Research Fellow
Program Director, Public Theologies of Technology and Presence
stevenba@berkeley.edu
Steven Barrie-Anthony is a research psychoanalyst with a clinical practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, and a scholar of religion. He holds doctorates in Religious Studies, and in Psychoanalysis. Steven’s research approach draws together contemporary psychoanalytic theory and practice with religion scholarship. He is particularly interested in exploring emerging social and civic constellations among the religiously non-affiliated and the “spiritual but not religious.”
Steven is the founding Director of Public Theologies of Technology and Presence, a multidisciplinary research initiative examining the impacts of technologies on human relationships, based at the Institute of Buddhist Studies and funded by the Henry Luce Foundation. Occidental Magazine’s article “Technology Meets Theology” explores Steven’s work on the initiative. The initiative supports pathbreaking research projects and collaborations undertaken by an interdisciplinary cohort of religion scholars and journalists from across the United States. It has supported a continuing stream of publications on these themes—many scholarly books and articles, as well as popular articles such as in the New York Times, Aeon, and The Atlantic.
Steven’s own publications appear in scholarly volumes and journals, and he has written broadly for popular venues. Previously he was a staff writer with the Los Angeles Times, where he wrote feature stories at the intersection of technology and culture. He is a Research Associate with UC Berkeley’s Center for the Study of Religion.
Degrees and Certifications:
Psy.D., Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis
Ph.D., University of California, Santa Barbara
M.A., University of California, Santa Barbara
B.A., Occidental College, Los Angeles
Research and Teaching Interests:
Religion and Technology
Religion and Media
Sociology of Religion
Religion and Medicine/Healing
Tibetan Buddhist Medicine
Psychotherapy & Psychoanalysis
Recent Publications:
“The Sacralization of the ‘Intimate Edge’: Heeding Spirituality Call for Mutual Experience within Clinical Work.” Psychoanalytic Inquiry. Editors Steven Barrie-Anthony and Daniel Goldin (forthcoming, 2022).
“Spirituality and Psychotherapy in Technological Fields.” Technology and Presence: Searching for Meaning in a Digital Age. Editors Ilia Delio and Noreen Herzfeld (in preparation)
“Christianity in the English-Speaking West” (with Wade Clark Roof). The International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2nd ed. Editor James D. Wright. New York: Elsevier Science (2015).
“Alternative Medicine in the Press.” The Oxford Handbook of Religion and the American News Media. Editor Diane Winston. New York: Oxford University Press (2012).
“Hare Krishna”; and “Heaven’s Gate.” The Encyclopedia of Global Studies. Editors Mark Juergensmeyer and Helmet Anheier. New York: Sage (2011).
“Reciprocal Totalism: The Toxic Interdependence of Anticult and Cult Violence” (with Dick Anthony and Thomas Robbins). Violence and New Religious Movements. Editor James R. Lewis. New York: Oxford University Press (2011).
Courses Taught:
Technology and Human Presence (CERS-4875)