Curriculum Vitae

Education

Baylor University (Waco, Tex.)

• Ph.D. in Religion, Politics and Society (2010)

  • Dissertation: “‘More Desired Than Our Owne Salvation’: The Roots of American Christian Affinity for the State of Israel”

Luther Seminary (St. Paul, Minn.)

• Master of Divinity (2003)

• Master of Arts in Islamic Studies (2003)

  • MA Thesis: “Prolegomenon to Dialogue: A Christian Response to Islamic Criticisms of Nicene Orthodoxy”

Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, Okla.)

• Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (1998)

  • Senior Thesis: “Circle of Compassion: An Aristotelian Reading of the Gospel Narratives”

Select Publications

Aja Y. Martinez and Robert O. Smith. The Origins of Critical Race Theory: The People and Ideas That Created a Movement (New York University Press, 2025).

Aja Y. Martinez and Robert O. Smith. Original Intent: The Storytelling Pedagogy of Critical Race Theory (University of California Press, 2025).

Robert O. Smith and Aja Y. Martinez. Faithful Realism: The Enduring Hope of Critical Race Theory (Penn State University Press, 2026).

Robert O. Smith. More Desired than Our Owne Salvation: The Roots of Christian Zionism (Oxford University Press, 2013).

• Foreword from Martin E. Marty

• Reviewed in The American Historical Review; Journal of American History; Politics & Religion; Church History; Teologinen Aikakauskirja (Finnish Journal of Theology)

Göran Gunner and Robert O. Smith, eds., Comprehending Christian Zionism: Perspectives in Comparison (Fortress Press, 2014)

Media & Interviews

“The Roots of Christian Zionism,” Across the Divide Podcast (18 September 2024), http://www.youtube.com/@AcrosstheDividePodcast (first in a series on the topic)

“Marc Ellis and the Refusal of Innocence: Remembering Marc H. Ellis,” Contending Modernities, University of Notre Dame Keough School of Global Affairs (blog, 26 July 2024), available at http://contendingmodernities.nd.edu/

“American Indian academic and pastor engaged at the intersection of religion and politics Robert Smith to Al Mayadeen,” Al Mayadeen Television, Beirut, Lebanon (8 February 2022).

“The History of Christian Attitudes toward the State of Israel,” Christian History 133, Christianity and Judaism (2020).

“Christian Zionism, American Modernity, and the Trump Declaration on Jerusalem,” Contending Modernities, University of Notre Dame Keough School of Global Affairs (blog, 8 January 2018), available at http://contendingmodernities.nd.edu/

“When Religion Defeated the State – Max Weber and The Al-Aqsa Crisis Of 2017,” Political Theology Today (blog, 11 August 2017), available at http://www.politicaltheology.com/blog/

Alex Kane, “Israeli settlers accept an invite to Trump's inauguration,” Vice News (January 18, 2017), https://www.vice.com/en/article/434jqd/israeli-settlers-accept-an-invite-to-trumps-inauguration

Awards, Honors, Grants

University of North Texas

• Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

  • Conference Funding Support ($140,000)

• University of California Press

  • First-Generation Writing Grant ($3000)

Baylor University

• Graham Writing Award (First place, Ph.D. category, 2005)

  • “Luther, the Turks, and Islam”

• Doctoral Fellow, J.M. Dawson Institute for Church-State Studies

• Research Fellow, Center for American & Jewish Studies

Luther Seminary

• John Milton Award in Old Testament

  • “The Imprecations of Psalm 69: An Attempt at Political Exegesis”

• G.M. & Minnie Bruce Prize in New Testament

  • “And Hope Does Not Disappoint Us: Reconciliation and Romans 5:1–11”

• Interpretation Award: Outstanding Student, History & Theology Division