. CABI Publishing.
2014 “The First Cut is the Deepest: Masculinity and Circumcision in the First Century,” in Biblical Masculinities Foregrounded. 228-244. Eds. Peter-Ben Smit and Oviudu Creanga. Sheffield-Phoenix Press, co-authored: K.B. Neutel.
2008 “Albert Schweitzer and a Mystical Ecology for Paul” in Consensus: Festschrift in Honour of Erwin Buck. Vol 33.1: 9-22.
2006 “The Reluctant Biblical Historian: A Rhetorical Rationale,” in Festschrift: Essays in Honour of Frederik Wisse. ARC. The Journal of the Faculty Religious Studies: 342-357.
Journal Articles
2024 “The Walls of St. Alphonsus” submitted to and accepted by CrossCurrents (University of North Carolina Press), ed. S. Brent Plate. (2024).
2022 “’One of the Boys’: Jerome’s Fabulous Frontier Masculinity,” The Bible & Critical Theory 18, 1 (2022).
2022 “Ecumenism and the ‘Balloon Theory’ of Christendom,” One in Christ 55, 2 (2022): 177-180.
2022 “Le pèlerinage comme expérience de repentir à travers l’apprentissage corporel,” Échanges 6, 6 (novembre 2022): 14-19.
2021 “The Promise and Peril of Walking Indigenous Territorial Recognitions carried out by Settlers,” International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. 9, 2 (2021): Article 7. Co-authored: Ken Wilson.
2019 “‘Aware-Settler’ Biblical Studies: Breaking Claims of Textual Ownership,” 42-68 in Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies 1:1 (2019): 42-68.
2019 “Strangers on the Land: What “Settler-Aware” Biblical Studies Learns from Indigenous Methodologies,” in Critical Theology 1:2 (Winter 2019): 10-14.
2019 “Walking to be Some Body: desire and diaspora on the St-Olaf Way,” in International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 7:1. 63-76.
2019 “Luther and the Trajectories of Western Pilgrimage,” in International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage 7:1. 53-62.
2018 “Post-Reformation Christian Pilgrimage and the Globalization of Sentiment,” in Theoforum 48/1-2. 11-22.
2017 “The Tough Wedge: Reformation Now and Onward,” in Consensus 38:2, 5.
2015 “The Curious Voyage of Christ: katábasis, anábasis, and the New Testament,” in Les Études Classiques. 83:1. 385-396.
2014 “De Vieux-Montréal à Kahnawa:ké: the story of an urban pilgrimage between settler and aboriginal cultures,” in Urban Pilgrimage, Room One Thousand, University of California, Berkeley. 3,3 (2014): 51-84. Co-authored: S. Terreault. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/3j47g590 .
2006 “Adaptation: The Self-Proclaiming Rhetoric of Charlie Kaufman and of Paul” in Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. Vol XIII.
2004 “In a Mirror Very Darkly: Pauline Argument and the Problem of History,” in the Lexington Theological Quarterly. Vol XXXIX, No.4: 225-242
Publications: Dictionary and Encyclopedia Entries
2020 “Paul and Pauline Epistles,” (solicited article) for The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. Wiley Online Library. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781444338386.wbeah05138.pub2.
2012 “Thorn in the Flesh,” (solicited article) for Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. Eds. Michael Gilmour and Mary Ann Beavis. Sheffield Phoenix Press
2012 “The Garden of Eden,” (solicited article; also used as template for call for submissions) for Dictionary of the Bible and Western Culture. Eds. Michael Gilmour and Mary Ann Beavis. Sheffield Phoenix Press
Recent Book Reviews
2023 “Can We Trust the Bible on the Historical Jesus? by Ehrman, Evans, and Stewart.” Modern Believing, 64.2 (Spring, 2023): 186-88.
2022 “Indigenous and Christian Perspectives in Dialogue, by Allen G. Jorgenson.” Critical Theology 4,2 (Fall 2022).
2022 “The Everlasting People: G.K. Chesterton and the First Nations, by Matthew J. Milliner.” Literature and Theology 36, no. 3 (2022): 345–47.
2020 “Unsettling Spirit: A Journey into Decolonization, by Denise M. Nadeau” Studies in Religion / Sciences Religieuses. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008429820933562.
