Dr. Gretchen Buggeln of Christ College has been appointed to the Phyllis and Richard Duesenberg Chair in Christianity and the Arts by Valparaiso University President Mark Heckler.

The endowed Duesenberg Chair was established in 2000 to promote teaching, research, and scholarship on the historical and contemporary relationships between Christian faith and the arts. The Duesenberg chairholder is an established scholar of demonstrated national reputation. Besides scholarship and teaching, the duties of the Chair include enhancing the intellectual and artistic life of Valparaiso University through public presentations and programs designed to make the campus a stimulating meeting place of scholars, artists, educators, and students. Buggeln is the second occupant of the Duesenberg Chair, succeeding David Morgan.

Buggeln’s publications have earned widespread praise from many of the leading figures in American religion and art, especially for her work on the architectural history of American churches. Her book Temples of Grace: The Transformation of Connecticut’s Churches, 1790-1840, received the 2005 Cummings Prize from the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

Buggeln has also published numerous articles on the arts and religion in both scholarly and popular journals. She writes extensively on museums and museum culture, especially the presentation and interpretation of religion in a museum context. In May 2009 she presented a paper on museums and religion at a major international conference of art and museum scholars in Luxembourg.

Buggeln’s current book project, entitled "Churches for Today: Modernism and Suburban Expansion in Post-WWII America,” includes an examination of Charles Stade, and one of the leading postwar church architects and the principal designer of architect of Valparaiso’s Chapel of the Resurrection. Buggeln will be the featured speaker at a Christ College Symposium on September 24, 2009, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the dedication of the Chapel.

Buggeln earned her BA in history from Dartmouth College, her MA from the University of Delaware, and the PhD in American Studies from Yale University. She taught at Miami University of Ohio before joining the Winterthur Museum/University of Delaware Program in Early American Culture, where taught and directed a research fellowship program.

Since coming to Valparaiso in 2004, Buggeln has been a highly popular teacher in courses such as “Word and Image,” “The American Home,” “Museum History and Culture, “ and “Object, Ritual, Discourse.” Buggeln has also played an active role as an advisor to Valparaiso’s Brauer Museum, and in supporting arts speakers and exhibits on campus.