Faculty
One reason to study theology at Bellarmine is because of the strength of the theology faculty.
Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, Chair
Dr. Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, who is the department chair, has taught at Bellarmine since 2004. She is a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and an active member of the Presbytery of Mid-Kentucky. Christianity and social justice have long been Dr. Hinson-Hasty’s concern. She is often called upon to speak on issues related to faith and public life as well as to preach in a variety of churches. She is the author of Beyond the Social Maze: Exploring Vida Dutton Scudder’s Theological Ethics (T&T Clark 2006), and co-editor of Prayers for the New Social Awakening, with Christian Iosso ( WJKP 2008) and To Do Justice: A Guide for Progressive Christians (WJKP 2008), with Rebecca Todd Peters. Her latest project is a book on Dorothy Day.
Dr. Hinson-Hasty was recognized as a Wyatt Fellow for her excellence in teaching and scholarship and received a Bellarmine "Bellie" award for "Faith and Reason."
Fr. Clyde Crews
Fr. Clyde Crews retired from Bellarmine's theology faculty in 2007.
In that same year, he was appointed to a new position as Bellarmine
University's Historian and Archival Coordinator. His many publications
include American and Catholic: A Popular History of Catholicism in
the United States (St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2004) and Ultimate
Questions: A Theological Primer (Paulist Press, 1986). While
teaching in the Department of Theology,
Fr. Crews was recognized as a Wyatt Fellow by the University for his excellence in scholarship and teaching.
Dr. Joseph S. Flipper
Dr. Joseph S. Flipper received a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Marquette University. His research bridges systematic theology and cultural history. His interests include apocalypticism and eschatology, Christian constructive theology, modern mysticism, and religion and literature. Dr. Flipper joins Bellarmine from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he taught and did research as a post-doctoral fellow. With a fellowship from the Ford Foundation, he completed his dissertation, which explores the theology of the French Jesuit Henri de Lubac in relationship to the cultural and political climate following World War I.
Dr. Gregory K. Hillis
Dr. Greg Hillis joined Bellarmine's faculty in August 2008. Hillis'
interests include the theology and the history of the patristic period,
biblical studies, Christian spirituality and mysticism, 19th and 20th
century Catholic theology, and Eastern Orthodoxy. He studied at McMaster
University in Hamilton, Ontario. The title of his dissertation is "The
Natural Likeness of the Son : Cyril of Alexandria's Pneumatology.
Dr. Hillis received a Bellarmine "Bellie" award for advancing the university's Catholic Identity in the Spirit of Thomas Merton.
Fr. George Kilcourse
Fr. George Kilcourse is a scholar in the fields of
Thomas Merton studies, ecumenism, and religion and literature. His
latest book is Flannery O’Connor’s Religious Imagination
(Paulist Press, 2001), and previous books are Ace of Freedoms:
Thomas Merton’s Christ and Double Belonging: Interchurch
Families and Christian Unity (1993) . He is the former editor of
and frequent contributor to The Merton Annual and has written
dozens of scholarly articles.
Fr. Kilcourse has been recognized as a Wyatt Fellow by the
University for his excellence in teaching and is a
graduate of Bellarmine College.
Dr. Deborah Thompson Prince
Dr. Debbie Prince joined Bellarmine’s faculty in 2011 as the first biblical scholar teaching fulltime on the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences. She teaches courses in Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Her teaching and scholarship is concerned with the influence of religious, historical, and cultural contexts on the development and interpretation of the biblical texts. Dr. Prince’s work ranges from examinations of the composition and reception of Luke and Acts in light of Greco-Roman rhetoric to explorations of biblical vision narratives as both a literary form and religious experience. She received her doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. The title of her dissertation is “Visions of the Risen Jesus: The Rhetoric of Certainty in Luke 24 and Acts 1.”
Dr. J. Milburn Thompson
Dr. J. Milburn Thompson came to Bellarmine in 2001 from Saint Joseph
College in Connecticut where he received the annual award for teaching
and a Templeton Foundation Award for a new course in Religion and
Science. Dr. Thompson received a First Place Award for Educational Books
from the Catholic Press Association for his book Justice and Peace:
A Christian Primer (Orbis Books, 1997; revised, 2003). Thompson is
also the author of dozens of refereed articles and popular essays in
the areas of moral theology and Christian social ethics.
Dr. Thompson was recognized as a Wyatt Fellow for his excellence in teaching and scholarship.
There are also a number of well-qualified adjuncts who
teach in the Theology Department.