Van Engen has published widely on religion and literature, focusing especially on seventeenth-century Puritans and the way they have been remembered and remade in American culture. Recently, Van Engen has been leading a team to study the concept and creation of American exceptionalism through a history of the phrase “city on a hill.” That work has led to multiple related digital projects, all in teams with undergraduate and graduate researchers. Collaboration remains essential to his work, with co-edited journal issues, co-written articles, co-taught courses and working groups that bring together literature, history, religion, politics, and psychology. His most recent book is Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church (Eerdmans 2024), inspired by his podcast Poetry For All.
Abram Van Engen
Chair of the Department of English, Director of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion and Politics, Professor of Religion and Politics (by courtesy)
American ExceptionalismCollective MemoryEarly American LiteratureHistory of EmotionsIntellectual HistoryPuritanismReligion and Literature
Contact Information
- Phone: 935-5132
- Email: vanengen@wustl.edu
- Website: Website
Stories
Van Engen wins Christianity Today book award
Abram Van Engen, the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities in Arts & Sciences, has won Christianity Today’s 2024 Best Book Award in Culture, Poetry and the Arts for “Word Made Fresh: An Invitation to Poetry for the Church.”
Van Engen installed as Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities
Abram Van Engen, chair of the Department of English in Arts & Sciences, was recently installed as the Stanley Elkin Professor in the Humanities.
Van Engen wins the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize
Abram Van Engen, professor of English in Arts & Sciences, has won the Peter J. Gomes Memorial Book Prize for “City on a Hill: A History of American Exceptionalism.”
Van Engen wins NEH Public Scholar grant
Abram Van Engen, associate professor of English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, has won a prestigious Public Scholar grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Video: Where and when does America begin?
In 1630, John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, proclaimed to fellow Puritan settlers that “we shall be as a city upon a hill.” In this video, Abram Van Engen examines the surprising history of Winthrop’s striking image and its subsequent adoption by presidents John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
WashU Expert: Who were the Pilgrims?
Who were the Pilgrims? Who were the Puritans? And how did they view Native Americans? As the annual Thanksgiving holiday approaches, Abram Van Engen, PhD, assistant professor of English in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses the beliefs of the two groups, the differences between them and the theology of sympathy.