John received his BA in Religion from Princeton University, his MA in
Comparative Religion from Miami University (Ohio), and his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from the University of California, Santa Barbara. John is a cultural historian of religion whose
work focuses on American literature, art, and intellectual history. His courses included
a two-semester sequence on the history of American religion, American Spiritualities, Theoretical Approaches to the Study of Religion, as well as seminars on Civil Religion, Herman Melville, Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, and Laurie Anderson.

John has also written or co-written pieces on the religious criticism of Walter Benjamin, live nativity scenes in the midwest, the ethical agenda of advertising schools, the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, and the works of Charles Olson and Don DeLillo. John is currently revising his dissertation for publication: Specters of Moby- Dick: A Particular History of Cultural Metaphysics in America.