Marlon Millner works at the intersection of critical social theory, Black studies, religious studies, and political philosophy. An interdisciplinary scholar, Millner examines the intertwined relationship of Christianity and colonialism in forging modernity and racial hierarchy. His interests include African American and African Diasporic Critical Thought, and Religions and African American and African Diasporic social movements. Millner is developing a planned short book to serve as a prolegomena to his research, tentatively entitled Global Pentecostalism and the Problem of the Negro. He is also working on two full manuscript projects: “Without the Body, Within the Flesh: Biopolitics, Blackness, and the Birth of Pentecostalism,” and “Pentecostalism as Black Diaspora—An Africana Argument.” His work has been published by The Syndicate Network, Pneuma: The Journal of the Society for Pentecostal Studies, and The Journal of Black Religious Thought. He is the co-chair of the Religion, Colonialism and Postcolonialism Program Unit of the American Academy of Religion. Learn more at his website.
A Greensboro native, Marlon is excited about coming home to teach in a city rich with African American and African Diaspora culture, history and politics.
Education
- Ph.D. Religious Studies (Certificate in Critical Theory, Certificate in African American and Diaspora Studies), Northwestern University
- M.A. Religious Studies, Northwestern University
- M.Div. Religion and Culture, Harvard Divinity School
- B.A. Interdisciplinary Studies, Morehouse College
Courses Taught
- ADS 200: African-American Art History
- ADS 210: Blacks in American Society
- ADS 260 Understanding Race
Research
Dr. Millner’s research interests broadly cover the intertwined relationship of Christianity and colonialism in forging modernity and racial hierarchy. His research interests include African American and African Diasporic Critical Thought, and Religions and African American and African Diasporic social movements. He is the co-chair of the Religion, Colonialism and Postcolonialism Program Unit of the American Academy of Religion.
Selected Publications
Peer-Review Articles
- (Under review) Millner, Marlon. “Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit, Make Us Steadfast, Honest, True: Pentecostalism and the Black Liberal Arts Tradition,” Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Liberal Arts Tradition, eds. Charles McKinney and Charles Peterson (Athens, GA: Univ. of Georgia Press)
- Millner, Marlon. “If You Live Right, Heaven Belongs to You – Radical Historicism, Prophetic Pragmatism, and Melancholic Utopianism in Cornel West and Pentecostalism,” Journal of Black Religious Thought 3, 1 (2024): 5-28, https://doi.org/10.1163/27727963-03010003.
- Millner, Marlon. “Dis/parity: Blackness and the (Im)possibility of a Pentecostal (Political) Theology,” Pneuma: The Journal for the Society for Pentecostal Studies 44, 3-4 (2022): 415-441, https://doi.org/10.1163/15700747-bja10075
