Bo Myung Seo

Associate Professor of Theology and Cultural Criticism

B.A., Drew University, 1987; M.A., University of Chicago, 1989; M.Div., Ph.D., Chicago Theological Seminary, 1993, 2001.

Writings: Critique of Western Theological Anthropology: Understanding Human Beings in a Third World Context (Edwin Mellen Press, 2005)

Professor Seo's research focuses on theology and contemporary culture, comparative religions and philosophy of religion.  Recent writings have focused on theological interpretations of contemporary cultural phenomena.

“How we understand specific passages of the Bible and the nature of prophecy often depends on how we view the world. Whether we seek to transform or merely to understand the world, we proceed with a prior conception of how the world is or is meant to be.  So being open to and learning from the achievements of other ‘worldly’ disciplines, as it helps us understand today's world, is an important part of how we do theology today.  Also, geographically, the West is no longer the dominant center of Christianity, and the growth of churches in the Third World should be accompanied by a different theological consciousness.  I have come to see the central issue facing today's world as that of domination.  Domination is always based on power, forcing its will, interest and logic unto others. How to speak for the dominated of the world is an important theological question. Theology can longer dwell comfortably in the realm of the sacred. As we are called into the world, our task is to start with the realities of the world.”

Sample Courses:

Theologies of the Third World
Cinema and Liberation
Philosophical Thought