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Dr. Jacob Erickson

Assistant Professor of Theological Ethic (School of Religion)
      
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Dr. Jacob Erickson

Assistant Professor of Theological Ethic (School of Religion)

 ericksoj@tcd.ie

 


Ph.D. Drew University
M.Div. Yale Divinity School
M.A. Trinity College Dublin (jure officii)
B.A. St. Olaf College

Dr. Jacob J. Erickson (pronouns: he/him) is Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics in the School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies at Trinity College Dublin. A constructive theologian and theological ethicist, Erickson writes to evoke an ecotheology of planetary conviviality--the playful and just cherishing of life together--in the midst of current ecological crises, ecological injustice, emerging perspectives in the wake of global warming, and new challenges in energy production.

Erickson has taught theology and ethics at Trinity since 2016, and was awarded the School Teaching Award in 2024. He has served in a number of leadership roles in College, from the School's Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning (2020-24), Director of Research (2016-18), and past Chair of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Faculty Research Ethics Committee (2017-20).

In his writing, Erickson meditates on the complex relationships of earth and divinity, decolonial environmental ethics and queer theory, classical Christian theologies and contemporary constructive theopoetics. Engaging questions of theology and the Anthropocene, he did his doctoral work at Drew University with Catherine Keller.

He's a contributor to a number of academic books, The Huffington Post, and Religion Dispatches. His 2015 Religion Dispatches piece on Pope Francis' "climate encyclical" received a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. He serves on the editorial board of Dialog: A Journal of Theology. Erickson is an active member of the American Academy of Religion and, with Prof. Marit Trelstad, he co-chairs the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit. He was recently appointed to the International Connections Committee which oversees AAR's International Grants competition.


Hear an extended interview with Prof. Erickson on the Homebrewed Christianity Podcast.

Prof. Erickson is currently open to receiving proposals for PhD and postgraduate research, especially in the areas of:
  • Constructive Theology, Theopoetics, and Ethics
  • Religion and Ecology, Ecotheology, Anthropocene Studies, Climate Ethics, Ecojustice, Ecospirituality, and the Environmental Humanities
  • Posthumanisms, Critical Animal and Plant Studies and Religion
  • Negative Theology, Mysticism, and Ethics
  • Queer Theory and Theology, Religion and Sexuality
  • Process Theology and Philosophy
  Affect Theory   Alfred North Whitehead   Animal Ethics   apophatic theology   Climate Change   Critical theory and Theology   Ecological Theology   ecotheology   Elephants   Environmental Ethics   Environmental Humanities   Feminist theology and philosophy   global warming   land art   Lutheranism   Martin Luther   Mysticism   negative theology   Paul Tillich   political ecology   poststructuralism   process philosophy   Process Theology   queer theology   Queer Theory   Religion   religion and science   Religion, Gender, and Sexuality   Sexuality   Theology   Theology   theopoetics
Project Title
 Lutheran Theology and Settler Colonialism in the American Midwest
From
2025
To
present
Summary
This 2,500 grant from the Arts Humanities and Social Sciences Benefactions fund at Trinity supports archival research on early 20th Century Lutheran Theologian and Academic T.F. Gullixson's Christology and its impact upon settler colonial legacies in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota.
Funding Agency
ArtsHSS Benefactions Fund
Project Title
 A Contemplative Pedagogy for our More-Than-Human World
From
2021
To
2022
Summary
The goal of this $7000 grant is to create a virtual learning community that queries and practices a contemplative pedagogy that is ecologically engaged.
Funding Agency
Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion
Project Type
Digital Salon Grant on Contemporary Pedagogy in Theology

