Christiana Zenner

Christiana Zenner is Associate Professor of Theology, Science and Ethics in the Department of Theology at Fordham University, where she is affiliated faculty in Environmental Studies and American Studies. Her research into emerging and established fresh water ethics as well as Anthropocene conceptualizations intersects with ecological theory, religious ecologies, developments in the earth sciences, and the ecological turn in Catholic social teaching. In all of her work, she strives to grapple with the deep patterns—both conceptual and institutional—that shape perception of cultural-religious moralities and frames of ecological-ethical perception; to demonstrate rigorous and responsible multidisciplinary approaches to contemporary eco-social realities, especially those pertaining to fresh water justice and climate change; and to articulate constructive, anti-colonial, intersectional feminist ways forward. Professor Zenner is currently writing two scholarly monographs, titled "Beyond Laudato Si'" and "Anthropocenes: Sciences, Fictions, and Ethical Futures." Her prior book, Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and Global Fresh Water Crises (Orbis Books, second edition, 2018), is taught in venues ranging from the Transboundary Waters graduate program at Oregon State University to Yale University. In addition, she is co-editor of two volumes on sustainability and bioethics, and has published more than 18 peer-reviewed articles.  

Courses that Dr. Zenner teaches at Fordham include: Human Nature After Darwin; Black Feminisms and Bioethics; Anthropocenes: Sciences, Fictions, and Ethical Futures; Ecological Ethics; and Theology and Contemporary Science. 

Dr. Zenner lectures nationally and internationally on these topics and has provided analysis of contemporary topics in ecological ethics and religion and science in venues such as Public Radio International, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, The New Republic, the Washington Post, TED-Ed, MSNBC, and others. She is headquartered at Fordham's Lincoln Center campus, in the heart of New York City. 

BA, Stanford University (Human Biology, 2001)

MAR, Yale Divinity School (Ethics, 2005; summa cum laude and recipient of the high scholarship award)

PhD, Yale University (Religious Studies, 2011; with distinction)

Fresh water values and ethics; religious ecological ethics at the intersection of ecological theory and developments in the earth sciences; anti-colonial ecofeminism, Laudato Si’, and the ecological turn in Catholic social teaching; feminist science studies and comparative religious responses to Darwin and evolutionary theory.

Just Water: Theology, Ethics, and Global Fresh Water Crises (Orbis Books, 2018; first edition, 2014).

"Valuing Fresh Waters." 5,000-word survey and opinion article. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: WATER, forthcoming 2018. 

"Commentary on Laudato Si'." 18,000-word commentary on the encyclical Laudato Si': On Care for Our Common Home. Chapter 20 in Kenneth Himes, ed., Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations (Georgetown University Press, 2018).

"Hydrology, Theology, and Laudato Si'." Theological Studies, vol. 77, no. 2 (2016): 416-435.

“Troubling Waters: the Jordan River between Religious Imagination and Environmental Degradation.” Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 3, no. 2 (2013): 109-119. 

“Water Ethics on a Human-Dominated Planet: Rationality, Context, and Values in Global Governance.” 4,000-word literature review and analysis, co-authored with Jeremy J. Schmidt (Harvard University). Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: WATER, Vol. 1 (6), November/December 2014: 533-547.