Greetings students, alumni, and friends of the Theology Department at St. Ambrose University,
We are trying some new things here in the Theology Department including this 1st annual Theology Newsletter. We’d like to stay in touch, fill you in on what other Theology alumni and students are up to, and provide an update on the department and faculty.
Most importantly we’d like to hear from you and hope you will either reply to this email or get in touch with the SAU Alumni Office. In future newsletters we’d like to feature Theology alumni, so please contact me so we can share your news!
Also, please check out and follow our Theology Department Facebook Page where we post occasional events and updates from faculty and alumni.
As you browse the newsletter make sure you check the news highlighting the department events and faculty updates.
Lisa Powell, PhD
Professor and Chair, Theology Department
Department News
On March 25, Bud Grant gave the Wilber Symposium Annual Lecture on The Christian Tradition and Non-Violence. His lecture was part of the annual theme at SAU, “Changing Climates,” and addressed "Non-violence and the Environment: Ecocide or Sustenance."
On April 19, The Academy for the Study of Saint Ambrose of Milan hosted its annual Ambrose of Milan Colloquium. This colloquium featured "The Beauty of Nature, the Nature of the Good," work by student researchers from different courses (Ancient Greece, Fourth Semester Latin, Environmental Ethics, and Ambrose of Milan) that comment on passages from Ambrose's works, especially his “Six Days of Creation.”
On April 20, Lisa Powell presented the annual Liberal Arts Lecture for the College of Arts and Sciences. Her lecture discussed the use of gender difference as an analogy in Christology and proposed a way to describe the relationship between the divine and human in Christ that both does not rely on gender stereotypes and that promotes the value of women and bodies in need of care.
Two study abroad courses are planned for the winter of 2021-22. Micah Kiel will lead his class Chiseling God in Greece, and Bud Grant and Ethan Gannaway will lead their annual course in Rome.
Meet Our Newest Professor:
Ella Johnson, PhD
Dr. Ella Johnson was welcomed to the Theology Department at SAU in August 2018, teaching for both the undergraduate program and the Master of Pastoral Theology program.
Faculty Updates
Although Covid created many obstacles in education, faculty managed to have a productive year of scholarship and community engagement.
A New Comprehensive Theology Course
This past fall the Theology Department launched a new course, Just Theology (THEO 100) which is just about theology; however, it more properly refers to just, as in justice.
