Graduate of the Pontifical University, St Patrick's College, Maynooth, Co. Kildare (B.Th, M.Th, PhD). Completed doctoral studies at Maynooth and researched at L'Institut Catholique de Paris. Tutor in Theology, Maynooth (2005-2011); Occasional Lecturer in Theology, Maynooth (2009-2013); Lecturer in Theology, St Patrick's College, Thurles, Co. Tipperary (2011); Adjunct Researcher at the Irish Centre for Faith and Culture, Maynooth (2011-present); Lecturer in Religious Studies and Theology, SETU (2011-present); BA (Hons) Programme Co-ordinator, SETU (2013-2018); Course Leader, MA in Social Justice and Public Policy, SETU/SJI (2017-present); Co-Director of the Spirituality in Society and the Professions Research Group, SETU (2021-present); Committee member of Irish Theological Association (2013-present) and European Society for Catholic Theology: Irish Section (2017-present).
Tutor in Theology, Pontifical University, St Patrick's College, Maynooth (2005-2011)
Occasional Lecturer in Theology, Maynooth (2009-present)
Occasional Lecturer in Theology, St Patrick's College, Thurles, Co. Tipperary (2011)
Lecturer in Religious Studies and Theology, SETU, (2011-present)
Theology, spirituality, and cinema
Christology and popular culture
Philosophical hermeneutics and film theory
The philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer; in particular, his understanding of tradition and effective history
The sacramental theology of Louis-Marie Chauvet, his understanding of symbolic mediation and how it informs the theology/film dialogue
Religion and social research
The new visibility of religion in contemporary culture
2013-2018: Co-ordinator of Arts Programmes, SETU
2012-2018: Programme Leader & Academic Advisor: BA (Hons) International, SETU
2018-present: Programme Leader: MA in Social Justice and Public Policy, SETU in association with Social Justice Ireland
2019-present: Faculty of Arts & Humanities Research Ethics Committee member, SETU
2018-present: Faculty of Arts & Humanities Postgraduate Research Board, SETU
2016-2021: University Research Ethics Committee member, WIT/SETU
“Incarnation.” In Gerard Loughlin, ed. Oxford Handbook of Theology and Film. Oxford: Oxford University (forthcoming).
“One Long Kiss: Paul Schrader’s First Reformed and a Cinematic Theology.” Religions 15 no. 12 (2024): 1480.
“A Cinema of Redemption: Martin Scorsese’s Cinematic Theology.” Conversations 1, no. 2 (2024).
“Time and Redemption in Netflix’s Russian Doll.” Reality, June 2022.
“Veronica and the Screen: Cinema and the Christian Imagination.” Reality, April 2022.
“The Space Between: Pasolini’s Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo and the Mediation of Scripture.” Biblical Interpretation 30, no. 1 (2022): 98-123.
“The Cinema of Contemplation: Paul Schrader’s First Reformed.” Reality, November 2019.
“Moving Texts: A Hermeneutics of the Gospel according to Hollywood.” Harvard Theological Review 111, no. 3 (2018): 382-400.
“The Sacred within the Profane: Cinema and Christian Identity.” Psycho-Logik: Jahrbuch für Psychotherapie, Philosophie und Kultur 13 (2018): 62-75.
“Re-writing the Gospel: Cinema and Scripture in Martin Scorsese’s The Last Temptation of Christ.” In Salvador Ryan and Liam M. Tracey, eds. The Cultural Reception of the Bible: Explorations in Theology, Literature, and the Arts. Dublin: Four Courts, 2018.
(with Tom Boland) “A Genealogy of Critique: From Parrhesia to Prophecy.” Critical Research on Religion 5, no. 2 (2017): 116-132.
“Through a Lens, Darkly: Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror.” Reality, October 2017.
“Passionate Images: Cinema and the Passion.” Reality, March 2016.
“The Short-Lived Mercy of Men.” Reality, October 2015.
“What has Hollywood to do with Jerusalem?” Reality, September 2015.
“Beyond the Screen: Cinema and Prayer.” Reality, May 2015.
“‘Because He is Different’ . . . The Ambiguous Hermeneutics of Nicholas Ray’s King of Kings.” Heythrop Journal 56, no. 2 (2015): 261-271.
“The Nativity in Film.” Reality, December 2014.
“Saints in the Cinema: Images of Saints and Sanctity in Film.” Reality, November 2014.
“Imagining the Son.” Intercom, June 2013.
“The Jesus Film and Tradition: A Hermeneutical Reflection.” Gregorianum 94, no. 1 (2013): 119-140.
“Re-Consecrating Jesus: Pasolini’s The Gospel According to Saint Matthew and the Hermeneutics of Tradition.” Maynooth Theological Journal 1, no. 2 (2011): 47-53.
“The Passion: A Vindication without Vengeance.” Intercom, April 2011.
“Re-Appreciating the Biblical Epic: Nicholas Ray’s King of Kings Fifty Years On.” Intercom, October 2010.
“The Resurrection and Openness to the Symbolic.” Intercom, April 2010.
“Engaging with the Reality of the Resurrection.” Intercom: A Pastoral and Liturgical Resource of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference, March 2008.
