Adam Jortner

Education

PhD, University of Virginia

MA, University of Virginia

About Me

Adam Jortner is the Goodwin-Philpott Eminent Professor of Religion in the Department of History. He specializes in the history of religion in the American Revolution and the early nation, with particular emphasis on religious liberty, patriotism and piety, theology, and new religious traditions. 

Since coming to Auburn in 2009, Jortner has published The Gods of Prophetstown, a study of Native American religion, deism, and military conflict in the Old Northwest, and Blood from the Sky, a history of miracles in the early republic. Gods of Prophetstown won the 2013 James Broussard prize for the best first book in early American history. 

Jortner is a frequent contributor to NPR's Backstory, and will soon release a series of lectures entitled God and the Founding Fathers on Audible.

Research Interests

early American republic, American religious history, history of the supernatural

Publications

• Curious Workmanship: Religious Violence and the Genesis of Mormonsim, 1830-1838 (Johns Hopkins, forthcoming).
• Blood from the Sky: Miracles and Politics in the Early American Republic (Virginia, 2017).
• The Gods of Prophetstown: The Battle of Tippecanoe and the Holy War for the American Frontier (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Courses Taught