Loyola University Chicago

Department of Theology

Faculty Interests and Section Coordinators

Emily Cain
PhD, Fordham University
Assistant Professor
Interests:
Christian Late Antiquity
Patristics
Women’s Stories
Epistemology
Neoplatonism


Teresa Calpino
PhD, Loyola University Chicago
Instructor
Interests:
Acts of the Apostles
Women and Gender
The Greco-Roman Social Context of Early Christian Literature
The Church Fathers
Letters, Inscriptions and Artifacts of the Early Christian World


Miguel Diaz
PhD, Notre Dame University
Theology
Interests:
Trinitarian Theology
Theological Anthropology
Political Theology
Latino/a Theology


Colby Dickinson
PhD, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Theology
Interests:
Systematic Theology
Political Theology
Continental Philosophy and Theology
Contextual Theologies (Feminist, Postcolonial)


Robert Di Vito
PhD, Harvard University
New Testament and Early Christianity
Chair of the Department of Theology
Interests:
Old Testament and Northwest Semitic Philology
Hebrew Bible
History of Religion of Israel and Ancient Near East
Anthropology
Biblical Hermeneutics


William French
PhD, University of Chicago
Christian Ethics
Section Coordinator
Interests:
Environmental Ethics and Creation-Oriented Theology
War and Peace Studies
Environmental Sustainability
Global Security
Justice


Hille Haker
PhD, University of Tubingen
Christian Ethics
Richard A. McCormick S.J. Chair of Catholic Theology
Interests:
Foundational Ethics
Biomedical Ethics and New Technologies
Gender and Feminist Ethics
Ethics and Literature


Marcia Hermansen
PhD, University of Chicago
Theology
Director, Islamic World Studies
Interests:
Islamic Studies
Comparative Religion
Theory and Method in the Study of Religion
South Asian and Middle East Studies
Mysticism
Women and Gender
Religion in America
Critical Theory
Interfaith Dialogue


Brian Yong Lee
PhD, Notre Dame University
Pauline Literature
Second Temple Judaism
Hellenistic Judaism
Hellenistic philosophy
Early Jewish and Christian ethics


Bret Lewis
PhD, Arizona State University
Instructor
Interests:
World Religions
Comparative Religion
Religion and Higher Education
Religion and Conflict


Yarina Liston
PhD, Temple University
Instructor
Interests:
Buddhism
Women and Gender


Edmondo Lupieri 
LLC, Lic. PhD, University of Pisa
New Testament and Early Christianity
John Cardinal Cody Chair in Theology
Interests:
Apocalypse of John
Apocalyptic
Christianity outside of Europe
Gnosticism
Mandeanism
Religious Syncretism
Synoptic Gospels


Michael Patrick Murphy
PhD, Graduate Theological Union Berkeley
Director, Catholic Studies
Interests:
Sacramental Theology
Christian Spirituality
Systematic Theology (Christology, Trinitarian Theology)
Theology and Literature
Theological Aesthetics


Hugh Nicholson
PhD, Boston College
Theology
Interests:
Comparative Theology
Interface between Theology and the Comparative Study of Religion
Theology and Post-modern Thought
Classical Indian Philosophy


Lauren O'Connell
PhD, Loyola University Chicago
New Testament and Early Christianity
Undergraduate Program Director
Interests:
Johannine Literature
Johannine Pneumatology
Pneumatology in Second Temple Judaism
Patristics
Religion in Popular Culture


Tracy Pintchman
PhD, University of California, Santa Barbara
Theology
Director, Global and International Studies Program
Interests:
Comparative Religious Studies
Gender Issues in Hinduism
Hindu Goddess Traditions
Hinduism


Tisha Rajendra
PhD, Boston College
Christian Ethics
Interests:
Catholic Social Thought
Christian Ethics
Ethics of Food and Food Systems
Globalization
Theories of Justice
International Relations
Political Philosophy


Josefrayn Sanchez-Perry
PhD, University of Texas at Austin
Theology
Interests: 
Historical Theology
Religious Studies
Latin American Christianities
Mesoamerican Religions and Material Culture
Colonialism and Mission Studies
Nahuatl and K’iche’ Languages


PhD, Graduate Theological Union Berkeley
New Testament and Early Christianity, Theology
Interests:
Medieval Bible Commentaries
Jewish-Christian Relations
Dream Interpretation in the Talmud
Proofs for the Existence of God in Medieval Jewish Philosophy

Michael Schuck
PhD, University of Chicago
Christian Ethics
Interests:
History and Principles of Roman Social Catholic Thought
Social Theory and Religious Ethics
Political Philosophy and Christian Ethics
Indigenous Environmental Justice 


Christopher W. Skinner
PhD, Catholic University of America
New Testament and Early Christianity
Graduate Program Director
Interests:
Johannine Literature
Synoptic Gospels
Gospel of Thomas
Nag Hammadi Library
​Narrative Christology
Narrative Criticism & Literary Hermeneutics
​New Testament Ethics


Olivia Stewart Lester
PhD, Yale University
New Testament and Early Christianity
Interests:
Prophecy
Gender
Pseudepigraphy
Revelation
Sibylline Oracles
Hellenistic Judaism
Apocalypticism
Biblical Interpretation
Religion and Violence
Ancient Economies
 

Sandra Sullivan-Dunbar
PhD, University of Chicago
Christian Ethics
Interests:
Feminist Ethics
Sexual Ethics
The Christian Family and its Relation to Social Justice
History of Christian Ethics
Interdisciplinary Conversations between Christian Theology and Feminist Political Theory
Methods in Contemporary Ethics


Hans Svebakken
PhD, Loyola University Chicago
Instructor
Interests:
New Testament
Hellenistic Christianity
Historical Theology


Aana Vigen
PhD, Union Theological Seminary New York
Christian Ethics
Interests:
Ethics and Ethnographic & Qualitative Research Methods
Feminist Ethics
Healthcare and Medical Ethics
Theological Anthropology
Bioethics and Biomedical Ethics
Protestant Ethics
Immigration


Thomas Wetzel
ThD, Havard Divinity School (Hebrew Bible)
PhD, University of Wiscon-Milwaukee (English and Literary Studies)
Interests:
Hebrew Bible
Deuteronomistic History
Former and Latter Prophets
Jewish-Christian dialogue
Violence in the Bible
Flannery O'Connor and Catholic Literature