Jonathan Malesic

Jonathan Malesic is an essayist and journalist with two decades' experience teaching writing and religion at the university level. He holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from the University of Virginia. His essays have appeared in New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, Washington Post, Chronicle of Higher Education, America, Commonweal, Hedgehog Review, Notre Dame Magazine, and elsewhere.

Areas of interest: Work, religion, higher education, the personal essay.

Honors: 

Gold medal in the religion category, Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards, for his 2009 book, Secret Faith in the Public Square.

Notable Essay of 2018 in Best American Essays for his Commonweal essay, "A Burnt-Out Case: Aquinas and the Way We Work Now."

Special Mention in Pushcart Prize XLIV anthology for his Hedgehog Review essay, "When Work and Meaning Part Ways."

Recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Louisville Institute.

Selected publications:

"Imagining a Better Life After the Coronavirus," The New Republic, April 1, 2020.

"Je Regrette Tout," Hedgehog Review, Spring 2020.

"Letter of Recommendation: Cheap Sushi," New York Times Magazine, Dec. 17, 2019.

"The Noonday Demon," Plough Quarterly, Oct. 9, 2019.

"Catholic Colleges are Searching for New Homes in the Southwest. Can They Succeed?" America, April 29, 2019.

"Taming the Demon: How Desert Monks Put Work in Its Place," Commonweal, Feb. 8, 2019.