Theology at BC
Boston College is a world-class center of theological study, comprising both the Theology Department in the Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences and the Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM). This page highlights the opportunities available to Theology Department students through the Gloria L. and Charles I. Clough School of Theology and Ministry (CSTM).
Meet the Nation's Largest Theological Faculty
Ph.D. students in the Theology Department have access to faculty and doctoral courses at CSTM, enhancing the breadth and depth of theological study at BC. Combined, the two entities are home to 70 full-time faculty members—the largest theological faculty in the United States.
CSTM Faculty Publications
Synodality: A New Way of Proceeding in the Church
Paulist Press, 2022
What Does the Bible Say About Animals?
New City Press, 2022
The Pilgrim Paradigm: Faith and Motion
Paulist Press, 2022
Tilling the Church: Theology for an Unfinished Project
Liturgical Press, 2022
The Structures of Virtue and Vice (Moral Traditions)
Georgetown University Press, 2021
Navigating toward Adulthood- A Theology of Ministry with Adolescents
Paulist Press, 2018
What Makes Education Catholic
Orbis, 2021
Clare of Assisi and the Thirteenth-Century Church: Religious Women, Rules, and Resistance
University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016
Hope: Promise, Possibility, Fulfillment
Paulist Press, 2013
The Holy Spirit: Setting the World on Fire
Paulist Press, 2017
.jpg)
Sense of the Possible: An Introduction to Theology and Imagination
Cascade Books, an imprint of Wipf and Stock Publishers, 2023
Shared Resources & Expertise
Mentorship
The Clough School of Theology and Ministry is home to a premier selection of degrees in theology which contribute to ministerial training as well as doctoral studies. During their coursework, Ph.D. students in the Theology Department are able to take doctoral seminars offered by the Clough School of Theology and Ministry faculty, enabling them to further enrich their theological expertise and to build relationships with faculty members they may wish to work with during their doctoral program.
CSTM faculty are also available to serve as informal advisors to Ph.D. students in the Theology Department and to serve on students’ theses, dissertations, and/or comprehensive exam committees.
Research Development
Faculty within both the Theology Department and the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry are eager to support student research at the doctoral level. In addition to the relationships students build organically throughout their time in the program, we aim to bring the two entities together formally as well. We host an annual colloquium that features doctoral research from students in the Theology Ph.D. program as well as students in CSTM’s interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Theology and Education.
Theology Ph.D. students and CSTM students in the Doctorate in Sacred Theology program also gather regularly with faculty for research colloquia within discipline areas.
Events
In addition to public lectures hosted by the Theology Department each year, CSTM also sponsors lectures featuring scholars both internal and external to Boston College. Signature events include:
- Annual Evelyn Underhill of Lecture on Christian Spirituality, given in 2024 by Dr. Brian Robinette on “Beyond the Reactive Mind: Christian Contemplative Practice in Polarized Times”
- Annual Mary of Magdala Lecture, given in 2024 by Dr. Cecilia González-Andrieu on “Beyond Rights: The Theological Case for Women”
Upcoming Events
The Poetry of Care and Loss
April 24
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hybrid
Theology and Ministry Library, Auditorium - Room 113
ANNUAL LECTURE IN HONOR OF RICHARD J. CLIFFORD, S.J.
The Poetry of Care and Loss
Attend in person or virtually - Register here
Join Duke Divinity School Professor Ellen F. Davis in looking at the biblical Psalms alongside contemporary poems and prayers that celebrate the gift of creation and also give voice to a profound sense of threat or loss. Consider how these biblical and contemporary poems may help us in our own life of prayer, especially as we seek to live faithfully as creatures of God.
Sponsored by and generously supported by the Kitz Family
Contact
stmce@bc.edu
The Synod, The Spirit, and Women in Ministry
May 01
5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
Hybrid
Theology and Ministry Library, Auditorium - Room 113
ANNUAL WOMEN IN THEOLOGY AND MINISTRY LECTURE
The Synod, The Spirit, and Women in Ministry
Attend in person or virtually - Register here
As we journey together as church, to what might the Spirit now be inviting women? The XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops concluded by urging discernment, listening, and conversation as a way of life for us as church. Attentive to the activity of the Holy Spirit, we seek to “expand possibilities for participation and for the exercise of differentiated co-responsibility by all the Baptised, men and women.”
Lecture image - “Pentecost” by Canadian artist Gisele Bauche. Used with permission of the artist. Artist’s website is: spiritualityandart.ca
Contact
stmce@bc.edu