Degrees: PHD, 2001, Duke Univ; MA, 1996, Duke Univ; BA, 1990, Duke Univ

Bio:

Julie Byrne holds the Monsignor Thomas J. Hartman Endowed Chair in Catholic Studies and is currently Associate Professor of Religion in the Department of Religion. Before coming to New York in September2006, she taught at Duke University (2004-06) and Texas Christian University (2000-04). Her first book, O God of Players: The Story of the Immaculata Mighty Macs (Columbia University Press, 2003), traces the cultural history of Catholic women's basketball in the Philadelphia archdiocese from 1930-75. Her current research interests include Catholic historiography and independent Catholicism. In addition to Catholic studies, Byrne writes and teaches subjects in American religious history, including gender and race, method and historiography, and culture and theory. Her courses at Hofstra include "Sacraments, Selma, and Sex: Catholicism in America"; "Looking for Religion in New York: Fieldwork in Religion"; and "African American Religious History." Her next book, an ethnography of an independent Catholic group, is called The Other Catholic Church, and her work at Hofstra shall include launching anew Catholic Studies program.