2020 “Cast Out of the Covenant, by Adele Reinhartz.” Critical Theology 2,2 (Winter 2020): 18-20.
Documentary Films directed and produced
2013 Under the North Star. https://vimeo.com/117811674
2012 Something Grand. https://vimeo.com/118243418
Podcast Series directed and produced
2019 – Pilgrimage Stories From Up and Down the Staircase. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/pilgrimage-stories-from-up-and-down-the-staircase/id1525283078
Art Exhibitions Co-curated
2023 With StFX Art Gallery Director Dr Andrea Terry: 1001 Lights, a multi-track video dance installation from Mouvement Perpétuel, a Montreal based artistic company. Included organizing the show and finding internal and external funding of $8437.00 to sponsor an interactive artist’s talk Thurs Nov 23, 2023, followed by the exhibition at the Gallery.
Keynote and Invited Presentations (selected)
2024 Keynote: “Prophets of Love: The Unlikely Kinship of Leonard Cohen and the Apostle Paul,” webinar speaker for CSSR (Canadian Society for Studies in Religion; Advancing Studies in Religion Book Series), Jan 25, 2024.
2023 “Mettre l’accent sur la terre, l’histoire et la relation tout en guidant les pèlerins sur le Camino Nova Scotia” Journées d’étude: De Quoi Le Pèlerinage Est-Il Le Chemin?, 24-25 octobre, Université Laval, QC.
2023 Keynote, “2e colloque du Réseau québécois pour les études pèlerines” (Second annual meeting of the Quebec network for pilgrimage studies) Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), Montreal.
2023 Keynote, Atlantic Conference gathering of the Eastern Synod Lutheran and NSPEI Anglican clergy: “The Midnight Guide to the Bible.”
2023 Keynote, Eastern Synod Rostered Leader gathering, Mt Carmel, Niagara Falls, “The Midnight Guide to the Bible.”
2023 Keynote, “A Retreat of our Own,” Sylvan Lake, AB, on “Pairings: The Bible and Booze.”
2019 Strangers on the Land: What Biblical Studies in the Canadian Settler Context Can Learn from Indigenous Methodologies, Research Seminar for the Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies, February 18, Sheffield University, UK.
2019 Unsettled Pilgrimages: Settlers Walking toward Reconciliation on the Great Plains, University of Nottingham Research Seminar Series, Nottingham, UK. February 13.
2018 Response to Sheinfeld, Gender and Second Temple Judaism: Challenges & Possibilities, 10th Nangeroni Meeting of the Enoch Seminar, June, Rome.
2017 Masculinity in the New Testament: a changing ideal. At University of Nottingham, UK, Dept. of Theology and Religious Studies.
2017 Imagining Iceland: Pilgrimage. Invited panelist at the “Imagining Iceland: From Concordia to the North,” Concordia University, Visual Arts Building. Sept 20, 2017.
2017 Our Work, Our Walk. Invited keynote at the “Sustainability Across Disciplines Conference,” Concordia University, John Molson School of Business. March 17, 2017.
2017 Mapping with our Feet: Pilgrimage and Pedagogy in Montreal and Mohawk Spaces. Invited presentation at Concordia University Dept. of Applied Human Sciences, to faculty and grad students. Jan 12, 2017.
2016 Land and Meaning-Making: the Environmental Seminar Series. Presenting with Orenda Boucher-Curotte, Coordinator of First Peoples’ Studies, Dawson College, Montreal. Invited speaker.
2013 The Heroic Journey, 2013 Symposium on Pilgrimage Studies. College of William and Mary, Williamsburg VA, USA (keynote address)
Other Presentations (selected)
2023 “Sister Pairs, Women’s Patronage, and Early Christian Pilgrimage” for the Institute for Pilgrimage Studies, Fall 2023 Symposium, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg VA, Nov 3-4, 2023.
2023 “Unhomeness and Pilgrimage,” for Sacred Journeys 10, Malta, July 4-7, 2023.
2022 Guest lecture, “Pilgrimage and Pilgrimage Studies,” Mount Allison University, NB, November 2022.
2021 “One of the Boys”: Jerome’s Fabulous ‘Frontier Masculinity.’ Nangaroni meeting, Enoch Seminar, July 2021.
