David Thang Moe
David Thang Moe is a Postdoctoral Associate and Lecturer in Southeast Asian Studies at Yale University, and a Co-chair of Religion in Southeast Asia Unit at the American Academy of Religion. Touted by Prof. James C. Scott as “a true gem and animator from Burma” for his enormous contributions to Burmese studies at Yale and beyond, Moe’s scholarship actively engages with four distinct communities—academia, grassroots churches, public society, and political state. He teaches courses related to religion and conflict, including “Religion, Politics, and Identity in Southeast Asia,” which some students have described as “their favorite and most rewarding class at Yale.” His teaching and research have been featured in Voice of America VOA Burmese News and other media outlets.
Moe’s research interests include religion and identity politics, Buddhist nationalism, ethnic conflict, subaltern politics of decentralized resistance, ethnic reconciliation, political theology, and Christian-Buddhist engagement in Southeast Asia (Myanmar). He is the author of Beyond the Academy: Lived Asian Public Theology of Religions, Princeton Theological Monograph Series (Wipf & Stock, 2024), and has published over 70 scholarly articles. His current project, titled Beyond Buddhist Nationalism: Political Theology of Interreligious and Decentralized Resistance after the Coup,is under review with Oxford University Press as part of Religion and Global Politics Monograph Series. This project explores how the Burmese revolutionary movement embodies a twofold distinctive nature of “interreligious and decentralized resistance” and examines how it should shape the moral imagination for building a new multicultural nation beyond Buddhist nationalism.
He is also a celebrated public speaker, having been invited to speak about Burmese politics of religion, resistance, and democracy movement at leading universities, including Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge, Columbia, Princeton, Brown, Boston University, Boston College, Pittsburgh, DePaul, New York University, University of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University, Toronto, Baylor, Whitley College, Australian National University, National University of Singapore, University of Sydney, Hamburg, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yonsei, Ewha Womans University, and others. In addition to his academic speaking, teaching, and writing, he has met with some U.S. Senators and Members of Congress in Washington D.C., to advocate for Myanmar.
Moe serves on the editorial teams of four academic journals: International Journal of Public Theology, Independent Journal of Burmese Scholarship, Interreligious Studies and Intercultural Theology, and the Asian American Theological Forum. He is also a member of American Academy of Religion, Association for Asian Studies, Global Network for Public Theology, New York Southeast Asia Network, and other professional organizations.
Born and raised in a rural Chin ethnic minority village in Myanmar, he is passionate about bridging the gap between grassroots and academic lives. He enjoys playing and watching soccer.
Media links
Interview_Courses on SEAS at Yale
Interview_ James Scott's legacy and his contributions to Myanmar studies
Publications
BEYOND THE ACADEMY
Lived Asian Public Theology of Religions
Foreword by Simon Chan
Series: Princeton Theological Monograph Series
Endorsements:
“For the most part, public theology so far has been an endeavor of religious ‘experts’ who belong to a single tradition exploring how their faith should serve the common good. David Moe argues that in a religiously pluralistic world we need ordinary practitioners of diverse religions coming together and, each drawing on their own tradition, pursue together the common good. In a divided world, this is a very needed book.”
-- Miroslav Volf, Professor of Systematic Theology & Founding Director, Yale Center for Faith and Culture, Yale Divinity School
“I was much enlightened and heartened when I read David Moe’s book, not least because he has pushed the boundaries of doing contextual theology even beyond what I had done in my Grassroots Asian Theology. This is what theological works should be.”
—Simon Chan, editor, Asia Journal of Theology
“David Moe is a leader of a new generation of Southeast Asian theologians. He employs a ‘synthetic methodology’ that values previous contributions while expanding the field to include the hitherto neglected voices of grassroots Christian communities. This book is uniquely situated at the interface of world Christianity and public theology.”
---Thomas John Hastings, Former Director of OMSC, Princeton Theological Seminary
"From the context of a minority church within the Buddhist culture of Myanmar, he points to ways in which theological reflection can contribute more effectively to Christian social engagement. His volume offers us a valuable resource for public theology today.”
—David Fergusson, Regius Professor of Divinity, University of Cambridge
"The book is thoughtful, innovative, and it is truly moving to hear the voices of those ordinary believers as they live their faith. Thoroughly recommended.”
—Philip Jenkins, Distinguished Professor of History, Institute for Studies of Religion, Baylor University
“Public theology too often involves dialogue between scholars, but without hearing from the grassroots voices. David Moe confronts this criticism directly as he offers an Asian public theology emerging from everyday people during the coup in Myanmar. Beyond the Academy is public theology at its finest. I enthusiastically recommend it.”
—Gregg A. Okesson, Professor of Leadership and Development, Asbury Theological Seminary
“In journalism, we stress the importance of not just writing about abstract ideas but going out on the street to see how everyday people live it out. David Moe does this in Beyond the Academy by moving beyond the ideas of Asia’s public theologians and examining what Christian faith looks like for real grassroots Christians in Myanmar. This is an important book for anyone interested in Christianity in Southeast Asia.”
—Angela Lu Fulton, Southeast Asia editor, Christianity Today
“This is the most imaginative, absorbing, and remarkable book I have ever read!”
—Pum Za Mang, associate professor of world Christianity, Myanmar Institute of Theology