Religious Studies Faculty Profiles
Michael Bathgate
Ph.D., Associate Professor
Dr. Bathgate teaches courses in non-western religious traditions, as well as selected topics in the comparative study of religion. His research has focused on Japanese religious history, with particular interest in the meanings and uses of narrative in popular religious discourse. He is the author of The Fox's Craft in Japanese Religion and Folklore: Shapeshifters, Transformations and Duplicities. His current research concerns the doctrinal significance of sacred biography in the Japanese tradition of Pure Land Buddhism.
Aaron Canty
Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Dr. Canty teaches courses in historical theology and church history. His current research focuses on the development of medieval Christology, eschatology, and scriptural exegesis. He completed his doctoral dissertation on "The Transfiguration of Christ among the Early Franciscans and Dominicans" in 2006. His most recent publication is "Bonventurian Resonances in Benedict XVI's Theology of Revelation" in Nova et Vetera, a journal aimed at enhancing and promoting Catholic theology.
Avis Clendenen
D.Min., Ph.D., Professor
Dr. Clendenen teaches courses in the areas of pastoral and practical theology. She is co-author with Sister Irene Dugan, r.c. of Love Is All Around in Disguise: Meditations for Spiritual Seekers, editor of Spirituality in Depth, and co-author with Tory Marin of Forgiveness: Finding Freedom through Reconciliation. She is a regular contributor to the journal Lectionary Homiletics and is currently completing a study, Experiencing Hildegard: Jungian Insights into the Spiritual Vision of 12th Century Hildegard of Bingen.
Troy Martin
Ph.D., Professor
Dr. Martin teaches courses in Biblical Studies. In addition to numerous articles, he has published Metaphor and Composition in 1 Peter and By Philosophy and Empty Deceit: Colossians as a Response to a Cynic Critique, and, with Avis Clendenen, is co-author of Forgiveness: Finding Freedom through Reconciliation. He is currently engaged in research that illustrates how ancient medical texts inform biblical anthropology.
Michael O'Keeffe
Ph.D., Associate Professor
Dr. O'Keeffe teaches courses in systematic theology and Christianity and contemporary culture. He has published articles on Trinitarian theology and Christology and is currently working on a study of the images of the priest in film.
Kathleen Waller
Ph.D., Associate Professor
Dr. Waller teaches courses in the area of Christian ethics, Christianity and contemporary culture, systematic theology and spiritual autobiography. She is currently working on a manuscript in biblical authority and a study of the life and work of Maria Stewart.
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