M. Shawn Copeland facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
M. Shawn Copeland
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| Born | August 24, 1947 |
| Nationality | American |
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| Occupation | Theologian |
| Title | Professor Emerita |
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| Influences |
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| Influenced | Andrew L. Prevot
Robert J. Rivera Michele Saracino |
Mary Shawn Copeland (born August 24, 1947), known as M. Shawn Copeland, is an important American theologian. A theologian is someone who studies religion and God. She is known for her work in womanist and Black Catholic theology. She was also a religious sister for a time. She is now a professor emerita (a retired professor) of systematic theology at Boston College.
Her Life Story
M. Shawn Copeland grew up in Detroit, Michigan. She was an only child. She went to Catholic elementary and high schools there. In 1969, she earned her first degree in English from Madonna College. After that, she became a Felician religious sister. She taught at a high school.
She became involved in protests against the closing of Black Catholic schools. Because of this, she felt pressure from her religious order. In 1971, she moved to another group, the Adrian Dominican Sisters. She worked for groups like the National Black Sisters' Conference. Later, she started studying for her PhD at Boston College. She finished her PhD in systematic theology in 1991. She left religious life in 1994.
Copeland has taught at many universities. These include Xavier University of Louisiana, Yale Divinity School, and Marquette University. She joined Boston College as a professor in 2003.
From 2003 to 2004, she was the first African American president of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA). This is a very important group for Catholic theologians. She also led the Black Catholic Theological Symposium (BCTS) from 2001 to 2005.
In 2013, she became a full professor at Boston College. She retired in 2019 and became a professor emerita. In 2020, she held a special position at Emory University. She gave public lectures there about Jesus's life and teachings.
Her Important Work
Copeland's work covers many areas of theology. She studies how faith connects with politics and society. She also focuses on the experiences of people who face unfairness or violence. Her work shows how theology can help in struggles for justice.
For example, at a meeting in 2021, she said, "Black Lives Matter is what theology looks like." This means that working for justice, like the Black Lives Matter movement, is a way of living out one's faith. She writes about Christian anthropology (what it means to be human in a religious way) and political theology (how faith relates to government and society). She also writes about Womanist theology (theology from the perspective of Black women) and Black Catholicism (theology from the perspective of Black Catholics).
Awards and Honors
M. Shawn Copeland has received many awards for her important work. In 2018, she received the John Courtney Murray Award. This is the highest honor from the Catholic Theological Society of America. She was the first African American theologian to receive this award.
That same year, a special book was made in her honor. It was called Enfleshing Theology. This book celebrated her ideas about faith, life, and politics. She has also received other awards, such as the Marianist Award and the Civitas Dei Medal from Villanova University. She has also been given six honorary degrees from different universities.
