Established through a give from an anonymous donor in 2021, the Kierkegaard Chair in Christian Philosophy was created to advance scholarship and publication concerning the writings of Søren Kierkegaard and Christian Philosophy. Kierkegaard was a 19th-century Danish philosopher who is widely considered to be the first existentialist philosopher. The endowed chair, in St. Olaf’s Department of Philosophy, enables the college to add courses aligned with its new general education curriculum as well as new courses exploring Kierkegaard’s work. The position also includes dedicated time for research.
Current Chair:
K. Brian Söderquist joined the St. Olaf faculty in 2022. Brian’s areas of specialization are Philosophy of Religion, Existentialism, and the thought of Søren Kierkegaard. Brian has a Ph.D. from the University of Copenhagen, a master’s degree from Yale University, and a bachelor’s degree from Utah State University. He is the author of The Isolated Self: Truth and Untruth in Kierkegaard’s On the Concept of Irony as well as numerous articles and book chapters. He was part of the team that translated Kierkegaard’s Journals and Notebooks (11 volumes) and has served as co-editor of Kierkegaard Studies: Yearbook and Kierkegaardiana.
Brian enjoys metalsmithing, biking through the Danish countryside, and hiking in the deserts of Southern Utah.