Staff and associates

Professor Tina Beattie, Director

Tina is the Director of Catherine of Siena College, and Professor of Catholic Studies. She researches in the field of Catholic theology and gender, human rights and women's rights, and theology and the visual arts. She is a trustee and regular contributor of the Catholic weekly journal, The Tablet. Tina works extensively with parishes, religious orders, schools and universities to promote greater theological understanding and awareness of issues to do with Catholic social teaching, the role of women, and the importance of the visual arts. She regularly contributes to The Guardian online and to BBC Radio 4.

Dr Susanna Snyder, Assistant Director

Susanna is Assistant Director of Catherine of Siena College, and Tutor in Theology. Her current research focuses on immigration activism, spirituality and the arts, and her published work includes Asylum-Seeking, Migration and Church (Ashgate, 2012) and a co-edited volume, Church in an Age of Migration: A Moving Body (Palgrave, 2015). She actively supports refugee and asylum-seeking women, and is particularly interested in the social and political activism of women mystics. She holds degrees from the Universities of Cambridge and Birmingham, and is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Christianity and Culture at Regent's Park College, Oxford.

Dr. Anna Cantelmi

Anna is the Administrative and Student Support Officer for Catherine of Siena College. She holds a Master degree in Chinese Studies from SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies), University of London and a Phd in Comparative Literature from Zhejang University, Hangzhou, China. She previously worked as Executive Officer at SOAS China Institute, London.

Stephanie N. Arel

Stephanie N. Arel holds a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion (IBCSR) at Boston University where she works on the Sex Differences in Religion Project. Her teaching and research interests focus on the intersection of theology, psychology, and philosophy. She is the author of Affect Theory, Shame and Christian Formation (Palgrave Macmillan 2016) and co-editor of Post-Traumatic Public Theology (Palgrave Macmillan 2016). Her research draws on the psychological and philosophical literature in affect theory to inform a theological evaluation of shame, and subsequently human dignity which she worked on extensively as a Post-Doctoral Fellow of the University Based Institutes of Advanced Studies, jointly supported by the Israel Institute for Advanced Study at Hebrew University and the Zentrum für interdisziplinäre Forschung of Bielefeld University in Germany.

Irene Ayallo

Irene Ayallo, (PhD, MTh, PGDip Theology, CoP Social Justice, BDiv) is of Kenyan descent. She has been living in Auckland, New Zealand for 10 years. Irene's research interest includes Gender (empowerment of young women), Politics (political theories, political participation, social justice, and human rights), HIV/AIDS prevention, Spirituality, Political Theology, Community Development and Research with marginalised groups. Irene is a lecturer in the Department of Social Practice, Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand.

Dr Georgina Byrne

Dr Georgina Byrne holds degrees in theology and history from Oxford, Cambridge and London. Her doctoral thesis examined ideas of the afterlife in late Victorian and Edwardian England. She continues to be interested in the interplay between religion and popular culture, particularly in the lives of women, and has contributed to books and journals. She is currently co-editing a book on the aftermath of the Great War. She was ordained in 1997 and ministered in West Bromwich and London before moving to Worcestershire as a vicar and dean of women’s ministry. In 2009 she became Diocesan Director of Ordinands for Worcester, a post she held until 2015. She is a residentiary canon at Worcester Cathedral and a Chaplain to the Queen.

Diandra Chretain

Diandra Chretain is a Ph.D. candidate in Biblical Studies and Newhall Fellow at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA. Her dissertation focuses on Judean identity formation in the Book of Ezekiel, utilizing diasporic and postcolonial theories in order to illustrate how the Judean community's experiences of Babylonian colonization directly affect the rhetorical purpose of the book. In addition to her research on prophetic literature, Diandra has worked heavily with issues of gender and feminisms in the biblical texts. Her master's thesis is a literary-feminist reading of Deborah and Jael in Judges 4, which examined how honour and shame functions within the narrative. She continued her work in feminist biblical interpretation by co-teaching the course "Women, Power, and Politics in the Book of Judges," with Dr. Steed Davidson, one of her professional mentors, in Spring 2015. As a Newhall fellow, Diandra has taught and mentored students at the Graduate Theological Union from across the globe and will continue to teach a wide variety of students in Fall 2016 with her course "Research and Writing Methods in Religious Studies and Theology".

