Profiles of Roothbert: Philip Forness

"I really avoided anything to do with history in college," began Philip Forness ‘11. "But during my last semester as an undergraduate, I took a class on medieval penance" the ritual acts one undertook to ask for forgiveness. Throughout the course, Philip explored different social practices of reincorporation. What do you do to someone who harmed their community? How do you reintegrate them? Yes, the material was at times quite violent and disturbing, but Philip was still able to grasp the emphasis on community. "This got me thinking about how to encounter other traditions as a historian, to read texts that come from completely different cultures and spiritual backgrounds than my own."

In 2015, the last year of his doctoral studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, Philip moved to Munich, Germany. Currently, Philip is a research associate in Frankfurt am Main, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

 "My work has always been connected with the question of spirituality. My research focuses mostly on Christian traditions from the Middle East." Philip is fascinated by the idea of encountering others from different traditions, and his overarching goal, in a professional as well as a personal sense, is to develop community. 

"My professional goal is to become a teacher at a college, and in that role I'd like to develop community within the classroom." While the university-level community in the United States has a residential, built-in sense, Philip hopes to foster community in a more holistic sense. From an early age, Philip discovered a joy in making others feel welcomed. "When I was in high school, I was involved in the youth organization at my church," reflected Philip. "I ended up taking a leading role and made it my responsibility to get to know the younger kids who came into the organization." 

"The first conference I hosted while in Germany means a lot to me," commented Philip. "My colleagues said that I did a really good job in making people feel welcome, and they felt at home in that space."  

Philip's working definition of spirituality connects directly to his desire to develop community. "The way I define spirituality now is a sense of there being something beyond one's self. There is another out there, as far as divinity or much closer within the natural world. There is something that binds people together who are somehow outside of us." Community in itself is spiritual. 

Born in Pennsylvania, raised in Wisconsin, an east coast transplant, and currently several years into his academic career in Germany, Philip looks forward to future opportunities to form this community. "I'm looking both in Europe and the United States," shared Philip. Wherever Philip finds his next opportunity, he carries with him a curiosity for the other, and a determination to root this sense of connection with others in a sense of community, a community in which all feel truly welcomed.