Ira Chernus PROFESSOR OF RELIGIOUS STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER WELCOMES YOU

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All web pages related to courses I teach have been moved: CLICK HERE FOR COURSES

	Courses Research Op-Ed Columns Public Citizen

In 2012 I began a new project, MythicAmerica. I initiated an ongoing blog, www.mythicamerica.us, housed on the History News Network site. I wrote a series of essays titled "MythicAmerica," which I will expand in the future. And I created a Facebook page for the project.

My research focuses on the discourse of peace, war, foreign policy, and nationalism in the United States, especially during the cold war and the nuclear age, and how that discourse has affected our public culture and life up to the present.

I have published Monsters To Destroy: The Neoconservative War on Terror and Sin, published by Paradigm Publishers. It's about the connections between conservative religion, "moral values," and national (in)security policy in the George W. Bush administration and among its supporters.

I have written a textbook, American Nonviolence: The History of an Idea, published by Orbis Books. This book covers the intellectual history of nonviolence since colonial times. It will provide useful background for understanding the antinuclear and peace movements during the cold war.

I have completed a large project on President Dwight D. Eisenhower and his impact on our discourse.Three books have come out of this project. The final volume, Apocalypse Management: Eisenhower and the Discourse of National Insecurity, was published in 2008 by Stanford University Press. This project gives special attention to Eisenhower's policies toward, and talk about, nuclear weapons and nuclear disarmament. This continues my long-standing interest in the impact of nuclear weapons upon U.S. culture and society. I am now studying the origins of the national (in)security state during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt.

My op-ed columns and commentaries have been published in a wide variety of sources over the years. Now they appear most often on the websites for which I write regularly: Commondreams, Tomdispatch, Alternet, Truthout, Foreign Policy in Focus, and ReligionDispatches. My favorite themes include the discourse and cultural context of current political affairs (what I call "mythic America"); issues of war, peace, and national security; Israel and its relations with Palestinian and other neighbors; and educational issues.

From 2009 to 2011 I wrote mostly on Israel, Palestine, and American Jews. My columns on those topics are collected at a blog site: http://chernus.wordpress.com.

After September 11, 2001, I wrote a lot about issues of peace, war, and security. These writings include some essays on the "war on terrorism," which apply the findings of my research to the "war on terrorism":

• Fighting Terrorism in the National Insecurity State
• The United States and Israel: Fighting Terror in the National Insecurity State
• "Compassionate Conservatism" Goes to War

I've begun to take more interest in tracking progressive or left-wing political movements in the U.S. that are rooted in faith commitments and religious institutions, because my partner, Kathy Partridge, is now director of Interfaith Funders, a network of faith-based and secular grantmakers committed to social change and economic justice.

And I'm a proud father. See the website of Miguel Chernus-Goldstein, aerial dancer, and his latest performance videos here and here.

I am also a public citizen and occasional political activist. I try to keep up with current affairs. This site offers links to some websites full of useful information (though it has not been updated in a long time, I regret to say).

Here is my  C.U. directory 411  information.