Dr. Debra Erickson

Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies

Education:

Ph.D., The University of Chicago Divinity School

Areas of Expertise:

Social and Political Ethics, Medical Ethics, Environmental Ethics, Christian Ethics

Office Hours, Spring 2013

102 Clare Center
518-783-4248

Mondays 12:00-4:00
Wednesdays 11:30-12:30
and by appointment

Send e-mail to Dr. Erickson

Meet Dr. Erickson

Debra Erickson received her Ph.D. in Religious Ethics from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2010. Her dissertation research argued for the use of casuistry, or case-based ethical reasoning, in environmental decision-making. She also holds a master's degree in Christian Studies with a concentration in Systematic Theology from Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Dr. Erickson has presented her work at conferences in the U.S. and the U.K. and is in the process of adapting for publication her dissertation research on the ethics of nuclear power generation.

Before coming to Siena, Dr. Erickson taught at DePaul University, the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago, and Catholic Theological Union, Chicago. For three years, she edited the Religion and Culture Web Forum, published by the Martin Marty Center for the Advanced Study of Religion, and served as a member of the Marty Center's Advisory Board. She has also contributed to Sightings, the Marty Center's biweekly column on religion in the public sphere. Prior to commencing her academic career, Dr. Erickson worked as a political aide in her hometown of Portland, Oregon, work that shaped her ongoing scholarly interests in political theory and ethics. She has particular interests in design, planning, and the built environment, and for many years gave tours at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Robie House in Hyde Park, Chicago, where she was routinely mistaken for an architect.