Dr. Philippa Koch

Department

Languages Cultures and Religions
Role: Faculty
Campus: Springfield

Postal mail

Missouri State University
Languages Cultures and Religions
901 S. National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65897

Biography

My main research interest is the history of religion in America, with a focus on colonial America and the Atlantic world. In my first book, The Course of God’s Providence: Religion, Health and the Body in Early America (NYU, 2021), I examine how Christian communities responded to sickness and epidemics in a context of ever-new medical and scientific developments. My current research project, tentatively titled “Religion and Nature in the Colonial World: Mapping the Body, Health, and Society," considers how religious communities contributed to natural history in the era of colonization and empire and also interrogates how enduring religious views contributed to what was considered “natural” in human life and community. In addition to this project, I am writing a textbook, “Religion and Medicine in America” (under contract with Routledge).

My teaching on health and body brings my research to the modern world, and I enjoy exploring the connections between past and present and the continuing relevance of the themes of medicine, body, sexuality, and emotion in American religion.

In addition to my book, I have published articles in The Public Historian(2024) Religions (2018) and Church History (2015, 2016), and my writing has also appeared in Zocalo (2021), The Library of Congress Insights(2019) The Atlantic (2016), Notches (2016), and Sightings (2012). I have also written on the coronavirus pandemic and modern healthcare and vulnerability and aging, and participated in a "Religion &" forum on the role of religion in debates over the pandemic, church attendance, and vaccines.

I enjoy serving on the Editorial Board for the journal American Religion and as the Chief Regional Officer for the Midwest Region of the American Academy of Religion.

Details

Education

  • PhD, History of Christianity, 2016, University of Chicago Divinity School
  • MA, Religion, 2007, University of Chicago Divinity School
  • BA, American Studies, 2004, Georgetown University

Teaching

  • REL 131 Religion in America
  • REL 346 Sexuality and American Religion
  • REL 368 Health and Body in American Religions
  • REL 580/685 Theories of Religion
  • REL 771 Body and Sexuality in Religion and Culture (Graduate)
  • REL 771 Religion and Nature: Health, Gender, and the Environment (Graduate)

Research and professional interests

  • Colonial America and Atlantic World
  • Religion and Medicine
  • Religion and Sexuality
  • Religion and Nature
  • Theories of Religion
  • Caregiving and Maternity
  • Pietism

Awards and honors

  • Primary Investigator, Faith and Health Campus Grant, Interfaith America, 2024-2026
  • Faith and Health Fellowship, Interfaith America, 2024-2025
  • Sabbatical Leave, Missouri State University, 2023
  • Summer Faculty Fellowship, Graduate College, Missouri State University, 2023
  • Young Scholars in American Religion Program, Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis, 2019-2021
  • David B. Larson Fellowship in Health and Spirituality, John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress, 2018
  • Dr. Liselotte Kirchner Postdoctoral Fellow, Francke Foundations, Halle, 2017
  • Colonial Essay Award, Colonial Society of Pennsylvania, 2016
  • Sidney E. Mead Prize, American Society of Church History, 2015
  • Junior Fellow, Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion, 2015-2016
  • Newcombe Fellow, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, 2014-2015
  • Carpenter Fellow, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, 2013-2014

Media Appearances

“Religion & The Madhouse”
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Indiana University, Indianapolis
04/10/2025

"What’s the connection between religion and health?"
Missouri State Journal
06/08/2021

"Providence and Benevolence in Philadelphia’s Yellow Fever"
Intervals: The OAH Podcast
04/27/2021

"The Power of Voice: Epidemics"
Missouri State University Public Affairs
03/21/2021

"Religion & Pandemics, Vaccines, and Public Policy"
Center for the Study of Religion and American Culture, Indiana University-Purdue University, Indianapolis
12/17/2020