Placement Statistics for Ph.D. in Theology

The Theology Department supports Ph.D. students in applying for academic and non-academic positions upon graduation from the doctoral program. Recent graduates are employed in a range of tenured/tenure-track academic positions, as well as in the church and in administrative roles in academic and not-for-profit organizations.

Placement services within the department include regular workshops on professional academic life, review of cover letters and application materials by a designated member of the faculty, mock interviews and presentations, and individualized advice. These services are in addition to those provided through the GSAS Futures initiative in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

In the spirit of the American Academy of Religion’s and Society of Biblical Literature’s best practices for placement, we offer the following information about the whereabouts of our most recent graduates, as well as about rates of completion of our doctoral program. In 2009, the Fordham University Theology Department began offering Ph.D. students full funding for their doctoral studies. The data presented here are meant to reflect this major shift in the department’s practicess since the provision of full funding has allowed students to excel more expeditiously through the program. The Fordham University Theology Department acknowledges that data compiled before 2009 would reveal different patterns (e.g., an average time to degree of some 8.5 years, in comparison with our current average of 6 years).

  • Class of 2017: 7 students started, 6 still enrolled, 1 withdrew

    Class of 2016: 7 students started, 5 still enrolled, 2 withdrew

    Class of 2015: 9 students started, 8 still enrolled, 1 withdrew

    Class of 2014: 7 students started, 6 still enrolled, 1 withdrew

    Class of 2013: 7 students started, 6 still enrolled, 1 graduated

    Class of 2012: 6 students started, 5 still enrolled, 1 graduated

    Class of 2011: 7 students started, 5 still enrolled, 2 graduated

    Class of 2010: 9 students started, 2 students still enrolled, 1 withdrew, 6 graduated 

    Class of 2009: 9 students started, 1 withdrew, 8 graduated

  • Average time from first enrollment to graduation for students who graduated 2014-2018 (began program after 2009) is 7 years

  • 2018: Systematic Theology. "Calvin, the Spirit, and the Earth: Reading John Calvin's Theology of Creation in an Ecological Age." Ecumenical Associate, Reformed Church of America (2018-)

    2018: Systematic Theology. "Mystical-Political Theology and Ecological Subjectivity: Reading Schillebeeckx through the Frankfurt School on Human-Nature Relations." Adjunct Faculty, Fordham University London Centre (2018-)

    2018: History of Christianity. "Of Monks and Monsters: 'Voluntary Eunuchs' and the Project of Male Celibacy in the Fifth Century." 

    2018: Systematic Theology. "The End of Family Planning?: Renewing the Church's Authoritative Teaching Practice Through a Catholic Social Ethic of Care."

    2017: History of Christianity. "'The Substance of the Virtues': Deification according to Maximos the Confessor and the Transformation of Aristotelian Ethics." Lecturer, Mount Holyoke College (2017-2018); Lecturer, Scripps College (2018-) 

    2017: Systematic Theology. "Ineffable Cosmos, Ineffable Love: Divine Action and the Laws of Nature in the Theology of William R. Stoeger, S.J." Assistant Professor of Theology, Stanta Clara University (as of September 2017)

    2017: Bible. "Bringing Together and Setting Apart: the Theological Significance of Alternate Delimitations in the Hebrew and Greek Psalters." 

    2017. Systematic Theology. "Ineffable Cosmos, Ineffable Love; Divine Action and the 'Laws of Nature' in the Theology of William R. Stoeger, S.J." Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, Santa Clara University (as of September 2017)

    2016. Christianity in Antiquity. "To Know all Mysteries: The Mystagogue Figure in Classical Antiquity and in Saint Paul's Letters in the Corinthians." Instructor in New Testament and Early Christianity, Samford University (as of Septemtber 2016).

    2016. History of Christianity. "A Greek Thomist: Providence in Gennadios Scholarios" Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Scranton (2015-2016); Assistant Professor of Theology, Assumption College (as of September 2016)

    2016. History of Christianity. "Through a mirror darkly: Mystical metaphors of sight from Paul to Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine of Hippos." Visiting Professor, Loyola University of Chicago (2016-2017); Assistant Professor, Loyola University of Chicago (as of September 2017).

    2016. Christianity in Antiquity. "Unless he competes professionaly": Agonism and cultural production among Christians and Jews in the Roman world." Director of Religious Education, First Unitarian Church, Cleveland, Ohio (2018-).

    2015. Christianity in Antiquity. “Asserting Authority: Power Structures and Self-Care in the Apophthegmata Patrum.” Assistant Professor, Creighton University (2017-).

    2015. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “Embracing the Barbarian: John Chrysostom’s Pastoral Care of the Goths.” 