Details Date
Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit, American Academy of Religion, Co-Chair 2021 - Present
Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit, American Academy of Religion, Steering Committee Member 2018 - 2020
Sacred Texts, Theory, and Theological Construction Unit of the American Academy of Religion. Co-Chair 2014 - 2020
Honors Examiner, Religion. Swarthmore College. Swarthmore, Pennsylvania USA. 2021 -
Language Skill Reading Skill Writing Skill Speaking
English Fluent Fluent Fluent
Details Date From Date To
American Academy of Religion (Co-Chair of the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit)
European Forum for the study of Religion and the Environment
The International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture
Jacob J. Erickson, The Vegetal and the Manifold: Agnes Arber's Botanical Panentheism, Thinking with Plants and Fungi Initiative, Harvard University, 2025, Notes: [The Center for the Study of World Religions (CSWR) at Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is excited to announce Thinking with Plants and Fungi: An Interdisciplinary Exploration into the Mind of Nature, a three-day conference held at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. This conference convenes scholars from across the sciences, humanities, and social sciences together with artists, culture keepers, activists, and practitioners to explore how plants and fungi help us rethink the nature of mind and matter, and humans" relationship to the `more-than-human' world. How might plants and fungi invite us to reimagine cooperation, flourishing, and co-existence amidst ongoing ecological and social crises?], Conference Paper, APPROVED  URL
Jacob J. Erickson, On Noah's Arkive, American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, USA, 23-26 November, 2024, Conference Paper, ACCEPTED  URL
Worldviews: Global Religions, Culture, and Ecology, Brill, 2024, Editorial Board, PUBLISHED  URL
Jacob J. Erickson and Marit Trelstad, Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit, American Academy of Religion, 23-26 November, 2024, San Diego, California, USA, Notes: [Co-Chair of the MLGLT Unit, evaluating and organizing two sessions for our Unit and another co-sponsored session with the Bonhoeffer: Theology and Social Analysis Unit. Sessions Include: "Beyond Lutheran Theological Neutrality Regarding Those of Other Religions or No Religion"; "Settler Colonial Subjects, Indigenous Rights, and Repair"; "Injury, Justice, Love, and Fate: Bonhoeffer's Theo-Ethical Legacies"], Meetings /Conferences Organised, ACCEPTED  URL
Jacob J. Erickson, Epiphanic Ecologies: Queer Theopoetics for a Planet in Process, Center for Process Studies, 50th Anniversary, Claremont, California, February 15th-17, 2023, Conference Paper, PRESENTED  URL
Jacob J. Erickson, The Apophatic Botany of Agnes Arber: Toward a Vegetal Mysticism, American Academy of Religion Annual meeting, San Antonio, Texas, USA, November 18-21, 2023, 2023, Conference Paper, PRESENTED  URL
Jacob J. Erickson, [Forthcoming, Working Title] On the Floodtide of History: Climate Grief and the Theopoetics of Planetary Feeling, (Under Contract with Fortress Press), 2022, Book, ACCEPTED
Jacob J. Erickson, Environmental Futures Roundtable Discussion, Philosophical Life of Plants, Bristol, UK, April 28th-29th, 2022, Notes: [The Philosophical Life of Plants is a research network funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council, a five-way collaboration between various philosophy and literature departments, the archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew (London) and the Goethe- and Schiller-Archiv in Weimar.], Invited Talk, PRESENTED  URL
Jacob J. Erickson, Divine Hydrophilia: A Response to Just Water, Syndicate Theology, 2022, p1 - 10, Journal Article, PUBLISHED
Jacob J. Erickson and Kris Kvam, Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit of the American Academy of Religion, AAR Annual Meeting, November 19th-22nd, 2022, Denver, Colorado, USA, Meetings /Conferences Organised, ACCEPTED  URL
  

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Jacob J. Erickson, '"Is 'sex' a dirty word in the eyes of God?', Our Divine Sparks with Dearbhil McDonald, RTE Radio 1, 2025, -, Broadcast, PUBLISHED
Jacob J. Erickson, Theology for a Time of Crisis, TCD Theological Society, Trinity College Dublin, 10th February, 2025, Notes: [Presidential Address], Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Jacob J. Erickson, Lament and the Climate Crisis, Homebrewed Christianity - Theology Camp, Denver, Colorado, 17-19 October, 2024, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Jacob Erickson, Christ Made Flesh: Ecological Embodiment, Christologies of the People: Embodiment and Proclamation, Virtual, January 19th, 2023, Westar Institute, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Jacob J. Erickson, Frances Flannery, Matt Williams, Karen Jeffares, Zand Craig, Gillian Kingston, Eco-justice and Peace on the Island of Ireland and Beyond, ISE at 50 Webinars, Zoom, 2nd June, 2022, Irish School of Ecumenics, Dong Jin Kim, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Jacob J. Erickson, Wild Spirituality: Queer Grief and Grievance in an Age of Extinctions, Virtual, Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, April 15th, 2021, Union Seminary, The Insight Project, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Tripp Fuller, Jacob J. Erickson, and Catherine Keller, Apocalypse and Process, A Process Party Live Stream, June 28th, 2021, Dr. Tripp Fuller of University of Edinburgh, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Jacob J. Erickson, Anti-Intellectualism and Science: From Vaccinations to Climate Change, LERU Summer School: Re-evaluating the Role of the Expert, Trinity College Dublin (Virtual), August 11th, 2021, Invited Talk, PRESENTED
Jacob J. Erickson, Specters of Sorrow: Eco-Grief, Ambiguous Loss, and Religious Creativity, 2021, -, Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED
Aoife King (ed), Rita Duffy, Caitríona Lally, Jacob J. Erickson, Donna Lyons et al., What the Pandemic Means: Perspectives from the Trinity Long Room Hub Covid-19 Blog Collection, 2021, - 1-56, Notes: [Artwork: Rita Duffy], Miscellaneous, PUBLISHED

  


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Award Date
School Award - Trinity Excellence in Teaching 2024
Fellow, Panentheism and Religious Life Project, John Templeton Foundation 2021
Fellow, Christ Seminar, Westar Institute 2021
Digital Salon on Theological Education, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion 2020-2021
Helen LePage and William Hale Chamberlain Prize, Drew University May 2019
Wilbur Award - Religion Communicators Council April 2016
Human Rights Campaign Summer Institute Fellowship Award. HRC Scholarship and Mentorship Program for Religious and Theological Study. 2011
Grants for Advanced Theological Study, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 2010-11, 2011-12, 12-13, 13-14, 14-15
Kierkegaard Summer Research Fellowship - Kierkegaard Library, Northfield, MN, USA 2009
Junia Prize, St. Olaf College Religion Department May 2006