Phone: 919-929-6042
E-Mail: wpeck@email.unc.edu
Address: 314 Glendale Drive
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Employment:
1970 to Retirement: Associate Professor of Religious Studies, and Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC; retired September 1, 1994
1967-1970 Assistant Professor of Religion, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
1966-1967 Fulbright Research Scholar, Frankfurt University, Frankfurt, Germany
1963-1966 Assistant Professor of Religion, Williams College, Williamstown. Mass.
1961-1963 Instructor in Religion, Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
1954-1957 Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Weatherly, PA.
Languages
Spanish (fluent)
German (fluent)
French
Italian
Russian
Latin
Greek
Hebrew
Dutch
some Mayan Indian
Education
Harvard University Ph.D. 1962, in the "Religion and Society" section of "History and Philosophy of Religion." Dissertation subject: "Interpersonal Simplicity in the Writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Harry Stack Sullivan." The work included a year of personal analysis and a year of clinical training at Mass. Mental Health Center.
Completion of studies for B.D. degree at Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey, 1952-1954.
First year of theological studies, University of Göttingen, Germany, 1951-1952 with Professors Zimmerli, Iwand, Gogarten, Weber, Käsemann, & Wolf.
Henry Fellowship in English Literature at Cambridge University, Cambridge, England, 1949-50
Yale College, majored in history, minored in philosophy, graduated Phi Beta Kappa, 1949
Teaching Areas
Biblical Studies (Old and New Testaments), Theology in the Reformation Era, Church History, Presbyterian Polity, History of Christian Thought, Luther and Calvin, Theology in Modern Thought (from Kant to the Present), Kierkegaard, Schleiermacher, Tillich, Barth, Bonhoeffer, Religion and Culture, Psychology of Religion and Pastoral Psychology, Women's Studies, History of Religion in Latin America.
Publications
New Studies in Bonhoeffer's Ethics, ed. by William Jay Peck, Toronto and New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1987. "Editor's Preface" and Chapter 4, "The Euthanasia Text-Segment."
"New Studies in Bonhoeffer's Ethics: Overview and the Euthanasia Text Segment," in Guy Carter, etal. Bonhoeffer's Ethics: Old Europe and New Frontiers. Kampen-The Netherlands: Kok Pharos Publishing House, 1991.
Translation from the Dutch of Gerard Th. Rothuizen, "Who am I? Bonhoeffer and Suicide," in New Studies in Bonhoeffer's Ethics, ed. by William Jay Peck, Toronto and New York: Edwin Mellen Press, 1987.
"Murder, Timing and the Ram in the Sacrifice of Isaac," Anglican Theological Review, 1976.
"Bemerkungen Über Christen und Juden," in Wie eine Flaschenpost: Oekumenische Briefe und Beitrage für Eberhard Bethge, herausgeber H.E. Tödt, München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1979.
"Response to E. Bethge's 'Bonhoeffer and the Jews'," in Ethical Responsibility: Bonhoeffer's Legacy to the Churches, ed. by J.D. Godsey and G.B. Kelly, New York and Toronto: Edwin Mellen Press, 1981.
Translation from German of Eberhard Bethge, "Bonhoeffer and the Jews," in Ethical Responsibility: Bonhoeffer's Legacy to the Churches, ed. by J.D. Godsey and G.B. Kelly, New York and Toronto: Edwin Mellen Press, 1981.
"The Role of the 'Enemy' in Bonhoeffer's Life and Thought," in A Bonhoeffer Legacy: Essays in Understanding, ed. by A.J. Klassen, Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans, 1981.
"Eine Antwort: Eberhard Bethge's 'Nichts scheint mehr in Ordnung'," in Ethik im Ernsfall: Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Stellung zu den Juden und ihreAktualität, herausgegeben von Wolfgang Huber und Ilse Tödt, München: Chr. Kaiser Verlag, 1982.
"The Significance of Bonhoeffer's Interest in India," Harvard Theological Review, 1968.
"Structure and History in Myth Interpretation," Paideuma, 1968.
"A Proposal Concerning Bonhoeffer's Concept of the Person," Anglican Theological Review, 1968.
"Religious Aspects of Sex: A Study in Sex Ethics," in Larry M. Lance, ed. Population and Human Sexuality: 1972 Population Workshops, Institute for Urban Studies and Community Service, UNC- Charlotte, N.C., 1972.
