Benjamin Peters, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies
ContactPhone: 860.231.5299
E-mail: bpeters@sjc.edu
Office: 205 Lynch Hall
In the years between undergraduate and graduate school, Benjamin Peters focused his efforts on service. He spent a year as a Jesuit volunteer at a school in Kingston, Jamaica, and another year working at an orphanage in Nairobi, Kenya.
These experiences opened my eyes to injustice and poverty,” Peters said. “My growing awareness of the suffering in the world was broadened when I worked at a soup kitchen in Baltimore and at a Catholic Worker house in Indiana — years in which I became familiar with social justice issues in the U.S.“
Dr. Peters concluded that, “All these experiences caused me to look more deeply at my own faith tradition —particularly to Catholic social thought — and continue to motivate my research and teaching today.“ In the classroom, Peters works to demonstrate that religious faith can foster critical thought: “I encourage students to see their education not simply as a means to a better job, but as an opportunity to alleviate suffering and injustice in the world.“
Degrees
B.A., St. Hyacinth College and Seminary
M.Div., University of Notre Dame
Ph.D., University of Dayton
Recent Research/Publications/Presentations:
“Nature and Grace in the Theology of John Hugo,” Annual Meeting of the College Theology Society, University of Notre Dame, May, 2009.
“Nature and Grace in the Theology of John Hugo,” College Theology Society Annual Volume, 55, 2009 (referred).
February 17, 2012
