This live event celebrates the launch of a new GTUx Original: Introduction to Queer Theology with Dr. Ish Ruiz. The panel for this event features Dr. Ish Ruiz, Dr. Scott MacDougall, and the Rev. Dr. Keith A. Menhinick, who will introduce this emerging field of study, discuss some of the genealogical precursors that gave birth to queer theology, and explore what the future of this field looks like. Most importantly, in this conversation we will explore some of the blessings and challenges of this field, especially within the context of the Christian theological tradition. Register on Eventbrite.
About the Panel:
Dr. Ish Ruiz is a post-doctoral fellow of Catholic Studies at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and holds a PhD in Theology and Ethics from the Graduate Theological Union. His research interests explore the intersection between queer theology, Latinx theology, ecclesiology, sexual ethics, liberation, human rights, and Catholic education. He has published articles on the inclusion of LGBTQ+ persons in Catholic schools and has actively ministered to queer Catholic school educators and students for almost a decade. Prior to his appointment at Emory University, Dr. Ruiz taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Dayton, worked at the secondary school level for 11 years, chaired the Marianist LGBTQ+ Initiative team, offered several workshops to Catholic schools on Catholic LGBTQ+ inclusion, served as a union activist to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ Church employees, and presented in several pastoral conferences throughout the nation on Catholic LGBTQ+ inclusion. Through his teaching, research, and service, Dr. Ruiz hopes to see a world where Catholicism and LGBTQ+ people embrace each other with love and gratitude for the gifts everyone brings to society and the Church.
Dr. Scott MacDougall was born and raised in Central New York. He attended college in the greater New York City area, receiving his BA from Hofstra University. Following a career in the not-for-profit sector, he undertook the formal study of theology. MacDougall received his MA in theology from the General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church in 2007 and his PhD in systematic theology from Fordham University in 2014. His research centers on ecclesiology and eschatology. He is interested in the difference a robust theological imagination of the future makes in how Christian community is lived out, both in the church itself and in the wider world. His first book, More Than Communion: Imagining an Eschatological Ecclesiology, was published in 2015 as volume 20 of Bloomsbury–T&T Clark’s Ecclesiological Investigations series. MacDougall has also published several articles and reviews and has contributed to online publications such as Religion Dispatches and the Huffington Post’s Religion section. MacDougall serves as Co-Editor in Chief of the Anglican Theological Review.
The Rev. Dr. Keith A. Menhinick is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Spiritual Care and Pastoral Theology at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology. Keith is a scholar of lived religion and practical theology, with a focus on trauma resiliency and queer spirituality. His current book project works with LGBTQ+ folks who have experienced homelessness in order to examine the intersections of racialized trauma, resilience, and spiritual care in queer communities.
He is a certified teacher of the Community Resiliency Model (CRM)®, which he has taught in the academy, church, clinic, and community. Prior to joining Candler, Keith worked as a Managing Editor of Practical Matters journal, a pediatric hospital chaplain, children’s home chaplain, progressive Baptist church minister, and high school English teacher. He is an ordained minister with the Alliance of Baptists and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Outside of work, Keith enjoys poetry, cartoons, and an active, outdoors life.