2020 Strangers on the Textual Land: Aware-Settler Biblical Studies, University of Nottingham Theology and Religious Studies Research Seminar Series, Nottingham, UK. March 13 (online).
2019 The Pauline Collection in Light of Shavu’ot in Second Temple Judaism, The Biblical Seminar, March 29, University of Nottingham, UK.
2018 “The Secrets of/Les secrets de Pompeii,” At Jardins Heritage Gardens, St-Lambert QC, Wed Sept 19, 2018.
2018 What Happened to Mary Magdalene? At St. Michael’s Finnish Church/ Pyhän Mikaelin Kirkko, Montreal. May 2018.
2017 Paul’s collection and his final pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Comparativism and the Study of Ancient Mediterranean Pilgrimage, University of Århus, Denmark. May 17-19.
2017 A History of Post-Reformation Pilgrimage and the Globalization of Sentiment, The Reformation and Globalization, St. Paul University and University of Ottawa, Ottawa
2016 Indigeneity, Journey, and Historical Recollection on the Northern Great Plains, American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Antonio TX
2016 Mapping with our Feet: Pilgrimage as Pedagogy in Mohawk and Montreal Spaces, American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Antonio TX
2016 Horror and the Hidden: Luther, Paul, and Tracy on the hiddenness of God, paper at the Hiddenness of God conference, King’s College, Western University, London ON
2014 The Pilgrimage that Ended Pilgrimages, (Reformation effects on European pilgrimage) 2014 Symposium, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg VA
2014 The Curious Journey of Christ: Katabasis in 1 Peter, at the interdisciplinary, interuniversity Katabasis colloquium, Concordia
Public-facing articles (selection)
2023 “I’m your man: How Leonard Cohen’s life, poetry and song make him a prophet of love in a particularly dark midwinter,” in The Conversation Canada, Dec 13, 2023, edited by Susannah Schmidt. https://theconversation.com/im-your-man-how-leonard-cohens-life-poetry-and-song-make-him-a-prophet-of-love-in-a-particularly-dark-midwinter-217656
2021 “Apocalypse, Booze and Christmas: An Ancient ABC.” The Tyee. https://thetyee.ca/Culture/2021/12/22/Apocalypse-Booze-Christmas-Ancient-ABC/
2020 “’Life of Brian’: Terry Jones’s Legacy of a Surprisingly Historical Jesus,” in The Conversation: Canada http://theconversation.com/life-of-brian-terry-joness-legacy-of-a-surprisingly-historical-jesus-130582
2020 “The Good Place: Ethics Comedy Asks if There’s a Second Chance at Life,” in Salon https://www.salon.com/2019/11/30/the-good-place-ethics-comedy-asks-if-theres-a-second-chance-at-life_partner/
2019 “Learning the Land: Walking the Talk of Indigenous Land Acknowledgements,” in The Conversation: Canada: https://theconversation.com/learning-the-land-walking-the-talk-of-indigenous-land-acknowledgements-125369
2019 “A Blanket Argument for Empathy” in Friends of Canadian Broadcasting: https://friends.ca/explore/article/a-blanket-argument-for-empathy/#site-pages
2019 “The Man Who Painted Jesus” in ArtCritique: https://www.art-critique.com/en/2019/07/the-man-who-painted-jesus/
2019 “Why Canadians Need the Right to Roam” in The Narwhal: https://thenarwhal.ca/right-to-roam-canada/
University and Community Engagement Leadership (selected)
2020 FAS Dean’s Funds for Special Projects and Events (Principal) for Spirituality as Land, Story, and Relation Indigenous Speakers Series at the Dept of Theological Studies; moderator and interviewer. https://www.concordia.ca/cuevents//artsci/theology/2020/09/24/spirituality-as-land-story-and-relation.html
Select External Service
2019-present Editorial Board, Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies (Sheffield University, UK)
2019-present Advisory Board, Sacred Journeys International Pilgrimage Symposia (Office for International Affairs, Indiana University)
2015-present Governing Board, Institute for Pilgrimage Studies (College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia)
2010-2017 Lutheran Observer to the National Anglican/Roman Catholic Dialogue of Canada
Professional Memberships
The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS).
The Enoch Seminar.
The Sheffield Institute of Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies.
