President - Ursula King

Current Positions

• Professor Emerita of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol
• Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Advanced Studies, University of Bristol
• Professorial Research Associate, Centre for Gender and Religions Research, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London

Academic Degrees

• DD h.c. 2003 (Dayton) University of Dayton, Ohio
• Dr theol.h.c. 2000 (Oslo) Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo
• DD h.c. 1996 (Edinburgh) New College, University of Edinburgh
• PhD 1977 (London) King's College, University of London
• MA 1969 (Delhi) Philosophy, Class 1, University of Delhi
• STL 1963 (Paris) Theology, "magna cum laude", Institut Catholique, Paris

Honors and Awards

2003 Honorary Doctorate in Divinity, University of Dayton

2000 Honorary Doctorate in Theology, University of Oslo

1996 Honorary Doctor of Divinity, University of Edinburgh

1996-97 Bampton Lecturer, University of Oxford

1994-95 University of Bristol Research Award

1991- FRSA: (Life Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) London

1969 Indian Philosophical Congress Gold Medal for the Best Candidate in the MA Examination in Philosophy, University of Delhi

Thadani Memorial Prize for the Best Paper in Indian Philosophy

1960-63 Boursière du Gouvernement Français, Paris (for studies at Institut Catholique and Sorbonne)

1958-63 Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes, Bonn (National Scholarship in Germany)

Education

1971 - 77 University of London: part-time PhD student, Dept of the History and Philosophy of Religion, King's College, PhD, Faculty of Arts

1967 - 69 University of Delhi: Extra-collegiate student, MA in Philosophy

1964 - 65 University of London: Extra-mural student for Diploma in Sociology (Passed with merit the examination in social history)

1962 University of Tübingen: Proficiency Certificate in Hebrew. Grade "Sehr gut".

1962 University of Tübingen (summer semester): theology, philosophy and Indian religions. Certificate in Hebrew.

1962 Sorbonne, Paris: Certificate "Histoire Générale de la Philosophie" . Grade "Bien".

1960-63 Institut Catholique, Sorbonne and École des Hautes Études, Paris: theology, philosophy, patristics

1960 University of Munich (summer semester): theology and philosophy

1958-60 University of Bonn: theology, philosophy, phenomenology of religion.

1944-58 Primary and secondary education in Germany

Previous Academic Posts

Fall 2005 Distinguished Bingham Professor of Humanities, University of Louisville, Kentucky.

1989-2002 Professor of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol

1996-2002 Director of the Centre for Comparative Studies in Religion and Gender, University of Bristol

1998-2001 Visiting Professor in Feminist Theology, Faculty of Theology, University of Oslo, Norway

Fall 1999 Brueggeman Chair of Ecumenical Theology and Interreligious Dialogue, Xavier University, Cincinnati, Ohio

1989 -97 Head of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol

1979-89 Senior Lecturer, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds

1976-77 S.A.Cook Bye-Fellow, Newnham College and Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge

1971-79 Lecturer, Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds

1969-70 Visiting Lecturer, Department of Philosophy, University of Delhi (responsible for course in philosophy of religion in the MA in Philosophy)

1965-69 Occasional Lecturer: University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Technology, Indian Social Institute. Lectured on philosophy and on aspects of Christian thought and practice

1965-70 Five years' residence in India (New Delhi, visits to North and South India)

1963-65 Lecturer in Divinity, Coloma College of Education (affiliated to London University Institute of Education)

Memberships in Professional Associations

• American Academy of Religion
• British Association for the Study of Religions (BASR) (British section of the International Association for the History of Religions)
• Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain
• European Society of Women in Theological Research
• Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
• Scientific and Medical Network
• Society of Authors
• Society for the Study of Theology
• Sociology of Religion Study Group of the British Sociological Association

Past Offices and Committee Membership

1993-95 President, European Society of Women in Theological Research

1993-94 President, Bristol Theological Society

1992-94 Vice-President, Wells Theological Society

1992 -95 President, Teilhard Centre, London

1991-94 President, British Association for the Study of Religions

1981-87 Honorary Secretary, British Association for the History of Religions; Bulletin Editor (1977-1981); 1977-87 Member, Executive Committee

Selected Memorial and Keynote Engagements

2007 Keynote speaker at Edinburgh Middle East Festival Conference on ‘Spirituality and Community’, March 6.

2007 Annual Julian of Norwich Lecture, May 12, Norwich Cathedral: ‘Inspired by Julian: Seeking a Feminine Mystical Way for the Twenty- first century’

2007 ‘Frauen im interreligiösen Dialog. Kritische Fragen und schöpferische Neuansätze aus europäischer und asiatischer Sicht’, Ringvorlesung Universität Bern, June 5

2007 Keynote speaker at the International Conference of the European Society for Catholic Theology, Leuven University, September 2007: ‘Responding to the Multifaith Realities of Contemporary Europe: A Venture of Risk and Promise for Christian Theologians’.

