Biography
I studied for my undergraduate degree in Politics and Religious Studies at Newcastle University, before embarking on a career as a secondary school teacher of Religious Studies, Philosophy, and Ethics. In 2012, I began studying for an MA in Theology and Religious Studies at the University of Nottingham where I focused my research in the field of Mariology. I was awarded an AHRC Studentship to study for my PhD at Exeter University, producing a thesis entitled "Somatic Memories: Trauma and the (Eucharistic) Body" in 2016. I became a postdoctoral research fellow at Durham University focusing on digital theologies before taking up a post at Sarum College where I was programme leader for the postgraduate courses in Christian Spirituality until June 2022. I became the Director of Studies at Westcott House, Cambridge in September 2022, where I predominantly teach liturgical theology as well as feminist and trauma theologies.
Research
I am a feminist theologian, particularly interested in the places where bodies and theologies meet. My primary area of work is in the field of trauma theology exploring the impact that the experiences of trauma have on the ways in which theology is shaped and understood. I am especially interested in women's embodied experiences including pregnancy, reproductive loss, menopause etc and how we might think theologically about these bodies. My recent monograph The Dark Womb: Re-Conceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss offers a ground-breaking constructive approach to theology that brings trauma theology into dialogue with the experience of reproductive loss in order to "re-conceive" our theological imagination. I work particularly in the mode of Constructive Theology, seeking primarily to reimagine what theology might be in the future.
Publications
Karen O'Donnell and Katie Cross, eds., Bearing Witness: Intersectional Perspectives on Trauma Theology (SCM Press, 2022)
Karen O'Donnell, The Dark Womb: Re-Conceiving Theology Through Reproductive Loss (SCM Press, 2022)
Karen O'Donnell and Katie Cross, eds., Feminist Trauma Theologies: Body, Scripture, and Church in Critical Perspective (SCM Press, 2020)
Karen O'Donnell, Broken Bodies: The Eucharist, Mary and the Body in Trauma Theology (SCM Press, 2018)
Journal Articles
- O'Donnell, Karen. "The Theologian as Dreamer: On Theological Imagination and Human Enhancement." Theology, 124, no. 5 (Oct 2021): 341-348.
- Cross, Katie, Wren Radford, and Karen O’Donnell. “Fragments from within the Pandemic: Theological Experiments in Silence, Speech, and Dislocated Time.” Practical Theology (January 18, 2021): 1–15.
- Scott Midson and Karen O'Donnell. "Rethinking Relationships in Cyberspace." Theology and Sexuality, 26, no. 2-3 (October 2020): 83-98.
- O’Donnell, Karen. “A Feminist Approach to the Marian Temple Type.” New Blackfriars 101, no. 1091 (2020): 29–45.
- O’Donnell, Karen. “Reproductive Loss: Toward a Theology of Bodies.” Theology & Sexuality 25, no. 1–2 (May 4, 2019): 146–59.
- O’Donnell, Karen. “Women and the Eucharist: Reflections on Private Eucharists in the Early Church.” Feminist Theology 27, no. 2 (January 2019): 164–75.
- O’Donnell, Karen. “What Does It Mean to Be Human? A Feminist and Anti-Racist Critique". Reviews in Religion & Theology 25, no. 4 (2018): 604–10.
- O’Donnell, Karen. “Performing the Imago Dei: Human Enhancement, Artificial Intelligence, and Optative Image-Bearing.” International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church 18, no. 1 (2018): 4–15.
Chapters in Edited Volumes
- "Feminist Theology" in Rachel Muers and Ashley Cocksworth (eds). The Modern Theologians (new edition). Wiley Blackwell, forthcoming 2023.
- "Mary the Crone" in Ashley Cocksworth & Rachel Starr (eds.) From the Shores of Silence: Conversations in Feminist Practical Theology. SCM Press, forthcoming 2022.
- "Evoking Consent" in Stephen Burns (ed.) SCM Handbook of Feminist Theology. SCM Press, forthcoming 2022.
- "Trauma and Liturgy" in Porter Tyler (ed.) The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to Liturgical Theology. Wiley Blackwell, forthcoming 2022.
- "Surviving Trauma at the Foot of the Cross" in Jayme Reaves, David Tombs, and Rocio Figueroa, eds. 'When Did We See You Naked?' Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse. SCM Press, 2021.
- “Digital Pedagogy and Spiritual Formation” in C. Clivaz and T. Hutchings, eds, Religion and Digital Humanities. Routledge, 2021.
- "The Voices of the Marys: Methodology in Feminist Trauma Theology" in K. O'Donnell & K. Cross, eds. Feminist Trauma Theologies. SCM Press, 2020, 3-20.
- “The Eucharist and Trauma” in M. Warner, C. Southgate, C. A. Grosch-Miller, and H. Ison, eds. Tragedies and Congregations. Routledge, 2020, pp 182-194.
- “Our Lady of E Street: The Boss’ Virgin 2002-2014” in W. Woolf, ed. Springsteen and Popular Music: Rhetoric, Memorial, and Contemporary Culture. New York: Routledge, 2017, pp 45-57.
- “The Flesh of Mary and the Body of Christ: Typological and Artistic Depictions of the Marian Priest” in E. Shabily, ed., Mater Dolorsa: The Representation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Literature and the Arts. New York: Lexington Books, 2017, pp 3-24.
Teaching and Supervisions
I currently teach the following courses:
- MPhil Gender and Christian Theology Exercise
- TMM1537 Introduction to Christian Worship (for CTF)
- BTh32 Patterns of Christian Worship
- TMM44520 Worship and Human Community (MA for CTF)
I currently supervise doctoral research students working on trauma theologies, Christian mysticism, masculinities, LGBTQ+ identities, and liturgical theologies.
I am open to inquiries from students interested in research in any of the following areas:
- Feminist theology
- Womanist theology
- Body theologies
- Trauma theologies
- Liturgy
- Digital theologies
- Sacramental theologies
