Jordan Denari Duffner, PhD is a Catholic public theologian, author, and professor whose work centers on Muslim-Christian relations, interreligious dialogue, Islamophobia, and Israel-Palestine.
Dr. Duffner holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Theological and Religious Studies from Georgetown University, where she also completed her bachelor’s degree in international affairs. She is a Scholar in Residence at the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, a Research Associate of the Centre for Muslim-Christian Studies in Oxford, a member of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue, and a member of the Catholic Advisory Council of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), which advocates for justice for all in Israel-Palestine. Her award-winning books are Finding Jesus among Muslims (2017) and Islamophobia: What Christians Should Know (and Do) about Anti-Muslim Discrimination (2021). Her forthcoming book, co-authored with Julie Schumacher Cohen, is Palestine, Israel, and Catholic Social Teaching: A Guide, to be published with Orbis Books in Fall 2026. She writes on dialogue, spirituality, and more at Digging Our Well, a publication on Substack.
Committed to public theology, religious literacy, and interfaith solidarity, Dr. Duffner has published dozens of articles and essays in both academic and lay publications. In 2016, she penned the Bridge Initiative report, “Danger and Dialogue: American Catholic Perceptions and Portrayals of Islam,” which included the first nationwide survey of Catholics’ views of Islam. Her book chapters can be found in Overcoming Orientalism (2021) and A Pope Francis Lexicon (2018). Her doctoral dissertation is titled, Muḥammad’s Character as “Fruit of the Spirit”: Catholic Pneumatology and Portrayals of Islam’s Prophet.
Dedicated to education both inside and outside the classroom, Dr. Duffner teaches university courses in the Washington, D.C. area, including “Introduction to Islam” / “Islamic Religious Thought and Practice” at Georgetown University and the University of Mary Washington. In Fall 2025, she is the Khatib Scholar at UMW, where she offered a new course entitled “Jesus and Muhammad, the Bible and Qur’an.” She has given dozens of lectures and webinars on to diverse audiences around the world, and has experience both facilitating and participating in interreligious dialogue. She serves as a frequent media commentator, having appeared as an analyst on news programs, television and radio interview shows, and documentaries. She also serves as a consultant, advising individuals and organizations on various projects, including film and theatre scripts.
Dr. Duffner was named a recipient of the Moira O’Donnell Emerging Leader for Justice Award by the Ignatian Solidarity Network in 2024.
Dr. Duffner’s writing has received wide acclaim and received numerous awards. Her first book, Finding Jesus among Muslims, won Second Place in the ‘General Interest’ category of the 2018 “Excellence in Publishing Awards” held by the Association of Catholic Publishers. Islamophobia, her second book, won Third Place in the ‘Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations’ category of the 2022 Catholic Media Association Awards. Her 2016 piece on Islamophobia in Living City won a joint 2017 Catholic Press Association First Place Award for best interfaith and ecumenical coverage.
Prior to her PhD, Dr. Duffner was a Research Fellow at the Bridge Initiative at Georgetown University’s Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding. Prior to that, she was awarded a Fulbright research grant in a 2013-2014, she studied the impact of the media on Muslim-Christian relations in Amman, Jordan. She lives in the Washington, DC area with her husband and young children.
If you would like to contact Dr. Duffner regarding interviews, speaking engagements, consulting, or other matters, please use the contact form on this website.
(The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own, and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, positions, or mission of Georgetown University, University of Mary Washington, the Bridge Initiative, the Shoulder to Shoulder Campaign, National Catholic-Muslim Dialogue, Churches for Middle East Peace, or the Fulbright program.)
JORDAN DENARI DUFFNER 