2006 Keynote speaker at International Conference on ‘Teilhard de Chardin’s Significance for a Planetary Ethics and Creation Spiritualities’, Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines

2006 ‘Gendering the Spirit: Re-reading Women’s Spiritualities in the Comparative Mirror’, Lancaster University, England, and University of Uppsala, Sweden

2006 Public lectures on feminist theology at conferences in Rome, Italy and at University of Graz, Austria

2006 ‘Meandering through the Gender Maze: Frustrations and Surprises in the Academic Study of Religion’. Invited plenary lecture at the Symposium on ‘Constructing Gender in Religious Symbol Systems: Approaches within the Study of Religions’ organised by the Universities of Zürich and Lausanne, Switzerland

2005 ‘Hinduism and Women: Uses and Abuses of Religious Freedom’, The Distinguished Majewski Lecture, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

2005 XIXth World Congress of the International Association for the History of Religions, Tokyo: invited respondent to plenary session on ‘Fluid Boundaries, Institutional Segregation and Buddhist Sexual Tolerance’ and to several papers on ‘Religious Education and Peace’

2005 Keynote Lecture on ‘Feeding the Zest for Life: Spiritual Energy Resources for the Future of Humanity’ at Fordham University Symposium on ‘The Philosophy of Teilhard in the Building of the Future of Humanity’, Lincoln Center, New York

2005 ‘The Fire of Consciousness: The Rise of Self-Reflection’. Public address during the celebration of ‘The Epic of the Universe’ commemorating the 50^th anniversary of Teilhard de Chardin’s death in New York at the Cathedral of St John the Divine, New York

2005 ‘The Other in Our Midst, The Other Within Ourselves: the spiritual challenge of our time’. 42^nd Glenstal Ecumenical Conference, Glenstal Abbey, Co Limerick, Irelan

2004 ‘Christianity, Violence and the Peace Imperative’ , Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan, conference on ‘War and Violence in Religion: Responses from the Monotheistic World’

2004 ‘Gender and Interreligious Dialogue’, Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture, Nagoya, Japan

2004 BASR 50^th Anniversary Lecture, Oxford, ‘Cherished Memories, Fractured Identities and New Subjectivities: Celebrating Fifty Years of British Scholarship in Religious Studies

2004 Keynote Lecture at ‘Dreaming Landscapes’ Global Multi-Faith Conference for Chaplains and Religious Professionals, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

2004 ‘Meandering through the Gender Maze (with examples from the Encyclopedia of Religion and other scholarly territories’), Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand

2004 ‘One Planet, One Spirit: Spirituality and Human Flourishing’, Vernon Robertson Lecture, Bellarmine University, Louisville, KY

2003 Otto A. Shults Lectures, St Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry, Rochester, NY

2003 ‘La femme et le sacré’, University of Geneva

2003 ‘Doing Gender in the Study of Religions’, University of Lausanne

2003 American Teilhard Association Annual Lecture, General Theological Seminary, New York

2002 ‘The Dance of Life: Spirituality, Ageing and Human Flourishing’, Second International Conference on Ageing, Spirituality and Wellbeing, University of Durham, England

2002 Larouche Lecture, University of Sudbury, Canada

2002 ‘Science, Love and Mysticism in a Converging World’, Science, Consciousness and Ultimate Reality Conference of the Scientific and Medical Network, King’s College, London

2002 Sir Alister Hardy Memorial Lecture, Oxford

2002 Anne Spencer Memorial Lecture, University of Bristol

2002 Sir George Trevelyan Lecture, London

2001 Lectures on feminist theology in Rome, Budapest, Oslo and Trondheim, Norway

2001 Keynote Lecture on “Women in Theological Education” for Lutheran World Federation, Geneva

2000 Roger Whyte Lecture in the Study of Religions, University of Oxford

1998 ‘World Religions, Worlds of Gender’, Ferdinand Braudel Center and the Institute for Global Cultural Studies, Binghamton University, NY

1996 Bampton Lectures, University of Oxford, January-May 1996

1996 Thomas Aquinas Lecture, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

1994 Edmund Perry Memorial Lecture, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois

1992 Schumacher Lecture, Bristol, ‘Re-visioning Spirituality. One Planet, One Spirit’

1992 The McMartin Lecture, University of Ottawa, on the 35th Anniversary of the Department of Religious Studies: ‘The Impact of the Feminist Critique on the Study of Religion’

Publications

BOOKS

2008 The Search for Spirituality: Our Global Quest for a Spiritual Life New York: Blue Bridge

2005 Gender, Religion and Diversity: Crosscultural Approaches (co-edited with Tina Beattie) London and New York: Continuum paperback (hardback published in 2004). See my article “Gender-Critical Turns in the Study of Religion”, 1-10.

