Meghan J. Clark

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ProfessorAssistant Chair
Theology and Religious Studies
St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Ph.D. in Theological Ethics, Boston College (2009)B.A. Fordham University (2003)

Meghan J. Clark, Ph.D., is a professor of moral theology at St John’s University (NY). At St. John’s, Dr. Clark engages students inside and outside the classroom on diverse topics in moral theology and Catholic social thought.

In 2022, she was the Assistant Coordinator of the North American Working Group of the “Doing Theology from the Existential Peripheries” Project for the Migrant & Refugees Section of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. She is a member of the Catholic dialogue team for the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity’s Informal Conversations with the Salvation Army (2022-2027). She is a senior fellow of the Vincentian Center for Church and Society and serves as a faculty expert for the Holy See’s Mission to the United Nations. In 2015, Dr. Clark was a Fulbright Scholar to the Hekima Institute for Peace Studies and International Relations at Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya. She has conducted fieldwork on human rights and solidarity in Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania. In May 2018, she was a Visiting Residential Research Fellow at the Centre for Catholic Studies at the University of Durham (UK). 

She is author of The Vision of Catholic Social Thought: the Virtue of Solidarity and the Praxis of Human Rights (Fortress Press, 2014) and co-editor of Public Theology and the Global Common Good: The Contribution of David Hollenbach (Orbis, 2106), both of which were awarded first place prizes from the Catholic Press Association Book Awards. She contributed the commentary on Caritas in Veritate in the 2nd edition of Modern Catholic Social Teaching: Commentaries and Interpretations (Georgetown University Press, 2017). Active in public theology, she is a columnist for US Catholic magazine and has written for America Magazine, National Catholic Reporter, and other public outlets.

She is active as a public theologian working with the Catholic Church and other Catholic organizations. From 2014-2020, she served on the faculty advisory board for Catholic Relief Services “CRS University” program for university engagement. From 2010-2013, she served as a Consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Domestic Justice. From 2012-2018, she was on the Board of Directors of America Media. She received her Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Boston College (2009) and her BA summa cum laude in cursu honorum in philosophy and theology from Fordham University (2003). 

Research Interests:

Dr. Clark’s research interests are: Catholic social thought, human rights, solidarity, and global development. A social ethicist, she focuses on questions of global health, economic development, participation, violence against women, and justice in theological ethics. She has a particular interest in interdisciplinary research for human rights and development, particularly women’s empowerment. 

 

Books

Monograph:

The Vision of Catholic Social Thought: The Virtue of Solidarity and the Praxis of HumanRights (Fortress Press, April 2014)

 * Catholic Press Association Book Award First place, Catholic Social Teaching, 2015.

Edited Book:

Public Theology and the Global Common Good: Essays in Honor of David Hollenbach, co-edited with Kevin Ahern, Kristin Heyer, and Laurie Johnston (Orbis Press, September 2016)

* Catholic Press Association Book Award First Place, Faithful Citizenship/Religious Freedom, 2017.

Articles/Book Chapters:

  1. “DOING THEOLOGY FROM THE EXISTENTIAL PERIPHERIES” Concilium Journal, Roundtable, Sergio Massironi / Teresa Forcades / Stan Chu Ilo and Meghan J. Clark / Lorena Basualto / Toussaint M. Kafarhire / Adele Howard / Agnes Brazal
     
  2. “The Witness of Incarnational Solidarity: Oscar Romero and Living out Gaudium et Spes” for Romero & Catholic Social Teaching, edited by Todd Walatka, University of Notre Dame Press, Forthcoming 2024
     
  3. "Transforming Interdependence into Social Virtue: Solidarity in Catholic Social Thought,” in Solidarity, edited by Andrea Sangiovanni and Juri Viehoff, Oxford University Press, 2024)
     
  4. “Development as Freedom Together: Human Dignity and Human Rights in Catholic Social Teaching and Capabilities Approaches” in Integral Human Development: Catholic Social Teaching and the Capabilities Approach, Edited by Severine Deneulin and Clemens Sedmak, University of Notre Dame Press (Kellog Series in International Studies, August 2023) p. 217-238
     
  5. Fratelli Tutti: Reading the Social Magisterium of Pope Francis,” co-written with Anna Rowlands, Journal of Catholic Social Thought Vol 19, no 1, Winter 2022,
    5-24. (19 pgs.) https://doi.org/10.5840/jcathsoc20221912
     
  6. “Practicing Local Listening with Village Midwives in Sudan: A Case Study for Theological Ethics.”Journal of Moral Theology 4 (CTWEC Book Series, No. 4): 243–68 (February 2023). (24 pgs
     
  7. “Charity, Justice, and Development in Practice: A Case Study of the Daughters of Charity in East Africa” Journal of Moral Theology 9 (2), p. 1-14. 2020, (14 pgs.) https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/13334-charity-justice-and-development-in-practice-a-case-study-of-the-daughters-of-charity-in-east-africa

 8.  “Pope Francis & The Christological Dimensions of Solidarity in Catholic Social Teaching” Theological                                Studies, 80(1),p. 102-122, 2019 (20 pgs.) https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0040563918819818

Awards:

2024: Faculty Excellence in Inclusive Teaching Practices, St. John’s

2022: John F. Hurley, SJ Commendation from Fordham University

2014 Excellence in Teaching Award, National Society of Leadership and Success, St. John’s

 

Grants & Fellowships:

2024-2025: American Academy of Religion Research Grant

2023-2024: Religion and Health Curriculum Grant, Interfaith America, with Dr. Yolene Gousse.

2021-2022: Wabash Center Digital Salon: “Anti-racism in Teaching, Research, and Service”

2018: Durham Residential Research Library Visiting Fellowship, Center for Catholic Studies, University of Durham (UK)

2018: Vincentian Studies Grant: “Charity Embraces Justice for Women & Girls: A Case Study of the Daughters of Charity in East Africa”

2015: Fulbright Scholar to Hekima University College, Nairobi, Kenya

2014: Wabash Center Summer Fellowship Grant: “Teaching Local and Global Solidarity through Using Global Partnerships and Service Learning”