Mary Shawn Copeland (born August 24, 1947), known professionally as M. Shawn Copeland, is a retired American womanist and Black Catholic theologian, and a former religious sister. She is

professor emerita ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of systematic theology at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. Founded in 1863, the university has more than 9,300 full-time undergraduates and nearly 5,000 graduate students. Although Boston College is classifie ...

and is known for her work in

theological anthropology In the context of Christian theology, Christian anthropology is the study of the human (anthropos) as it relates to God. It differs from the social science of anthropology, which primarily deals with the comparative study of the physical and soc ...

as well as

political theology Political theology is a term which has been used in discussion of the ways in which theological concepts or ways of thinking relate to politics. The term ''political theology'' is often used to denote religious thought about political principled qu ...

Biography

An only child, Copeland grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She received her B.A. in English in 1969 from

Madonna College Madonna University is a private Roman Catholic university in Livonia, Michigan. It was founded as the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Junior College by the Felician Sisters in 1937. It became Madonna College in 1947 and Madonna Univers ...

in Michigan before becoming a Felician religious sister. After she became involved in protests against the Archdiocese of Detroit's attempts to close Black Catholic schools, she felt pressure from within her order and transferred to the

Adrian Dominican Sisters The Adrian Dominican Sisters is a Catholic religious institute of Dominican sisters in the United States. Their motherhouse is in Adrian, Michigan. Current Mission The Congregation serves in ministries education, health care, pastoral and retreat ...

in 1971. She completed her PhD in systematic theology in 1991 from

, and left

religious life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...

in 1994. Copeland has held posts at Xavier University of Louisiana, Yale Divinity School, and Marquette University. She worked as an adjunct professor in the Department of Theology at

for a number of years, and joined in 2003 as Associate Professor of Systematic Theology. From 2003 to 2004, Copeland was the first African American to serve as president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). From 2001 to 2005, Copeland was also the convenor of the

Black Catholic Theological Symposium The Black Catholic Theological Symposium is a United States-based Catholic organization founded in 1978 to promote theological education and research concerning Black Catholics. History In 1978, the first meeting of the Black Catholic Theolog ...

(BCTS). In 2007, Copeland gave the Madeleva Lecture at St. Mary's College (Indiana). She became a full professor at BC in 2013, retiring and becoming Professor Emerita in 2019. In October of that same year, she delivered the Cunningham Lectures in

New College, University of Edinburgh New College is a historic building at the University of Edinburgh which houses the university's School of Divinity. It is one of the largest and most renowned centres for studies in Theology and Religious Studies in the United Kingdom. Students ...

, on the topic "Theology as Political: The Weight, the Yearning, the Urgency of Life." In 2020, she began a one-year term as the Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture at Emory University. As part of her term, she delivered public lectures in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. She gave the keynote at the CTSA gathering in June that year. She delivered the keynote at the BCTS gathering the same year, in the fall at the University of Notre Dame.

Honors

In 2018, Copeland became the first African American theologian honored with the prestigious

John Courtney Murray Award The John Courtney Murray Award is the highest honor bestowed by the Catholic Theological Society of America, named after John Courtney Murray, the great American theologian known for his work on religious liberty. Winners * 2021: Susan K. Wood, S ...

, the Catholic Theological Society of America's highest honor. A festschrift was also produced that year in honor of Copeland, entitled ''Enfleshing Theology''.

Controversy

In 2017, a lecture of Copeland's at Madonna University was canceled after conservative Catholic media outlets (including Church Militant) published articles critiquing Copeland's stance on LGBT issues, which has at times been

in conflict ''In Conflict'' is the fourth full-length album by Canadian indie rock artist Owen Pallett, released May 27, 2014 on Domino Records and Secret City Records. The album features English ambient musician Brian Eno, who plays guitar and synthesizers a ...

with official Church teachings.

Works

* * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Copeland, M. Shawn 1947 births Living people Boston College alumni Boston College faculty African-American theologians Religious studies scholars Women Christian theologians Womanist theologians 20th-century American Roman Catholic theologians 21st-century American Roman Catholic theologians Political theologians Madonna University alumni Presidents of the Catholic Theological Society of America African-American Catholics 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American writers 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century African-American women writers 21st-century American women writers