"Theologie und Politik in Bonhoeffers Beziehung zum Judentum," Evangelische Theologie, 1972. English version, "From Cain to the Death Camps: An Essay on Bonhoeffer and Judaism," Union Seminary Quarterly Review, Winter 1973. Also published as "Bonhoeffer's View of Judaism", Institute of Jewish Affairs, Christian Attitudes on Jews and Judaism, #31, & #32, August 1973.
"Psychology of Religion" in Luke T. Johnson, ed., Teaching Religion to Undergraduates. Society for Religion in Higher Education, New Haven, CT, 1973.
Teaching Awards
1996 Department of Religious Studies established the "William Jay Peck Teaching Award" for Best Graduate Teaching Assistant (presented within the Department each year)
1996 Listed in Who's Who among America's Teachers, Marquis Publishing
1989, 1990, 1992, 1994 Participation as an exemplary teacher in "October Saturday," sponsored by the Institute for the Arts and Humanities
1980-1983 Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC (in recognition of outstanding teaching)
1969 Standard Oil Company of Indiana Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
Professional Grants and Research Leaves
1992-1997 Mellon Faculty Travel Grants for Research in Guatemala
1992 Arts and Sciences Research Fellowship, Spring Semester
1984 Spring Semester, departmental semester of freed-time for research
1984 University Research Council Grant, UNC-CH
1983 American Philosophical Society research/travel grant to Germany
1978 University Research Council Grant, UNC-CH
1974 Fall Semester - Junior Kenan research grant
1966-1967 Fulbright Research Grant, Frankfurt University, Germany
1963 Ford Public Affairs Grant for Research on Shamanism and Acculturation in Tribal Religions in Central America. The result of this grant was a course on "Primitive Religion" at Williams College, materials for various courses at UNC, including "Shamanism, Feminism, and Colonialism," and the groundwork or my current research for a monograph on "The theme of Omnipotence in Psychoanalysis and Colonialism."
Committee Memberships and Other Professional Roles
Ph.D. Dissertation Committees, M.A. Thesis Committees, Honors Committees, 1968-1997
Dissertation Advisor to Charlie Thompson, 1995-1997 (includes supervisory field trip to Jacaltenango, Guatemala, June 10-15, 1996)
Dissertation advisor to Wes Boyd, on Nietzsche and Dostoyevsky (he received Ph.D. 1993)
Director of Undergraduate Studies, 1989, 1990 (Departmental)
Chair of American Academy of Religion Group, 1990-1994, "Bonhoeffer: Christianity, Church, and State," arranging call for papers, evaluating papers, scheduling speakers, respondents and panelists at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion
Executive Committee, International Bonhoeffer Society for Archive and Research, 1971-1997; Chairman of the Ethics Project; 1979- 1987; Member, Publications Board, 1987-1994
Member University Committee on Established Lectures, 1988-1990
Chancellor's Ad Hoc Committee on the Division of Student Affairs, 1986-1987
Participation in the Department of Social and Administrative Medicine, Medical School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1980-1983:
Courses on "Cultural and Social Aspects of Medical Practice," and "Medical Ethics"
Committee on Improvement of Pre-Professional Education for Prospective edical Students, 1980-1982
Women's Studies Board, 1976-1982
North Carolina Humanities Faculty, 1972-1982
National Humanities Faculty, 1974-1980
Visiting Committee for the Overseers of the Harvard Divinity School, 970-1976
Vice-Chairman, Harvard Divinity School Visiting Committee, 1975-1976
UNC University Committee on the Ethics of Research on Human Subjects, 1969-1977
Administrative Boards of the General College and College of Arts & Sciences at UNC, 1970- 1973
UNC Library Committee, 1967-1970
Javeriana University Committee for Technical Assistance, Columbia, S.A. 1973-1976
Workshops, Consultations, Speeches
Faculty Advisor, Duke-UNC Program in Latin American Studies, "Religion & Politics" 1989-1997, Numerous presentations at the monthly meetings
Faculty Seminar on Psychoanalysis, numerous presentations, 1985-1997
April, 1989, Two presentations, "Mythology and the World's Religions," and "Mythology in the Old Testament," New Bern, NC
March 28, 1989, Speech: UNC Philological Club, : "Oedipus: from Homer to Freud"
