Religion & Philosophy

Laura Hobgood-Oster

Professor of Religion

Areas of expertise

Animals in the history of the Christian tradition; contemporary religious-ethical issues related to other-than-human animals; religion and ecology; environmental studies; Ecofeminism

Dr. Hobgood-Oster is coordinating a lecture series and conference - "Real" Animals and the Humanities - that will take place February 17-18, 2010 at Southwestern University. Dr. Paul Waldau, Dr. Marc Bekoff, and Carol Adams will all be presenting keynote addresses on February 17. On February 18 a roundtable of scholars studying animals and the humanities/social sciences will meet from 9:00-11:00 am. Any interested parties are welcome to join this roundtable conversation. For more information contact Dr. Hob-O at hoboster@southwestern.edu or call at 512-863-1669.

Dr. Laura Hobgood-Oster chairs the Religion Program and the Environmental Studies Program.

Education

PhD, St. Louis University 1997
M.Div., Vanderbilt University 1989
B.A., James Madison University 1985

Courses: Fall 2009

Going to the Dogs
Animals and Religion
Intro Christian Tradition

Research

Dr. Hobgood-Oster specializes in the history of animals in the Christian Tradition. She helped to found and then co-chaired the Animals and Religion Consultation of the American Academy of Religion (2002-2008). Her overall areas of research include animals in religious traditions and in the history and theology of Christianity; animals in contemporary religious-ethical systems; religion and ecology; environmental studies; ecofeminism, and women in the Christian tradition.

Her most recent publication is Holy Dogs and Assses: Animals in the Christian Tradition (University of Illinois Press, 2008). She is currently working on a book tentatively titled Even Dogs Deserve the Crumbs: Animals and Christianity in the Twenty-first Century.


Professional Work

In addition to her academic publications, Dr. Hobgood-Oster appears in the documentary "Eating Mercifully", distributed by the Humane Society of the United States. For more information, go to the HSUS Animals and Religion website: http://allcreatures.hsus.org/


Publications

"Holy Dogs and Asses: Animals in the History of the Christian Tradition"

Executive editor, Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature; also entries in this Encyclopedia including "Ecofeminism: Historic and International Developments"

Editor and Introduction, The Sabbath Journal of Judith Lomax; Oxford UP, AAR Texts and Translations Series


Seminars & Presentations

Dr. Hobgood-Oster will be speaking at Yale University's Divinity School in October 2009 addressing the topic of animals in Christian liturgy.

Honors & Awards

Individual Research Grant, American Academy of Religion

Mundy Service Award, Southwestern University

Appointed to Paden Brown Chair in Religion and Environmental Studies, Southwestern University

William Carrington Finch Award, Southwestern University, 2008

Sam Taylor Fellowship


Groups & Affiliations

Animals and Religion Consultation, American Academy of Religion

Forum on Religion and Ecology

American Society of Environmental History


Interests

Dog Rescue with the Georgetown Animal Shelter and Georgetown Animal Outreach