Brianne Jacobs

Assistant Professor of Theology & Religious Studies

Brianne Jacobs is the coordinator of the Gender & Women Studies Minor program. She is a Catholic feminist theologian, engaging the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition to work for gender justice and flourishing.

I am a passionate advocate for my students. I enjoy teaching classes where together, grounded in Emmanuel's heritage as a Catholic Women’s College, we critically explore issues that are important to students. I love big cities, big books, and big conversations.

What I Love About Emmanuel:

I love my students, the Saints! I am passionate about engaging the resources of the Catholic intellectual tradition with students to think about their own flourishing. I enjoy teaching classes where together we can explore Emmanuel's Catholic religious heritage, and connect it to contemporary issues that are important to students. I love good fiction and music, and always enjoy my students' recommendations.

Ph.D. Fordham University; M.A. Union Theological Seminary; B.A. St. John's College, Annapolis

  • THRS1103: Exploring Catholic Theology
  • THRS2219: Women in the Christian Tradition
  • THRS2131: Relationships and Sexuality
  • IDS2113: Basic Issues in Women and Gender Studies 
  • “Moral Accountability and Nonvoluntary Participation in Social Sin” in Judith Butler und die Theologie. Edited by Bernhard Grümme and Gunda Werner, Bielefeld: transcript Verlag. (189- 200). https://doi.org/10.14361/9783839447420-011(2020) 
  • “Google and the Technocratic Paradigm: Personhood, Bodies, and History,” in Integral Ecology for a More Sustainable World: Dialogues with Laudato Si. Edited by Dennis Patrick O’Hara, Matthew Eaton, and Michael Ross. Lexington Books (2019).
  • “An Alternative to Gender Complementarity: Bodily Ontology as History” Theological Studies 80, no. 2: 328-345 (2019).
  • “Mary Daly’s The Church and the Second Sex after Fifty Years of US Catholic Feminist Theology,” Co-authored with Jessica Coblentz. Theological Studies79, no. 3: 543-565. (2018).
  •  “The False Certainty of Closure: Ecumenical Dialogue, New Evangelization, and Roman Catholic Identity in A Secular Age,” in Pathways for Ecclesial Dialogue in the Twenty-First Century: Revisiting Ecumenical Method. Edited by Mark D. Chapman and Miriam Haar. London: Palgrave (2016).

Professor Jacobs' research focuses on the body and gender as a site for reflection on theological anthropology, ecclesiology, God, and justice.