The Society of Biblical Literature (SBL).
The Writers’ Union of Canada.
The Writers’ Federation of Nova Scotia.
The Canadian Company of Pilgrims.
Affiliations
Society of Biblical Literature (SBL)
American Academy of Religion (AAR)
Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS)
Saskatchewan History and Folklore Society (SHFS)
McGill Centre for Research on Religion (CREOR)
Sacred Journeys Advisory Board
Sheffield Institute for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies (SIIBS)
Select Media
2023 What Matters Most (podcast), with host John W. Martens https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/a-conversation-with-matthew-r-anderson/id1650272494?i=1000637487270
2023 CBC Radio One Montreal “All in a Weekend” interview with host Sonali Karnick, “Prophets of Love: The Unlikely Kinship of Leonard Cohen and the Apostle Paul.” https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-78/clip/16020875
2023 Zoomer Radio Toronto, interview: https://www.zoomerradio.ca/podcasts/fight-back-on-zoomer-radio-podcast/december-14-2023-leonard-cohens-music-heals-during-hard-times/
2023 (in French) Je Marche Partout, Radio Ville Marie, episode: “Épisode 1 – Vers la réconciliation : le pèlerinage de décolonisation” host: Denis Chagnon. https://jemarchepartout.com/emissions/episode-1-vers-la-reconciliation-le-pelerinage-de-decolonisation/
2021 [TV interview] CTV Montreal News https://webapps.9c9media.com/vidi-player/1.9.24/share/iframe.html?currentId=2351786&config=ctvnews/share.json&kruxId=&rsid=bellmedianewsprod,bellmediaglobalprod&siteName=CTVNews&cid=%5B%7B%22contentId%22%3A2351786%2C%22ad%22%3A%7B%22adsite%22%3A%22ctv.ctvnews%22%2C%22adzone%22%3A%22embed%22%7D%7D%5D
2021 [newspaper interview] Winnipeg Free Press “Drinking in Scripture” (feature religion article) https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/faith/2021/11/27/drinking-in-scripture
2019 [Article] “Walking Territorial Recognitions,” The Concordian. http://theconcordian.com/2019/10/pilgrimage-to-montreal/
2016 [feature radio interview] invited to CBC Radio One “Cinq à Six,” Montreal for a one-hour interview as a “Canadian Creative”: https://somethinggrand.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/my-playlist_-montreal-pilgrimage-leader-matthew-anderson.mp3
2016 [radio interview] CBC All in A Weekend “Interview from the Pilgrimage Trail in Iceland.” Interview “on the trail” during pilgrimage to Iceland. https://www.cbc.ca/i/caffeine/syndicate/?mediaId=2692307288
2014 [radio interview] CBC All In A Weekend “The Joys of Pilgrimage with Matthew Anderson.” https://www.cbc.ca/allinaweekend/spirituality/2014/04/20/matthew-anderson-on-the-joys-of-pilgrimage/
Heritage Saskatchewan video for Canada 150: https://somethinggrand.ca/2017/10/19/walking-the-land-a-canada-150-post/
http://ici.radio-canada.ca/emissions/pour_faire_un_monde/2014-2015/chronique.asp?idChronique=380260
http://www.lehtiluukku.fi/lue/lappilainen-25.02.2015/70979.html
http://www.rovaniemenseurakunta.fi/viestinta/seurakuntaradio_rovadei/kuuntele_haastatteluita/
somethinggrand 
6 replies on “Academic profile”
Would be very happy to share it! There are no viewings this fall in Montreal, although there’s one in Virginia, at the annual pilgrimage conference of the College of Wm and Mary, Williamsburg VA, in October. Or I could pass you a copy to watch as well!
Yes thank,s I’d love to borrow a copy if possible! I arrived in MTL last night, any way to get it while I’m here?
I’m in Montreal now. Could I please get a copy from you, whenever you get (back) to town? thnx!
Hi healing pilgrim – it may be a while before I get back to Montreal. Are you in Montreal for some time, or should we try to work out something else?
I’ll be here till at least the 2nd week of September. If you’re back by then, let me know!
Let’s keep in touch. My regular email is matthewndg@gmail.com. I will be back in Montreal from Finland on Aug 26, but it may take me a couple of days to get over the jet lag!