Magis Center Blog

Katie Kresser, Ph.D.

Katie is a Professor of Art History at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington. Originally from Indiana, Katie earned her undergraduate degree from Indiana University, and her graduate degrees from Harvard University. She is the author of two books and several scholarly essays and has curated numerous exhibitions. She lives in the Seattle neighborhood of Ballard with her husband and two kids, where she enjoys walking, beachcombing and making music. She is continually fascinated by the human creative process and its capacity to open windows onto the spiritual.

Blog Post by Katie Kresser, Ph.D.

Katie Kresser, Ph.D.9 min read

Aesthetics and Spirituality Part IV: Tombs

For eras, humans have created monuments and reliquaries as links with the afterlife. Their efforts attest to an understanding about the soul’s immortality.

Katie Kresser, Ph.D.10 min read

Aesthetics and Spirituality Part III: Transformation Through Dress

Throughout human history, artisans have created similar objects in response to their cultures’ religious impulses—including dress.

Katie Kresser, Ph.D.7 min read

Aesthetics and Spirituality Part V: Idols

Our ancestors' agreement about the spiritual world with the use of idols, globally, can also infer the existence of an immortal soul.

Katie Kresser, Ph.D.9 min read

Aesthetics and Spirituality Part II: Quests

This essay explains the holy quest or pilgrimage. I will divide this essay into three sections: Roads, Gateways and Lodestars.

Katie Kresser, Ph.D.7 min read

Aesthetics and Spirituality Part I: High Places

Over the millennia, the human species has made cultural objects that bear striking resemblance to each other despite distances of time and space.