    2015. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “Gregory of Nyssa’s Contra Eunomium: Context, Method, and Theology.” 

    2015. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “Lacte Christiano Educatus: The Symbolic Power of Nourishment in Early Christianity.” Assistant Professor, Bucknell University (as of September 2015).

    2015. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “Through a Lens of Likeness: Reading English Wycliffite Sermons in Light of Contemporary Sermon Texts.” Lilly Post-doctoral Fellow, Valparaiso University (as of September 2015).

    2015. Systematic Theology. “Challenging the Catholic Church: Constructing a Social Ethics of Racial Solidarity.” Post-doctoral Fellowship, John Carroll University (2018-).

    2015. Systematic Theology. “Heterologous Embryo Transfer as an Act of Adoption: A Moral Analysis Based on a Catholic Theology of Marriage and the Vocation of Parenthood.” Chaplain, Newman Center, Muhlenberg College (as of September 2015).

    2015. Systematic Theology. “Recognizing the Spirit: An Ecclesial Pneumatology.” Adjunct Teaching, Fordham University and Union Theological Seminary (2018-)

    2014. Biblical Studies. “The Wisdom of Prayer: Didactic Discourse in the Book of Psalms.” Tenured/Tenure-track Assistant Professor, St. Vincent College (as of September 2015).

    2014. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “Flexible Fixity: Theorizing, Realizing, and Negotiating Byzantine Ideals of Ecclesiastical Hierarchy.” Assistant Professor, Purdue University (as of September 2015).

    2014. Systematic Theology. “Creativity and Conversion in Gordon D. Kaufman’s Theology: Detraditionalization, Identity and Responsibility in an Age of Crisis.” Tenured/Tenure-track Assistant Professor, Bethany Seminary (as of September 2015).

    2014. Systematic Theology. “The Economic Foundations of Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Past and Prospect.” Adjunct Professor, Fordham University (as of September 2015).

    2014. Systematic Theology. “More than Communion: Toward an Eschatological Ecclesiology.” Assistant Professor, Church Divinity School of the Pacific (2017-); Core Doctoral Faculty, Graduate Theological Union (2018-).

    2014. Systematic Theology. “Theological Anthropology, Human Animality, and the Human-Animal Distinction: A Constitutive Knot in Ecological Degradation.” Assistant Professor, Carroll College (2017-)

    2014. Systematic Theology. “You Loved Me before the Foundation of the Word: An Examination of Karl Rahner’s Doctrine of Trinity and Comparison to That of Hans Urs von Balthasar.” Core Fellow, Seton Hall University (2018-).

    2013. Biblical Studies. “Exegeting the Jews: The Reception of the Johannine Ioudaioi in Early Christianity.” Associate Professor, University of Scranton.

    2013. Biblical Studies. “The ‘Spirit of Adoption’ in Its Roman Imperial Context.” Adjunct Professor, Fordham University; Adjunct Professor, Manhattan College (as of September 2015).

    2013. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “American Catholics and the Art of the Future, 1930-1975.” Visiting Assistant Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University (2017-2018); Catholic Worker, South Bend (as of Spring 2018).

    2013. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “The Sacramental Word: Origen’s Eucharistic Exegesis.” Head Pastor, Archdiocese of New York (as of September 2015).

    2013. Systematic Theology. “Recognizing the Gift: Towards a Renewed Theology of Nature and Grace.” Lecturer, Department of Cathlic Studies, Sacred Heart University (2016-).

    2012. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “The City of Brotherly Love and the Most Violent Religious Riots in America: Anti-Catholicism and Religious Violence in Philadelphia, 1820-1858.” Assistant Professor, St. Bonaventure University (as of September 2015).

    2012. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “The Effects of the Origenist Controversy on the Pastoral Theology of Barsanuphius and John.” Associate Dean of Student Affairs, St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (as of September 2015).

    2012. History of Christianity/Historical Theology. “‘A Return to the Gospel;’ The Lacouture Retreat and American Catholic Revivalism, 1931-1985.” Tenured/Tenure-track Assistant Professor, La Salle University (as of September 2015).

    2012. Systematic Theology. “Francis A. Sullivan’s Hermeneutical Approach to Magisterial Documents: Its Methods and Application.” Assistant Professor, Institute for Pastoral Studies, Loyola University of Chicago (as of September 2015).

    2012. Systematic Theology. “The God Who Loves Strangers: An Ethical Theology of Hospitality.” 

    2012. Systematic Theology. “Principles, Virtue and the Moral Agent: Toward an Ethic of Patient Care for Emergency Medical Services.” 

    2012. Systematic Theology. “A Theological Analysis of R.C. Zaehner’s Theory of Mysticism.” Licensed Clinical Social Worker