Graduate

Hometown
Seattle, WA

Graduation Year
2017

Favorite Class
In Brian Robinette's seminar, "Theology in the a Secular Age," the class shared the kind of collaborative, passionate, and productive intellectual debate that I strive to foster in the courses I teach today. I am grateful to have had many instructors who were inspiring role models in the classroom.

What do you like most about BC?
The theological resources one can access at BC and beyond in the larger Boston area are unparalleled. It was a thrill to study in a place with great theological libraries, bright students, and so many world-class theologians and scholars of religion.

I chose BC because I desired rigorous training in Catholic theology alongside a community of students and scholars who are passionate about bringing the resources of the tradition to bear on the pressing issues of our world.

The BC Theology Program has a long tradition of training great theologians, and I've really enjoyed connecting with alumni and alumnae who graduated ahead of me at conferences and other professional gatherings. The same is true for students who are currently in the program! There is a special collegiality shared among members of the BC theology community.

Hometown
Baltimore, MD

Graduation Year
2023

Favorite Class
It's so challenging to choose a favorite professor or class because so many were formative educational experiences and BC's department has so many wonderful mentors and advisors! A few highlights in coursework were Kristin Heyer's moral agency seminar, which helped shape the direction of my dissertation, and Lisa Cahill's major figures seminar, which connected Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, and Calvin to contemporary moral challenges. The ethics colloquium was another highlight: the opportunity for students and faculty to discuss works in progress in a collegial environment was a great way to build community and support student research and participation beyond topical courses themselves.

What do you like most about BC?
I appreciate Boston College's commitment to integrating community-based experiences into student learning, specifically through the PULSE program. Also, BC's expansive library resources, especially in theology, have been indispensable in my doctoral research.

I chose BC's Theology program because of the depth of expertise of the ethics faculty in Catholic theological ethics with attention to social issues as well as gender, sexuality, and bioethics, combined with the resources of the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium to support coursework in qualitative research at nearby institutions.

My favorite aspect of BC's theology program has been professors' attentiveness to cultivating community and supporting students as whole persons. While many institutions can offer a great educational experience, BC, in my view, goes above and beyond by not only offering world-class theological instruction, but also a collegial and supportive community that includes an international network of faculty, staff, students, and alums.

Hometown
Utica, NY

Graduation Year
2016

Favorite Class
In my first semester of the doctoral program, I took a course titled "Theology in a Secular Age" with Prof. Brian Robinette. In addition to Prof. Robinette's excellent facilitation of the seminar, the class had the perfect combination of students, subject matter, and texts, which led to a great sense of community and intellectual inquiry. Many of us who were in that seminar continue to be good friends to this day.

What do you like the most about BC?
I love the sense of community that exists among our alumni.

The faculty in department and the opportunity to take advantage of all the great courses, faculty, and library resources through the Boston theological consortium are reasons why I chose BC. 

The collegiality and community formed among faculty and doctoral students is what I've enjoyed about the BC Theology Program. 

Hometown
Whitinsville, MA

Graduation Year
2020

Favorite Class
Hebrew Epigraphy with Dr. Vanderhooft -- It was a fascinating study of the process of writing in ancient Israel.

What do you like most about BC?
The people.

I was drawn to the collegiality of the faculty and graduate cohort.

BC has simply been everything that I needed it to be.

Hometown
Saint Joseph, MN

Graduation Year
2014

Favorite Class
There are so many to choose from. I am indebted to Dr. Shawn Copeland and her courses (Suffering, Solidarity, and the Cross and Race/Racism). She really has had a transformative impact on me as person and theologian. I loved my Comparative seminars with Dr.s Cornille, Langer, Makransky, and Morris. The readings and discussions in these classes prepared me well for the classes I teach now. My most memorable class I took was a small seminar with visiting professor Jean Marc Ela. The late Jacquineau Azétsop, SJ and Bienvenu Mayemba, SJ served as interpreters when needed. We had a great little community in that class.

What do you like most about BC?
I spent almost too much time at BC ;). I appreciate the many friendships I was able to make while there. I knew it at the moment, and it has been realized now, that I was surrounded by so many brilliant classmates who are currently doing amazing things. I am sure my students roll their eyes when I say for the tenth time in the semester (this is from my friend, this is from my classmate).