Emily Kahm

Emily S. Kahm is a doctoral candidate in Religious Studies at Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver. Her research interests include sexuality education, religious moral formation, feminist theology, and the religiosity of young adults. She lives in Iowa, USA with her spouse, Chris, and two rabbits, Calliope and Exodus.

Rev Dr Majorie Lewis

Marjorie is a minister of the United Church in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands (UCJCI). She is a graduate of the United Theological College of the West Indies, the University of the West Indies and the University of Birmingham in the U.K. Her PhD dissertation was on the spirituality of Black British women, and she has co-authored books on racial justice and published academic articles and Bible Study notes. She has served as a Pastor of churches in rural Jamaica, and her ministry has included community development, notably as Project Officer for Oxfam U.K. and as a consultant to the Jamaican Government.

Rhonda Miska

Rhonda Miska is poet, writer, preacher, and lay ecclesial minister who became a candidate with the Sinisinawa Dominican Sisters in Sinsinawa, WI in August 2016. She holds a MA in Pastoral Ministry from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin. Her writing has appeared in publications including America magazine, US Catholic magazine, and the Global Sisters Report. She contributed as author and translator to the book Catholic Women Speak: Bringing Our Gifts to the Table (Paulist Press, 2015) and participated in launches of the book in Rome and London. Her writing portfolio is: www.clippings.me/rhondamiska  She is on the advisory board of Catholic Women Preach which brings the voices of women to the proclamation of the Gospel.

Rhonda teaches in Religious Studies at Clarke University. Her past ministries include accompanying Central American migrant children in legal proceedings, facilitating retreats for returned missioners, coordinating Hispanic Ministry and Social Justice Ministry in a Catholic multi-cultural parish, coordinating a community with adults with intellectual disabilities, serving in the leadership of an interfaith congregation-based community organization, and accompanying rural Nicaraguans as a Jesuit Volunteer.  She worships with the Spanish-speaking community at St Patrick's parish in Dubuque, Iowa in the United States.

Dr Emily Pennington

Emily is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Chester, UK. She received her doctorate from the University of Chester in March 2015. Her thesis, entitled “Touching the Future: A Feminist Theology of Eschatological Bodies”, sought to construct a new model of eschatological embodiment based on the values of relationality, fluidity, and tactility. This work was recently published under the title Feminist Eschatology: Embodied Futures (Routledge, 2016). Emily remains committed to centralising women’s embodiments, and is currently researching theological perspectives on women’s experiences of creativity. She lives in Merseyside, UK with her dog, Pumpkin.

Janice Price

Janice Price is World Mission Adviser for the Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. She has been involved in leading change processes in a variety of church contexts such as parishes, agencies and at Diocesan and National levels. She holds an MA in Theology and Education and an MSc in Theological and Ministerial Research from King’s College London. She is the author of Telling Our Faith Story (2009, Grove Booklets) and World-Shaped Mission (2012, Church House Publishing).

Dr Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar

Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar is Programme Executive for Interreligious Dialogue and Cooperation with the World Council of Churches, Geneva. Previously he was Associate Professor of Christian Social Ethics at the United Theological College in Bangalore, India. His publications include Challenges of Transition: Religion and Ethics in Changing Contexts (ISPCK, 2007) and Dalit Theology and Dalit Liberation: Problems, Paradigms and Possibilities (Ashgate, 2010); and as editor Asian Theology on the Way: Christianity, Culture and Context (London: SPCK 2012, Philadelphia: Fortress 2016) and Many Yet One: Multiple Religious Belonging (Geneva: WCC, 2016).

Esther Stevenson

Esther Stevenson is a an independent leadership coach and organisational development consultant. She learned her craft as a senior manager at Christian Aid, where she worked on leadership development and organisational change across Africa, Central Asia and more recently with community activists across the UK. She holds a degree from the University of York and an MSc in International Development Studies, where her dissertation was on gender and education. Her ongoing area of interest is management innovation, and how leaders – particularly women - can be more authentic, embracing a more reflective and contemplative approach.

