Dr. Cornel West

Dr. Cornel West is the Dietrich Bonhoeffer Chair at Union Theological Seminary. He is deeply engaged in teaching courses on the works of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Philosophy of Religion, African American Critical Thought, and a diverse array of subjects such as the classics, philosophy, politics, cultural theory, literature, and music. He is dedicated to perpetuating the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr., with a focus on truth-telling and the pursuit of love and justice.

Dr. West is a former Professor of the Practice of Public Philosophy at Harvard University and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard in three years and earned his MA and PhD in philosophy at Princeton. His academic and professional journey reflects a commitment to exploring and understanding complex philosophical and social issues.

Dr. West has written 20 books and edited 13 additional volumes. He has also contributed forwards and blurbs for hundreds of authors. His most celebrated publications include "Race Matters," "Democracy Matters," and his memoir "Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud." His book, "Black Prophetic Fire," explores the legacy of prominent African American figures from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Most recently, he co-authored "Truth Matters" with Dr. Robert George, fostering thoughtful discourse on contemporary social issues in the United States.

Through a partnership with MasterClass.com, Dr. West teaches several courses, including a class on Empathy, MasterClass’s first multi-instructor course on Black History, Black Freedom & Black Love, and a course on Philosophy.

In 2024, Dr. West was an Independent Presidential Candidate, and in the same year he delivered the Gifford Lecture 2023/2024, titled "A Jazz-Soaked Philosophy for Our Catastrophic Times: From Socrates to Coltrane," at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

He is married to Dr. Annahita Mahdavi West, a poet, clinician, and professor at Long Beach City College in California.