Josef Sorett

Josef (pronounced Yo-sef) Sorett serves as dean of Columbia College, the Henry L. and Lucy G. Moses Professor and vice president for Undergraduate Education at Columbia University.

Prior to his current roles, Dean Sorett chaired the Department of Religion; directed the Center on African-American Religion, Sexual Politics & Social Justice; and was director of undergraduate studies in the Departments of Religion and African American and African Diaspora Studies. A recipient of Columbia’s Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award (2018) and Presidential Award for Teaching Excellence (2022), he also served on numerous departmental and University-wide committees, councils, and boards, including the Columbia College and General Studies joint Committee on Instruction; the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Policy Planning Committee; and he chaired the University’s Inclusive Public Safety Advisory Committee.

Sorett is also a professor of religion and African American & African Diaspora Studies at Columbia, and has been a member of the faculty there since 2009. As a scholar, he has published three books: "Spirit in the Dark: A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics" (Oxford, 2016), "Black is a Church: Christianity and the Contours of African American Life" (Oxford, 2023), and an edited volume, "The Sexual Politics of Black Churches" (Columbia, 2022). He is currently working on a fourth book, "There’s a God on the Mic: Hip Hop’s (Surprising) Religious History." Josef’s writing and commentary have also appeared in a range of popular media outlets, including ABC News, New York Times, and the Washington Post, as well as on the BBC and NPR.

Sorett’s research and teaching has been recognized with numerous grants and awards, including from the Henry Luce Foundation, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, E. Rhodes and Leone B. Carpenter Foundation, the Arcus Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Louisville Institute, the Forum for Theological Exploration, and Yale University’s Institute for Sacred Music.

BS, Oral Roberts University 
MDiv in Religion and Literature, Boston University 
PhD in African American Studies, Harvard

"Spirit in the Dark:  A Religious History of Racial Aesthetics"

"The Sexual Politics of Black Churches"

"Black is a Church: Christianity and the Contours of African American Life"