HSSB 3001D
About
Education
- S.T.M. Christianity, Yale University
- M.Div. Theology, Boston University
- B.S. Economics, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
About
Patrick Tugwell is a Ph.D. student in religious studies at UCSB, focusing on the late 19th and early 20th-century United States. His research explores the presence and authority of metaphysical religion in public life. He is currently writing two articles: one on metaphysical spirituality in healthcare chaplaincy education, funded by the Ostad Elahi Award, and another on New Thought and American politics for the Narrative Project of The Christian Century.
Graduate Student Researcher (2025–28)
Project: “Metaphysical Spirituality and the Future of Religion: From the Margins to the Mainstream”
- Funded by a $1.55M grant from the John Templeton Foundation
- PI and Supervisor: Prof. Joseph Blankholm
University Service
- Administrative Assistant, Walter H. Capps Center for the Study of Ethics, Religion, and Public Life (2025–26)
- Vice President of Campus Affairs, Graduate Student Association (2025–26)
- Graduate Student Representative, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Cabinet (2024–25)
Awards & Grants
- Fellow, The Narrative Project of The Christian Century (2025–26)
- The Ostad Elahi Fellowship in the Study of Religion, Department of Religious Studies, UC Santa Barbara (2025–26)
- Lester Ford Scholarship, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of the United Methodist Church (2025)
- Clergy & Religious Leaders Fellow, FASPE: Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (2024)
Teaching
- RGST21/EACS21: Zen Buddhism (assistant, spring 2025)
- RGST24: Jesus in Comparative Perspective (assistant, winter 2025)
- RGST35: Introduction to Religion & Politics (assistant, fall 2024)
Publications
- “Find me here, among the others” 128–29, in The Perch (Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health) vol. 8: “Social” (Fall 2025).
- “Even if a chaplain is turned away, there’s still hope,” in Chaplain Life: an essay series, faithfacts.com (March 20, 2025).
- “The Mundane Matters,” 64–71, in FASPE Journal 2024 (March 1, 2025).
- “The Almighty Dollar: Exploring the Use of the Bible in the Personal Development Industry,” Master of Sacred Theology thesis, Yale Divinity School (May 2023).