I chose Boston College because I wanted to study comparative theology. I knew BC was the place to be, and it most certainly was. I was able to have an in-depth focus on method and Hinduism, but also had a great breadth of other courses to take and faculty with whom to work.

I enjoyed all the faculty I got to learn from and work with. I loved the support I received to study abroad in India for a semester. I am especially thankful for my comparative faculty and cohort. Being able to organize Engaging Particularities with my classmates was a real boon.

Hometown
Bellerose, New York

Graduation Year
2023

Favorite Class
My favorite class was Theology and Science with Dr. Brian Robinette. Both he and Dr. Wilkins were my favorite professors at Boston College, and I learned immensely from both of them.

What do you like most about BC?
The best thing that BC offers, in my opinion, is the Perspectives Program for undergraduates. This allows students to engage both philosophy and theology for a full year, and by the end of the academic year many of the students report having had life changing and eye opening experiences through reading classic texts and, most importantly, engaging in incisive but friendly conversation with peers and faculty.

I chose BC's Theology Program for a few reasons. I knew a number of current students and graduates of the program, and all of them had glowing things to say about the department. I also liked how supportive the faculty were to me during coursework in my master's degree in philosophy and theology. Furthermore, all of the faculty seemed to be careful and nuanced thinkers, and I knew I would learn a lot from them.

What I enjoyed most about the Theology Program were the faculty, the friendships I've made, and the clarity and rigor of the program. The faculty are some of the best in the field. I made a number of friendships that will last for a long time. The program was challenging in the best way, and pushed me to grow in ways I could not have imagined.

Hometown
San Diego, CA

Graduation Year
2018

Favorite Class
My favorite class was Dr. Steve Brown’s course on the medieval debates over whether and how theology could qualify as a “science.” Dr. Brown showed not only how these debates precede modern ones; he also trained us to read texts—“especially those of the little guys,” as he insisted—closely, sympathetically, and critically. It changed the way I read forever.

What do you like most about BC?
The Jesuits, naturally!

I chose BC’s theology program not only because of its renown, but also because of its close cooperation with BC’s equally excellent philosophy program. The Boston Theological Consortium was also a huge benefit to my education.

BC’s resources are fabulous—world-class faculty, libraries, and so on. But I think what I treasure most about my time at BC is the close relationships formed with other students. To this day my BC colleagues remain my closest friends and theological soundboards.

Hometown
Rochester, NY

Graduation Year
2022

Favorite Class
Prof. Coolman's Catholic ressourcement class not only had students reading some of the most important theologians from the 19th and 20th centuries, it also invited timely reflections on method, history, and tradition. Though I could only audit that course, as I had already completed my coursework, that course has done a great deal to inform how I conceive of my task as a historical theologian today.

What do you like most about BC?
Boston College offers its students an impressive set of resources (especially when you factor in the School of Theology and Ministry and the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium) and a collegial community of scholars committed to the good of one another and the good of the church. Plus, the city of Boston itself has a rich religious and cultural history, making it a wonderful location to study theology.

Not only did my research interests align well with those of the faculty and the other graduate students—particularly in my area, historical theology—but I also felt BC's theology program was a place in which I could grow into a theologian at the service of the academy and the church.

I found the faculty and students at Boston College to be a wonderfully nourishing community to develop my theological sensibilities. I was always fascinated by the work my professors and classmates were doing, and they likewise took a gracious interest in my work, too. I often found myself challenged by my colleagues, but always in a spirit of collegiality and, indeed, friendship. I am immensely grateful for the relationships I formed, and still hold dear, in BC's theology program.

Hometown
Toledo, OH

Graduation Year
2024

Favorite Class
In the Spring of 2020 I took a directed readings course on the subject of Origen's Peri Archôn, a profoundly important Early Christian text, with Professor David Hunter and two fellow graduate students. That course represents my first serious study of Origen's theology. Now, a few years on, I'm writing my dissertation on Origen.

What do you like most about BC?
The Jesuits, of course!

The faculty and, perforce, the academic rigor of BC's Theology Program are unrivaled. There is no better place to receive formation as both a scholar and theologian.

Our History of Christianity area within the department meets regularly (in a monthly colloquium) in order to share our works in progress and receive critical feedback. This friendly peer-review and collegial dialogue has been invaluable for my own growth as a scholar. It's a wonderful venue for workshopping articles, for example, prior to journal submission.