Professor
Office: Alumni Hall 106
Phone: 502.272.7800
Twitter: @gregorykhillis
ghillis@bellarmine.edu
Rocky Mountain College, B.A.; University of Waterloo, B.A.; McMaster University, M.A., Ph.D.
Grregory K. Hillis joined the department in 2008 after completing his Ph.D. in the department of Religious Studies at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. His doctoral research was on early Christian theology, with a particular focus on St. Cyril of Alexandria. He has published a number of academic articles on Cyril’s theology, and recently wrote the introduction to a new translation of Cyril’s Glaphyra published in 2018 by Catholic University of America Press.
In the last few years he has turned his attention to the life and writings of Thomas Merton, the famous Trappist monk from Kentucky whose literary estate is housed at the Merton Center at Bellarmine University. In addition to teaching a popular undergraduate course on Merton, Dr. Hillis has written both academic articles and popular articles on his life and thought. He has also delivered lectures around the United States on Merton’s theology. His book on Thomas Merton - "Man of Dialogue": Thomas Merton's Catholic Identity - is published with Liturgical Press.
In 2019, Dr. Hillis was given the Wilson W. Wyatt Faculty Fellowship for excellence in teaching and scholarship at Bellarmine University.
In 2021, Dr. Hillis was awarded the Sr. Pat Lowman Student Advocate of the Year by students at Bellarmine University.
Recent Publications
- Man of Dialogue: Thomas Merton's Catholic Vision (Liturgical Press, 2021).
- “Introduction” for St Cyril of Alexandria, Glaphyra on the Pentateuch – Volume 1: Genesis, Nicholas Lunn, trans. (Washington: Catholic University of America Press, 2018), pages 3-36.
- “‘We are Both Christ’: Learning from Merton the Correspondent How to be a Friend” in What I am Living For: Seven Lessons from the Life and Writings of Thomas Merton, Jon Sweeney, ed. (South Bend, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2018), pages 43-56.
- “Satan,” in A Pope Francis Lexicon, Cindy Wooden and Joshua McElwee, eds. (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2018), pages 167-170.