November, 1988, Response to a Presentation on South Africa, AAR national meetings June, 1988, UNC Program in the Humanities, Weekend Seminar: "From Nietzsche to the Nazis, 1870-1933" Chapel Hill, NC
June, 1988, Presentation of the Bonhoeffer Ethics Project to the Bonhoeffer Quadrennial Conference in Amsterdam, the Netherlands
February, 1987, Speech on "Myth, Symbol, and Transcendence," Charlotte, NC (also May 1986 in Chapel Hill, NC)
November, 1986, "Speech in Appreciation of the Lifework of H. Westman," Augusta, Maine
November, 1986, Speech on "Nota Bene: Multi-lingual Word Processor," Toy Lounge, Dey Hall, UNC Chapel Hill, NC
November, 1985, UNC Program in the Humanities, Weekend Seminar: Speech on "The Problem of Evil in Nazi Germany," Chapel Hill, NC
June 14, 1984, Paper on "Bonhoeffer's Relation to Hegel," presented to the International Bonhoeffer Society Quadrennial Meeting at Hirschluch-bei-Storchow, German Democratic Republic
December 18, 1983, Paper on "Ferenc Lehel's Notes on Bonhoeffer's 1933 Hegel Seminar," American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, Dallas, TX
December 18, 1982, Paper on "New Dimensions of Bonhoeffer's Medical Ethics," American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, New York, NY
December 18, 1981, Paper on "Bonhoeffer's Medical Ethics," American Academy of Religion, Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (American Academy of Religion papers were given annually since 1962)
April 30, 1980, Speech on "Bonhoeffer's Relations to Judaism," and Paper "Research on Bonhoeffer's Medical Ethics," International Bonhoeffer Society Quadrennial Meeting at Oxford, England
March 30-31, 1979, "Morality, Education, and Society" (A two-day seminar on the teaching of values in public education held at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Committee).
November 5, 1978, "Hermeneutics and Holocaust, a Response to Eberhard Bethge," (Sponsored by North Carolina Humanities Committee, Raleigh, NC
September 20, 1978, "Human Values and Public Policy," (A forum on the American family under modern pressures and changing roles, held at New Bern, North Carolina.
Sponsored by the North Carolina Humanities Committee. This presentation included a lecture on Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey into Night")
November 1, 1977, "Personal Values and Educational Policy,"(Speech at Alamance County Forum for Business Executives, North Carolina Humanities Committee, Burlington, North Carolina)
September 28-29, 1977 "Moral Education, Values Clarification and Religious Studies," (A forum at Pembroke State University on Values and Objectives for America) and "Education and Values in American Culture," (A speech at Scotland County Library Conference Room, Laurinburg, NC)
April 9, 1973, "Teaching the Psychology of Religion," (A forum on innovative education at the New England Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion. Sponsored by the Society for Religion in Higher Education, now the Society for Values in Higher Education, Boston, MA)
January 7-10, 1973, Speaker at "Leadership Conference on Ethics and Student Life in the 1970s," (In-the-Oaks, Black Mountain, NC)
February 13, 1972, "War, Technology and the Environment," (Forum sponsored by the University Program on Science and Society, Raleigh, NC)
January 9, 1972, "Technology and Cultural Change," (Lecture presented to the Unitarian Fellowship, Chapel Hill, NC)
February 2, 1972, "Cultural Values and Human Liberation," (Rutgers U. New Brunswick, NJ)
October 6, 1971, "Theology and Politics in Bonhoeffer's Relation to Judaism," Quadrennial meeting of the International Bonhoeffer Society, Düsseldorf, West Germany
Guest Lectureships
1977-1981, "Women and Religion," in Women's Studies 50, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. This was an annual tradition for five years.
1976-1987, "Jung's Psychology and Cultural Anthropology," in Anthropology 135, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill 1974-1975, "Robert Bellah's Sociology of Religion," in Anthropology 135, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
1969-1977, "Religious Aspects of Human Sexuality," in Health Education 33, UNC-Chapel Hill
Consultant to "Experimental Program on Religion and Technology"1968- 1970, and to "University Program on Science and Society,1970-1976, under Dr. Donald W. Shriver, Raleigh, NC
