SMT3370/6370H

Spirituality & Ecology

Instructor: Dr. Hilda Koster
Day: Monday
Time: 19:00-21:00
Location: AH103

Graduate degree students enroll in SMT6370HS.

The course provides an exploration of how Christianity has understood the relationship among God, creation, humanity and spirituality, and how that understanding has contributed to the ecological challenges we currently face as well as can contribute to a helpful response. The course begins with an overview of our understanding of spirituality and creation during the patristic, medieval and reformation periods, then shifts to contemporary understandings drawing from current discussions of Christology, creation-centred spirituality, eco-feminism, deep ecology, and the healing of nature and the healing of self.

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Dr. Hilda Koster

Director of the Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology

Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto Chair in Theology

Dr. Hilda P. Koster joined the Faculty of Theology as an Associate Professor in Eco-theology. Dr. Koster comes to St. Michael’s from Minnesota’s Concordia College, where she held joint appointments in Religion, Gender Studies and Environmental Studies.

Dr. Koster will help shape the activities and certificate program of the Faculty’s Elliott Allen Institute of Theology and Ecology (EAITE), which was established in 1991 to allow students to acquire a specialization in theology and ecology.

Dr. Koster received her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees from The University of Groningen. After further study at Princeton Theological Seminary and the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, she earned her doctorate at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Koster’s research interest is in ecological theology, eco-feminism, climate change and resource extraction.

SMT2131HS

Our Common Home: Origins, Theology and Implications of Laudato Si

Winter 2022
- Instructor: Dr. Hilda Koster
- Day: Wednesday
- Time: 17:00-19:00
- Location: CR403
Learn More
SMT3370/6370H

Spirituality & Ecology

Winter 2022
- Instructor: Dr. Hilda Koster
- Day: Monday
- Time: 19:00-21:00
- Location: AH103
Learn More

The T&T Clark Handbook on Theology and Climate Change, co-edited with Ernst M. Conradie (London, UK: Bloomsbury Press, December 2019)
Planetary Solidarity: Global Women’s Voices on Christian Doctrine and Climate Justice co- edited with Grace Ji-Sun Kim (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2017)
Theology as Gift: The Contribution of Kathryn Tanner to Contemporary Theology co-edited with Rosemary P. Carbine, (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2015).

“Ecological Theology as Public Theology,” T&T Clark Handbook on Public Theology (Bloomsbury Press), under contract.
“Creation and Feminist Theology,” in Oxford Handbook on Creation, edited by Simon Oliver (forthcoming with Oxford University Press).
“God’s Work of Salvation In and Through Us,” in The T&T Clark Handbook on Theology and Climate Change, ed. by Ernst M. Conradie and Hilda P. Koster (London, UK: Bloomsbury Press, December 2019), 417-431.

Rachel S. Baard Sexism and Sin-Talk: Feminist Conversations on the Human Condition (Westminster John Knox Press, 2019)
Else Marie Pedersen ed, The Alternative Luther – Lutheran Theology from the Subaltern (Fortress Academic, 2019)
Celia Deane-Drummond A Primer in Ecotheology: Theology for a Fragile Earth (Cascade Books, 2017)
Celia Deane-Drummond Ecology in Jürgen Motmann’s Theology (Wipf and Stock, 2016) Richard A. Floyd Down to Earth (Wipf and Stock, 2015)

Kevin J. Obrien The Violence of Climate Change: Lessons of Resistance from Nonviolent Activists in Lutheran Journal of Christian Ethics (Summer 2018)

T&T Clark Explorations in Theology, Gender and Ecology (Bloomsbury Press), Editor.

“Eco-Feminist Theology as an Intersectional Theology,” University of Groningen (The Netherlands), School of Theology (Theologische Faculteit), March 8, 2019.
“Climate Justice, Fracking and Native Women: The Case of the Dakotas,” invited speaker Arctic Circle Conference, Iceland, October 2018.
“God and Climate: The Promise of Jürgen Moltmann’s Kenotic Theology of Creation for Being Human in the Anthropocene.” Lecture delivered at a conference in honor of the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann’s Ninetieth Birthday, Candler School of Theology/Emory University, October 19, 2016
“Een Diepe Solidariteit: Klimaatsverandering, Vrouwen en Gerechtigheid,” (“A Deep Solidarity: Climate Change, Justice and Women”). Plenary speaker at the Ecumenical Women Synod, Delft, The Netherlands, March 25-26, 2016
“In de Voetstappen van Sara en Ruth: Bijbelse Verhalen over Vrouwen, Vluchetlingen en Migranten” (“In the footsteps of Sara and Ruth: Biblical Stories about Women, Refugees, and Migrants.”) lecture on the Bible, Women and the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Speaker Ecumenical Women Synod, Delft, The Netherlands, March 25-26, 2016
“Planetary Solidarity: Gender and Climate Justice in a Global Perspective,” invited keynote speaker, St. Paul’s University, Ottawa, Canada, March 8, 2016.

“Climate Change, Sin and Justifying Grace: A Proposal,” International Colloquium on Sin, Pre- Conference AAR, November 2019.
“Sin-talk and the Violence against Native Women and The Earth: The Case of North Dakota.” International Colloquium on Sin, Pre-Conference AAR Annual Meeting, November 2018.
“Sextrafficking, Fracking and Ecological Evil in the Bakken Oil Fields,” Book Panel on Planetary Solidarity: Global Women’s Voices on Christian Doctrine and Climate Justice.

AAR Annual Meeting, November, 2017**
“God in an Age of Ecocide: Thinking with Kathryn Tanner,” Book Panel on Gift of Theology, AAR, Annual Meeting, November 2015**
“Fractured Lands/Fractured Bodies: Petro-Culture and Violence against Indigenous Women” International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, Cork, Ireland, June 2019.
“Fracking, Sex-trafficking and the Doctrine of Sin: An Eco-feminist Retrieval.” Presentation at the Collegeville institute, Collegeville, MN (October 19, 2016)
“The Theology of Kathryn Tanner,” Book launch of the Publication of The Gift of Theology, Philosophy Colloquium, Concordia College, Moorhead MN (March 18, 2016)
“An Eco-Feminist Response to Pope Francis’ Laudato Si” Presentation at Interfaith Panel on Climate Justice, Concordia College (Concordia College, Moorhead MN,February 14, 2016

Faculty Directory

Spirituality & Ecology

Spirituality & Ecology

Dr. Hilda Koster

Director of the Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology

Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto Chair in Theology

SMT2131HS

Our Common Home: Origins, Theology and Implications of Laudato Si

SMT3370/6370H

Spirituality & Ecology