Dr Astrid Lobo Gajiwala, Jesuit Faculties' Forum for South Asia

Astrid established India's first tissue bank at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai, and was the first woman President of the Asia Pacific Association of Surgical Tissue Banks (APASTB). She has been a consultant to the Catholic Bishops' Conference of India (CBCI) since its inception, and was a member of the drafting committee for their gender policy.

Dr Agnes Brazal, Associate Professor, De La Salle University, Philippines

Agnes is an Associate Professor at De La Salle University, Manila, in the Philippines. She is past president of DaKaTeo (Catholic Society of the Philippines) and Former Coordinator of the Ecclesia of Women in Asia. Her recent publications include Intercultural Church: Bridge of Solidarity in the Migration Context (CA: Borderless Press, 2015) and a co-edited volume, Feminist Cyberethics in Asia: Religious Discourses on Human Connectivity (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014).

Dr Kwok Pui Lan, William F. Cole Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality at the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, MA, and the 2011 President of the American Academy of Religion

Dr Pui Lan received her doctorate from Harvard University, and has published extensively in Asian feminist theology, biblical interpretation, and postcolonial criticism. Her publications include Postcolonial Imagination and Feminist Theology; Introducing Asian Feminist Theology; and Occupy Religion: Theology of the Multitude (with Joerg Rieger), and she is also the editor of a major 4 volume reference work, Women and Christianity.

Dr Isabel Apawo Phiri, Associate General Secretary for Public Witness and Diakonia of the World Council of Churches

Isabel is a Malawian Presbyterian theologian, and former Professor of African Theology, and Dean and Head of the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa. She has been Moderator of the WCC Commission on Ecumenical Formation and Theological Education, and General Coordinator of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. She edits the Journal of Gender and Religion in Africa.

Dr Christopher Stephens, Head of Southlands College and Director, Susanna Wesley Foundation, University of Roehampton

Christopher studied theology at Christ Church, Oxford, and led the research department of the Methodist Church in Britain for a number of years. His research focuses on ecclesiastical history and the development of contemporary faith communities and religious institutions, and his recent publications include Canon Law and Episcopal Authority (OUP, 2015) and, with Dr Lia Shimada, a chapter on migration and faith communities in the Atlas of World Religions (Springer, 2014).

Dr Jenny Te Paa

Jenny TE PAA DANIEL (PhD. Graduate Theological Union) is Co-Director of a Consultancy specialising in Higher Education and in Public Theology. Formerly Te Ahorangi of Te Rau Kahikatea, St Johns College in Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand she was the first indigenous woman to hold the Principalship of an Anglican seminary. She is a lay Anglican leader who has served on many Anglican Communion committees such as the Inter-Anglican Theological Doctrinal Commission, Anglican Peace and Justice Network and the Archbishop of Canterbury's Commission on Theological Education. Her publications include Anglican Woman on Church and Mission (co-editor with Judith Berling and Kwok Pui-lan; Canterbury Press/Morehouse, 2012).

Dr Clare Watkins, Lecturer in Ministerial Theology, University of Roehampton

Clare is a lay Catholic theologian, committed to teaching and research in the areas of ecclesiology, sacramental theology and practical theology. She has pastoral experience in parish and student chaplaincy ministries, and obtained her doctorate from the University of Cambridge in 1990. Her publications include Living Baptism: Called Out of the Ordinary (DLT 2006), and co-authored volume, Talking about God in Pratice. 'Theological Action Research' as an approach to practical theology (SCM, 2010).

Dr John Wijngaards, Founder and Trustee of the Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research

John obtained a doctorate in theology at the Gregorian University and an MA in Scripture Studies at the Biblical Institute, both in Rome. He lectured in India for twenty years and then in London at the Missionary Institute. His publications include Did Christ Rule Our Women Priests?, God Within Us, and Women Deacons in the Early Church.