New Media and the Future of Religion

Join us as we partner with the Institute for Human Ecology for a conversation between Dr. Joseph Capizzi, the first ever lay Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America, and The New York Times columnist Ross Douthat. Our panelists will discuss the “democratization of theology” facilitated by new media and parallel trends. Drawing from Douthat’s latest book, Believe: Why Everyone Should be Religious, the conversation will highlight the changes in the religious landscape and present opportunities for a religious revival. 

Dr. Joseph E. Capizzi is Ordinary Professor of Moral Theology and Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America. He teaches in the areas of social and political theology, with special interests in issues in peace and war, citizenship, political authority, and Augustinian theology. He has written, lectured, and published widely on just war theory, bioethics, the history of moral theology, and political liberalism. 

Dr. Capizzi is also the former Executive Director of the Institute for Human Ecology at Catholic University. He received his B.A. from the University of Virginia, his Masters in Theological Studies from Emory University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Notre Dame. He lives in Maryland with his wife and six children.

Ross Douthat joined The New York Times as an Opinion columnist in April 2009. His column appears on Sunday, with a newsletter on Friday. He is also a host on the weekly Opinion podcast “Matter of Opinion.” Previously, he was a senior editor at The Atlantic. 

He is the author Believe: Why Everyone Should be Religious, to be published in February 2025. His other books include The Deep Places: A Memoir of Illness and Discovery (2021); The Decadent Society (2020); To Change the Church: Pope Francis and the Future of Catholicism, (2018); Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics (2012); Privilege: Harvard and the Education of the Ruling Class (2005); and, with Reihan Salam, Grand New Party: How Republicans Can Win the Working Class and Save the American Dream (2008). He is the film critic for National Review. 

He lives with his wife and five children in New Haven, Connecticut.