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About Anthony
Anthony Petro (he/him) is an associate professor of American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. His most recent book, Provoking Religion: Sex, Art, and the Culture Wars (Oxford University Press, 2025), examines the history of feminist and queer artists who found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the Christian Right. He is also the author of After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion (Oxford University Press, 2015). Petro serves as a series editor for the North American Religions book series at NYU Press and is currently working on a biography of Catholic writer Kathryn Hulme.
What is your area of expertise or field of study?
My work focuses on religion, gender, and sexuality in the United States. My most recent book, Provoking Religion: Sex, Art, and the Culture Wars, look at the history of feminist and queer artists who found themselves caught in the crosshairs of the Christian Right. And my first book, After the Wrath of God: AIDS, Sexuality, and American Religion, narrated religious responses to the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s. Now I’m working on a biography of Kathryn Hulme, who joined a group of mostly lesbian, modernist writers living in Paris in the 1930s who found themselves entranced by the works of an itinerant mystic. After WWII, Hulme led postwar relief efforts in Bavaria, settled down with a former nun with whom she lived for the rest of her life, converted to Catholicism, and authored many books, including the bestselling novel The Nun’s Story, which was made into a film starring Audrey Hepburn in 1959.
Why did you get involved with AAR and how is your work aligned?
I’ve been involved with AAR since 2004, when I was on a panel at a regional meeting in South Carolina, and have been regularly attending and presenting at the annual meeting since 2010. I love the sheer diversity of AAR–you have people studying just about every religion (and nonreligion) from nearly any approach imaginable. Yet, within this big tent, you can also find your people–for me, that has meant fellows scholars of North American religions as well as those interested in feminist and queer studies in religion.
What is your favorite AAR member benefit, and how has it helped your career?
Let me mention two: the annual meeting and the research grants. The annual meeting reminds me each year of the amazing people in our field, and attending always renews my excitement about the work we do. I was also lucky to get a research grant several years ago that let me jumpstart archival work for my second book. That support was critical to my research, and I know the grants have helped many others, too!
What is one piece of advice you’d give to a first-time Annual Meeting attendee?
Attend the receptions!
What book is on your nightstand that you’re reading or intend to read in the future?
Right now, Steven Hahn’s Illiberal America: A History sits neglected on my nightstand.
What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
After teaching for 13 years at Boston University, I’ve just relocated with my partner to South Bend, Indiana. We love going on walks and various new adventures with our two whippets, Shelby and Truvy, and tending to the beautiful but unwieldy garden that we inherited when we moved here.