Onaje Woodbine Associate Professor Philosophy and Religion
- Additional Positions at AU
- Associate Professor in Department of Critical Race, Gender, and Cultural Studies
- Degrees
- Ph.D. Religious Studies, Boston University
M.T.S. Philosophy, Theology and Ethics, Boston University
B.A. Philosophy, Yale University - Bio
- Onaje X. O. Woodbine鈥檚 research explores the varieties of black religious experience, especially as they are lived on the margins of power and outside the bounds of established institutional authority. His most recent book, Black Gods of the Asphalt: Religion, Hip-Hop, and Street Basketball, garnered national praise as 鈥渁 profound narrative of survival [and] self-determination 鈥 in this season where black male bodies are under attack.鈥 Covered by The New York Times (鈥渟treet basketball functions as an outlet of mourning and healing of urban youths鈥), NPR鈥檚 All Things Considered (鈥渋nvites readers to look at basketball differently 鈥 as a sacred space where young black boys go to 鈥榬eclaim their humanity鈥欌), ESPN (鈥渇ull of colorful tales and haunting heartbreaks鈥), Boston Magazine (鈥減ainful, beautiful, nonfiction debut鈥), and the National Catholic Reporter (鈥淎 powerful and deeply moving work 鈥 reveals a world of redemption and hope rarely glimpsed from the outside鈥), Black Gods was longlisted for the 2017 PEN/ESPN Award for Literary Sports Writing and named one of The Boston Globe鈥檚 best books of 2016.
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Spring 2025
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CORE-105 Complex Problems Seminar: The Game Behind the Game
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PHIL-396 Selected Topics:Non-Recurring: Ethics of Liberation
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RELG-486 Topics in Religious Discussion: Relig/Spiritlty African Diasp