Jennifer Bryson
Fellow
Jennifer Bryson, Ph.D., is a Fellow in EPPC’s Catholic Women’s Forum. Currently, she is translating the works of Ida Friederike Görres (1901-1971) from German to English while in residence at the Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological Institute, known as Hochschule Heiligenkreuz, in Austria.
Jennifer Bryson, Ph.D., is a Fellow in EPPC’s Catholic Women’s Forum. Currently, she is translating the works of Ida Friederike Görres (1901-1971) from German to English while in residence at the Pope Benedict XVI Philosophical-Theological Institute, known as Hochschule Heiligenkreuz, in Austria.
Dr. Bryson grew up in California. She has studied and worked in Egypt and Yemen, been an intelligence agent for the Defense Intelligence Agency, including two years as an interrogator at Guantanamo, and worked at several research institutes, including the Witherspoon Institute and Religious Freedom Institute. Dr. Bryson has written extensively on foreign affairs, sex, marriage, and other issues. Her articles are at jenniferbryson.net.
Dr. Bryson earned her B.A. from Stanford in Political Science, her M.A. in medieval European intellectual History from Yale, and her Ph.D. in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Yale, with a focus on Greco-Arabic and Islamic studies. She learned German in high school in Austria and while studying Marxism-Leninism for a year in former East Germany as an undergraduate. Bryson was an Earhart Fellow, a Richard M. Weaver Fellow of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, and a Fulbright Scholar. Her Ph.D. work included the study of translation theory. Her translations include the German government’s report, “Anti-Semitism among Islamists in Germany” and Görres’ 1970 lecture, “Trusting the Church.”
Bryson is an adult Catholic convert.
Germany’s Synodal Way Hymnal, Part 2: Trojan Horse Hymns
Jennifer Bryson
The fate of one of the most famous traditional German Catholic hymns following the Second Vatican Council offers an example of how the Church in Germany used what I call “Trojan Horse hymns” to influence Catholics to think about the Church in new ways, thus helping to pave the way to today’s German Synodal Way.
Articles
One Peter Five / March 7, 2023
The German “Catholic” Hymnal Before the Synodal Way
Jennifer Bryson
A deep dive into the differences between hymns today and those of the past.
Articles
One Peter Five / March 4, 2023
Secret Tentative Intimation
Jennifer Bryson
The greatest challenge to my conscience at Guantanamo came right at the start, right when I was least prepared.
Articles
The Lamp / May 23, 2022
The True Mary: German Catholic Women Fight Against Feminism
Jennifer Bryson
EPPC Fellow Jennifer S. Bryson discusses her work with an association of German Catholic women who are making public their unity and loyalty to the Catholic Church and the Magisterium.
Articles
OnePeterFive / May 6, 2022
Austrian Catholics Launch Public Rosary in Response to Lockdowns
Jennifer Bryson
The new Austria Prays initiative has historical inspiration, an approach to the current crisis of pandemic-related politics, and aspects of intra-Catholic collaboration that I think offer Americans something worth considering.
Articles
Crisis / December 14, 2021
