James J. Carney, PhD

Department

• Theology

Position

• Professor

Secondary Appointment

• College of Arts and Sciences

• Christianity in Africa & African Theology (upper-level undergraduate)
• Political Theology (upper-level UG and graduate)
• Spirituality of Reconciliation: Social & Global Perspectives (graduate)
• Sport & Spirituality (1st-year undergraduate)
• The Christian Tradition: Global Visions (1st-year undergraduate)
• The History of the Christian Church (upper-level undergraduate)
• The Rwanda Genocide as a Challenge for the Church (upper-level UG)

J.J. (Jay) Carney is Professor of Theology and African Studies and directs the Christian Spirituality Program at Creighton University. His research has primarily focused on modern Catholic history and theology in Africa. Dr. Carney's first book, Rwanda Before the Genocide: Catholic Politics and Ethnic Discourse in the Late Colonial Era (Oxford University Press, 2014), won the African Studies Association's Ogot prize for best book in East African studies. More recent works include For God and My Country: Catholic Leadership in Modern Uganda (Cascade, 2020); Contesting Catholics: Benedicto Kiwanuka and the Birth of Postcolonial Uganda (James Currey, 2021; co-authored with Jonathon Earle); The Surprise of Reconciliation in the Catholic Tradition (Paulist, 2018; co-edited with Laurie Johnston) and On the Eighth Day: A Catholic Theology of Sport (Cascade, 2022; co-authored with Max Engel and Matt Hoven). At Creighton, Dr. Carney teaches introductory courses on the Christian tradition and more specialized courses in Sport and Spirituality, Reconciliation, and African Christianity. He has also taken CU students to Tanzania and Rwanda. Prof. Carney holds a B.A. from the University of Arkansas, an M.Div. from Duke University Divinity School and a Ph.D. in Church History from the Catholic University of America. He has also served as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar and Visiting Professor at Uganda Martyrs University. 

Books

Articles

• , 46.1, 25-34
• , 10.2, 194-211
• , Supplement 23, 203-215
• , 44.2, 212-229
• , 43.2, 159-69
• , 50.2, 66-78
• , Supplement 15, 4-18
• , 7.2, 23-44
• , 86.3, 765-95
• , Supplement 14, 80-95
• , 41, 181-183
• , 30, 300-318
• , 37, 236-236
• , 55, 149-151
• , 36, 100-100
• , 42, 172-202
• , 18, 82-102
• , 45, 173-176

Publications

• , Supplement 10, 229-41
• , Vol. II, 1321-1322

Editing and Reviews

Presentations

Research and Scholarship Interests

• Modern Catholicism in Africa; Church & State in Modern Africa; Political Theology; Missiology; Modern Catholic History; Sport and Theology; Social Reconciliation; Ignatian Spirituality

Current Research Projects

• Grassroots ecclesiology and church-state relations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; post-genocide reconciliation in Rwanda

Grant Funding Received

• "A Generation after Genocide: Catholic Reconciliation in Rwanda." Awarded $4,800 Summer Faculty Research Fellowship, 2014; jointly funded by CURAS/CCAS and Kripke Center. Principal Investigator.
• Course Development Grant ($4,000), Holocaust & Genocide Studies, 2013. Developed Fall 2014 course entitled "The Rwanda Genocide as a Challenge for the Church."
• “Social Reconciliation & Catholic Ecclesiology in the Diocese of Tshumbe, Democratic Republic of Congo.” Won $5,000 grant from George F. Haddix President’s Faculty Research Fund, Creighton University, 2012-13. Principal Investigator.
• "Catholic Political Theology in Postcolonial Uganda, 1962-86." Awarded $5,000 research grant from Kripke Center for Religion and Culture, Creighton University, Summer 2015. Principal Investigator
• U.S. Fulbright Scholarship, Uganda
• Catholic Political Theology in Postcolonial Uganda, 1962-86, Kripke Center, Creighton University
• "Racial Reconciliation and Christianity in America," Kingfisher Institute, Creighton University
• Reimagining Church at the Grassroots: Living Ecclesial Base Communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Haddix Sabbatical Research Grant, "Catholic Leadership in Modern Uganda" (Creighton University)
• For God and My Country: Catholic Leadership in Postcolonial Uganda

• 2015 Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize, African Studies Association, 2015
• Honors Distinction on Dissertation, Catholic University of America, 2011
• Grant Reviewer, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2007