Curriculum Vitae
Dr. Jens Zimmermann, Former Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion and Culture
Trinity Western University
22500 University Drive
Langley, BC V2Y 1Y1
CANADA
Education:
PhD. Philosophy, 2010
Johannes Gutenberg Universität Mainz, Germany
- Topic: Humanism and Religion: A Philosophical Analysis
- Description: Zimmermann employs the concept of humanism to analyze the development of humanistic philosophies and educational ideals in Western culture from the Greco-Roman ideal of paideia to its Christian and secular transformations. The argument concludes with a proposed hermeneutical humanism capable of engaging a number of current issues concerning religion and culture. Main thinkers and concepts discussed: patristic humanism, medieval humanism, Renaissance humanism, modernism, deconstruction, hermeneutics, theology and ethics; Vico, Schleiermacher, Dilthey, Heidegger, Gadamer, Polanyi, Ricoeur, Levinas, Charles Taylor, John Macmurray.
Ph.D. Comparative Literature (German, English, French), 1997 University of British Columbia
- Dissertation: “English Puritans and German Pietists: A Re-Examination of Pre-Critical Hermeneutics in Light of the Anthropocentric Turn in Hermeneutics”
- Supervisor: Dr. Dennis Danielson, Department of English, University of British Colombia
MA Comparative Literature (German, English, French), 1993 University of British Columbia
- Major Fields: Iconoclasm, Seventeenth Century tests of the continental Reformation and English Puritanism
- Minor Fields: German Literature of the Middle Ages; Renaissance and Baroque Literature
BA English Literature and Language, 1992 University of British Columbia
- Major Fields: Milton; Early American Literature; Victorian novel
- Minor Fields: German Language and Literature
Professional Experience:
Former Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion and Culture
September 2006 - Present
Full Professor (Tenured)
Trinity Western University
September 2006 — Present
- English Language/Literature; Literary Theory
- Philosophy: Graduate course in Philosophical Hermeneutics
- Literature: English graduate course in Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Humanities Program
- Course on Christian Humanism
Associate Professor (Tenured)
Trinity Western University
2002 – 2006
Assistant Professor
Trinity Western University
1998 – 2002
Sessional Instructor
University of British Columbia
1997 – 1998
Full-Time Sessional Instructor (English Language/Literature)
Trinity Western University
Part-Time Sessional Instructor (English Language; German)
Part-Time Sessional Instructor (German)
University of British Columbia
1995 – 1996
Teaching Assistant (English)
University of British Columbia
1992 – 1993
Academic Honours:
2011-2016: Former Canada Research Chair $500,000
2008-2011: CCCU Networking Grant “Christian Reasoning” (US) $18,000
2008-2011: SSHRC Grant “Religious Humanism" $41,000
2006-2011: Former Canada Research Chair $500,000
2006: Omni Grant, Religion Culture and Conflict $100,000
2004: SSHRC Research Grant $14,000
2001: SSHRC Research Grant $3,300
2000: SSHRC Research Grant $4,600
1999: CCCU Networking Grant (US) $20,000
1999: SSHRC Research Grant $4,000
1995-1996: University of British Columbia Graduate Fellowship $13,500
For a complete curriculum vitae, including publications, presentations and other scholarly activities, click here.
Student Research:
Professor Zimmermann regularly supervises theses and major projects and other student research.
Professional Membership:
Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE)
American Academy of Religion (AAR)
Society for Phenomenology and Existential Philosophy (SPEP)
Languages Proficiency:
- German (fluency)
- English (fluency)
- French (near fluency)
- Latin (reading knowledge)
- Greek (reading knowledge)
Teaching Interests:
- Philosophical and Theological Anthropology
- Philosophical and Theological Hermeneutics
- Modern Theology (emphasis: Dietrich Bonhoeffer)
- Existential Phenomenology (Heidegger, Gadamer, Levinas)
- Cultural and Intellectual History of Humanism (Secular/Religious Humanisms and Transhumanism)
- Literary Theory and European Literature
- Future Research Project: The Project Transforming Humanism in cooperation with researchers from McGill, Notre Dame, Yale, and Simon Fraser Universities, employs philosophical and theological criteria to examine the assumptions and goals of Transhumanism, a highly influential movement that aims to overcome human limitations through technological enhancement.