Mark D. Jordan (born 1953/54) is a scholar of Christian theology, European philosophy, and gender studies. He is currently the Richard Reinhold Niebuhr Research Professor of Divinity at

Harvard Divinity School Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the religious studies, academic study of religion or for leadership role ...

and Professor of the Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality in the

Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences The Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) is the largest of the ten faculties that constitute Harvard University. Headquartered principally in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and centered in the historic Harvard Yard, FAS is the only faculty respo ...

. At Harvard, he teaches courses on the Western traditions of Christian theology, the relations of religion to art or literature, and the prospects for sexual ethics. Jordan also writes on

gender Gender is the range of social, psychological, cultural, and behavioral aspects of being a man (or boy), woman (or girl), or third gender. Although gender often corresponds to sex, a transgender person may identify with a gender other tha ...

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, and the relationship between religious doctrine and

LGBT LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, asexual, aromantic, agender, and other individuals. The gro ...

issues. In addition to his scholarship and classroom teaching, Jordan has discussed sexual and religious issues to audiences that range from college lectureships to

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, the ''

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'', and

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. Jordan's most recent books are ''Teaching Bodies: Moral Formation in the Summa of Thomas Aquinas'' (Fordham 2016) and ''Convulsing Bodies: Religion and Resistance in Foucault'' (Stanford 2015).

Earlier affiliations and awards

Prior to his return to Harvard in 2014, Jordan held endowed professorships at

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) is a private research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1853 by a group of civic leaders and named for George Washington, the university spans 355 acres across its Danforth ...

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

and at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

. In 2019, it was announced that Jordan would be elected to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. In 2011, Jordan won the annual

Randy Shilts Award The Randy Shilts Award is an annual literary award, presented by Publishing Triangle to honour works of non-fiction of relevance to the gay community. First presented in 1997, the award was named in memory of American journalist Randy Shilts Ran ...

for nonfiction for his book, ''Recruiting Young Love: How Christians Talk about Homosexuality''. He has received a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

, a Fulbright-Hays grant (Spain), a Luce Fellowship in Theology, and a grant from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

Early life and education

Jordan received his BA from St. John's College and his Ph.D. from the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

. He grew up in

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, where he graduated from

St. Mark's School of Texas The St. Mark's School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian, college-preparatory day school in Dallas, Texas. Established in 1906, St. Mark's educates roughly 900 boys in grades 1-12. St. Mark's is one of the wealthiest day schools in the United ...

Books

*''Ordering Wisdom: The Hierarchy of Philosophical Discourses in Aquinas'', Notre Dame, 1986 *''The Invention of Sodomy in Christian Theology,'' Chicago, 1997 *''The Silence of Sodom: Homosexuality in Modern Catholicism'', The University of Chicago Press, 2000 *''The Ethics of Sex'', Blackwell 2001 *''Telling Truths in Church'', Beacon 2002 *''Rewritten Theology: Aquinas After His Readers'', Blackwell 2005d *''Blessing Same-Sex Unions'', Chicago 2005 *''Recruiting Young Love: How Christians Talk about Homosexuality'', Chicago 2011 *''Convulsing Bodies: Religion and Resistance in Foucault'', Stanford 2015 *''Teaching Bodies: Traditions of Moral Formation in Thomas Aquinas'', Fordham 2016 *''Transforming Fire: Imagining Christian Teaching'', Eerdmans 2021 *''Queer Callings: Untimely Notes on Names and Desires'', Fordham 2024

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jordan, Mark D. Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Nationality missing Harvard Divinity School faculty University of Texas at Austin alumni St. John's College (Annapolis/Santa Fe) alumni University of Notre Dame faculty Emory University faculty St. Mark's School (Texas) alumni American Christian theologians 21st-century American philosophers 20th-century American philosophers American gender studies academics Religious studies scholars Washington University in St. Louis faculty Academics from Dallas Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences faculty

Earlier affiliations and awards

Early life and education

Books

See also

References