Faculty & Staff Directory

William C. French, PhD

About

William French is an Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola University Chicago. He graduated from Dickinson College, received his MDiv degree from Harvard University, and completed his PhD at the University of Chicago. His main research interests are religious ethics, ecological ethics and policies, and war and peace issues. He has written articles and book chapters on such topics as global climate change, land use issues, ecological security, just war theory, the moral status of animals, the Catholic natural tradition, Biblical views of creation, and on comparative religious ethics.

Degrees

BA in History from Dickinson College
MDiv, Harvard University
PhD University of Chicago

Program Areas

Ethics

Research Interests

Awards

Selected Publications

“With America so Divided, Who are we Really”?. Chicago Tribune, op-ed, October 17, 2022.

“Shootings show that an armed society is nothing more than a fearful society,” Chicago Tribune, op-ed, May 25, 2022.

"Sin in America," Chicago Tribune, op-ed., February 18, 2022.

"Climate Change is a Superpower," Chicago Tribune, October 18, 2021.

"Introduction: Peace Studies and Religion," in Ednan Aslan, Marcia Hermansen, Evrim Arsan, eds. Peace Education: Perspectives, Pedagogy, Policies (New York: Springer, 2022), 3-14.

"Ecological Ethics." The Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace, and Conflict, ed. Lester R Kurtz, 3rd edition (San Diego: Elsevier Academic Press, 2022), 1: 820-830.

"Peace Studies and Religion," in Ednan Aslan, Marcia Hermansen, Evrim Arsan, eds., Peace Education: Philosophy, Pedagogy, Perspectives forthcoming Springer, 2022.

“Ask the Winds, Rains, and waves Around Us: Justice and Prudence in a Time of Planetary Emergency,” in Julia Brumbaugh and Natalia Imperatori-Lee, eds., Turning to the Heavens and the Earth: Theological Reflections on a Cosmological Conversion: Essays in Honor of Elizabeth A. Johnson (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2016), 147-165.

“Teaching the Just War Tradition,” in Brian K. Pennington, ed., Teaching Religion and Violence (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 295-319.

“Grace is Everywhere: Thomas Aquinas on Creation and Salvation,” in Ernst M. Conradie, ed. Creation and Salvation: A Mosaic of Essays on Selected Classic Christian Theologians (Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2012), 147-172.

“On Knowing Oneself in an Age of Ecological Concern,” in Jamie Schaefer, ed., Confronting the Climate Crisis:  Catholic Theological Perspectives (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2011), 145-175.

“Mobilizing America and the Asymmetry of Threat Perception” at the Peace and Justice Studies Association annual Conference in Milwaukee on October 9, 2021.

“Mobilizing America to Promote Climate Security MIT A+ B Applied Energy Conference, Cambridge MA online due to Covid-19 August 2020

 “Birth Control and Ecological Responsibility,” College Theology Society Annual Conference, online due to Covid-19, May 30, 2020.

 “Climate Change and National Security,” Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences National Conference, Orlando, FL. June 28, 2019.

  “The Catholic Church and Population Stabilization,” Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences National Conference, Orlando, FL. June 28, 2019.

“Ask the Winds, Rains, and waves Around Us: Justice and Prudence in a Time of Planetary Emergency,” in Julia Brumbaugh and Natalia Imperatori-Lee, eds., Turning to the Heavens and the Earth: Theological Reflections on a Cosmological Conversion: Essays in Honor of Elizabeth A. Johnson (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2016), 147-165.

“Teaching the Just War Tradition,” in Brian K. Pennington, ed., Teaching Religion and Violence (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 295-319.

“Grace is Everywhere: Thomas Aquinas on Creation and Salvation,” in Ernst M. Conradie, ed. Creation and Salvation: A Mosaic of Essays on Selected Classic Christian Theologians (Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2012), 147-172.

“On Knowing Oneself in an Age of Ecological Concern,” in Jamie Schaefer, ed., Confronting the Climate Crisis: Catholic Theological Perspectives (Milwaukee: Marquette University Press, 2011), 145-175.