Dr. Jacob Erickson

Ph.D. Drew University
M.Div. Yale Divinity School
M.A. Trinity College Dublin (jure officii)
B.A. St. Olaf College

Dr. Jacob J. Erickson (pronouns: he/him) is Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics in the School of Religion, Theology, and Peace Studies at Trinity College Dublin. A constructive theologian and theological ethicist, Erickson writes to evoke an ecotheology of planetary conviviality--the playful and just cherishing of life together--in the midst of current ecological crises, ecological injustice, emerging perspectives in the wake of global warming, and new challenges in energy production.
Erickson has taught theology and ethics at Trinity since 2016, and also has served in a number of leadership roles in College, from the School's Director of Undergraduate Teaching and Learning (2020-24), Director of Research (2016-18), and past Chair of the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences Faculty Research Ethics Committee (2017-20).

In his writing, Erickson meditates on the complex relationships of earth and divinity, decolonial environmental ethics and queer theory, classical Christian theologies and contemporary constructive theopoetics. Engaging questions of theology and the Anthropocene, he did his doctoral work at Drew University with Catherine Keller.

He's a contributor to a number of academic books of theology, The Huffington Post, and Religion Dispatches. His 2015 Religion Dispatches piece on Pope Francis' "climate encyclical" received a Wilbur Award from the Religion Communicators Council. He serves on the editorial board of Dialog: A Journal of Theology. Erickson is an active member of the American Academy of Religion and, with Prof. Marit Trelstad, he co-chairs the Martin Luther and Global Lutheran Traditions Unit. He was recently appointed to the International Connections Committee which oversees AAR's International Grants competition. And he is also past chair of the Sacred Texts, Theory, and Theological Construction Unit.

Hear an extended interview with Prof. Erickson on the Homebrewed Christianity Podcast.

And you can watch following lecture on Wild Spirituality hosted by Union Theological Seminary here:
Modules Taught 2024-25:
REU22502 Creaturely Ethics: Humans and Other Animals; REU33531 Theology and the Climate Crisis; REU12522 Love and Justice: Intersections in Theology and Ethics; REU44312 Queer Theological Ethics

Prof. Erickson is currently open to receiving proposals for PhD and postgraduate research, especially in the areas of:

• Constructive Theology, Theopoetics, and Ethics
• Religion and Ecology, Ecotheology, Anthropocene Studies, Climate Ethics, Ecojustice, Ecospirituality, and the Environmental Humanities
• Posthumanisms, Critical Animal and Plant Studies and Religion
• Negative Theology, Mysticism, and Ethics
• Queer Theory and Theology, Religion and Sexuality
• Process Theology and Philosophy

  Affect Theory   Alfred North Whitehead   Animal Ethics   apophatic theology   Climate Change   Critical theory and Theology   Ecological Theology   ecotheology   Elephants   Environmental Ethics   Environmental Humanities   Feminist theology and philosophy   global warming   land art   Lutheranism   Martin Luther   Mysticism   negative theology   Paul Tillich   political ecology   poststructuralism   process philosophy   Process Theology   queer theology   Queer Theory   Religion   religion and science   Religion, Gender, and Sexuality   Sexuality   Theology   Theology   theopoetics