James Dechant

Education

B.A. - University of Notre Dame, 2008

M.S. - Hunter College, 2010

M.T.S. - Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, 2017

Ph.D. - Fordham University, 2023

 

Bio

James Dechant recently defended his doctoral dissertation in Systematic Theology. The project marries critical pedagogy with patristic Christian claims about anthropology and the natural world in order to advance liberative eco-praxis and cultivate solidarity. In collaboration with his colleagues in the Department, James launched Open Windows, an online publication devoted to theological pedagogy from the perspective of graduate students who teach. A native Kansan and a former English teacher in the Bronx and Japan, he currently lives in Westchester County with his incredible wife and three beautiful children.

 

Specialization

Systematic Theology

 

Fields of Interest

Ecological theology

Critical pedagogy

Liberationist thought

Hermeneutics and philosophy of language

Theology and literature

 

Teaching Competencies

Introduction to Theology

Introduction to World Religions

Catholic Intellectual Tradition

Ecological Theology

Latin American Liberation Theology

 

Teaching Experience

Faith and Critical Reason (Fordham University, Spring 2024 – Instructor)

Great Books in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (Sacred Heart University, Spring 2024 – Instructor)

Latin American Liberation Theology (Fordham University, Fall 2023 – Instructor)

Great Books in the Catholic Intellectual Tradition (Sacred Heart University, Fall 2023 – Instructor)

Latin American Liberation Theology (Fordham University, Spring 2022 – Instructor)

Faith and Critical Reason, online (Fordham University, Summer 2021 – Instructor)

Faith and Critical Reason, hybrid (Fordham University, Spring 2021 – Instructor)

Faith and Critical Reason, hybrid EP seminar (Fordham University, Fall 2020 – Instructor)

Faith and Critical Reason, EP seminar (Fordham University, Spring 2020 – Instructor)

Faith and Critical Reason (Fordham University, Fall 2019 – Instructor)

Faith and Critical Reason, EP seminar (Fordham University, Spring 2019 – Teaching Assistant)

Introduction to the Old Testament (Fordham University, Fall 2018 – Teaching Assistant)

Christ in World Cultures (Fordham University, Fall 2017 – Graduate Assistant)

 

Dissertation

“An Ecological Education: Theological Paths to Liberative Praxis”

Director: Bradford Hinze