2003 Christian Mystics. Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages. London: Routledge (Mahwah, NJ: Hidden Spring - Paulist Press, 2001)

2001 (ed.) Spirituality and Society in the New Millennium. Brighton and Portland, Oregon: Sussex Academic Press

2001 Christian Mystics. Their Lives and Legacies throughout the Ages. Mahwah, New Jersey: Hidden Spring - Paulist Press

1999 (ed) Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. Writings Selected With an Introduction. Modern Spiritual Masters Series. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books (Spanish translation 2001: Escritos Esenciales. Introdución y edición de Ursula King. Santander: Sal Terrae)

1998 (ed) Faith and Praxis in a Postmodern Age, London: Cassell

1998 Christian Mystics. The Spiritual Heart of the Christian Tradition. New York: Simon & Schuster and London: Batsford

1997 Christ in All Things. Exploring Christian Spirituality with Teilhard de Chardin, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books and London: SCM; Italian translation 2001: Cristo in tutte le Cose. Esplorare la spiritualità con Teilhard de Chardin. Padova: Edizione Messagero

1996 Spirit of Fire. The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin, Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books;pbck1998

1995 (ed) Religion and Gender, Oxford and New York: Blackwell

1994 (ed) Feminist Theology from the Third World. A Reader, London: SPCK and Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books

1994 (co-ed) Religion in Europe. Contemporary Perspectives, Kampen: Kok Pharos

1993 Women and Spirituality. Voices of Protest and Promise. Revised second edition, London: Macmillan and University Park, PA: Penn State Press; first edition 1989

1991 (ed) Liberating Women: New Theological Directions (2-6 September 1991, Conference Reader), Bristol: Department of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Bristol

1990 (ed) Turning Points in Religious Studies. Essays in honor of Geoffrey Parrinder, Edinburgh: T & T Clark; paperback edition 1995.

1989 The Spirit of One Earth: Reflections on Teilhard de Chardin and Global Spirituality, New York: Paragon House (reprinted 1994)

1989 Women and Spirituality. Voices of Protest and Promise, London: Macmillan (commissioned by Macmillan for their series "Women in Society") and New York: New Amsterdam Books

1987 (ed) Women in the World's Religions, Past and Present, New York: Paragon House (reprinted 1994)

1980 Towards a New Mysticism. Teilhard de Chardin and Eastern Religions, London: Collins and New York: Seabury Press. (Preface by Joseph Needham)

1967 Christlicher Platonismus, Bibliothek der Alten Welt, Zürich: Artemis Verlag. (Translation from Latin into German of the anti-Arian treatises on the Trinity by Marius Victorinus. In collaboration with Pierre Hadot).

In addition I have contributed chapters to more than 40 different books, numerous entries in encyclopedias, over 70 articles in academic journals, and over 180 book reviews. Details can be supplied on request.

Of the most recent contributions I would like to mention especially my work as consultant for all the entries on “Gender and Religion” (covering 20 different religious traditions in The Encyclopedia of Religion, 2^nd edition (ed. Lindsay Jones) Chicago: Macmillan Reference, Thomson Gale, 2005. 15 vols. See vol. 5: 3295 –3420 for the composite entry “Gender and Religion”. I also contributed several entries to the Encyclopedia of Religion, especially “Gender and Religion: An Overview”, vol. 5: 3296 – 3310.

Other important publications include:

• “Smart, (Roderick) Ninian (1927-2001)” in the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press 2004-5, entry in on-line edition (http://www.oxforddnb.com)
• “Hinduism and Women: Uses and Abuses of Religious Freedom” in Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook by the Oslo Coalition on Freedom of Religion or Belief (eds Tore Lindholm, W. Cole Durham, Jr. and Bahia Tahzib-Lie), Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 2004: 523- 543.
• “Religion and Gender: Embedded Patterns, Interwoven Frameworks” in Teresa A. Meade and Merry E. Wiesner-Hanks, eds, A Companion to Gender History, Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishing 2004 & 2006: 70-85.