Faculty & Staff Directory

Aana Marie Vigen, PhD

About

Aana Marie Vigen is an Associate Professor of Christian Social Ethics at Loyola University Chicago. Dr. Vigen earned a BA in Spanish, Religion, and Hispanic Studies from St. Olaf College, an MA in Theology and Ethics jointly conferred by the Graduate Theological Union and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Social and Theological Ethics from Union Theological Seminary in New York City. She is a member of the Society of Christian Ethics (SCE) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR). Dr. Vigen is also an active lay member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and served on the national ELCA Genetics Taskforce from 2008–2011. She offers courses at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Program Areas

Christian Social and Theological Ethics

Research Interests

Dr. Vigen's overall area of specialization is healthcare and medical ethics. In particular, she is interested in racial-ethnic and socio-economic inequalities in health and healthcare in the US and globally. Her method of study is interdisciplinary, drawing especially upon the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, ethnography, and theology. She has begun research on prenatal genetic testing and Christian ethics, which incorporates ethnographic interviews with genetic counselors.

Additional scholarly interests include: The Intersections among Human Health and Ecological Health in the Context of Climate Change; The Intersection of Christian Social Ethics & Bioethics; Notions of "Living & Dying Well"; Migration/Immigration & Ethics; Protestant Ethics; Feminist Ethics; White Anti-Racism; Theological Anthropology & Ethics.

Dr. Vigen co-authored and co-edited (with Christian Scharen) Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics (formerly T&T Clark now Bloomsbury, 2011). She has also contributed several invited chapters to interdisciplinary anthologies.

Selected Publications

Ethnography as Christian Theology and Ethics, co-authored and co-edited volume with Christian Scharen (Bloomsbury, formerly T&T Clark, 2011)

God, Science, Sex, Gender: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Christian Ethics, a co-edited volume with Patricia Beattie Jung (University of IL, 2010)

Women, Ethics, and Inequality in U.S. Healthcare: "To Count among the Living" (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006; revised paperback edition in 2011)

“Living and Dying: Ethical Challenges in Health Care and Bioethics,” a chapter in Religion and Ethics: Issues in the 21^st Century North America. Anselm: 2013.

“Loving God and the Neighbor: Insights from Protestant Ethics for Prevention and Treatment,” a chapter in Prevention vs. Treatment: What’s the Right Balance? Oxford: 2012.

"For Healing and Wholeness," in Rebecca Todd Peters and Elizabeth Hinson-Hasty, eds. To Do Justice: Engaging Progressive Christians in Social Action. Westminster/John Knox Press: 2008.

"To Hear and To Be Accountable Across Difference: An Ethic of White Listening" a chapter in Disrupting White Supremacy from Within: White People on What WE Need to Do (Pilgrim Press: 2004).

Web Resources on Health, Healthcare:

The Kaiser Family Foundation: www.kff.org
*Terrific information on myriad topics: Medicare, Disparities, HIV-AIDS, Women, etc. For example: 10 Myths about the Uninsured: http://www.kff.org/uninsured/7307.cfm

The Commonwealth Fund: www.commonwealthfund.org

See for example: Racial and Ethnic Disparities in US Health Care: A Chartbook (2008)

"Why Not the Best? Results from the National Scorecard on US Health System Performance, 2008" (2008)

The ELCA Social Statement on Healthcare: "Caring for Health: Our Shared Endeavor" online: http://www.elca.org/Faith/Faith-and-Society/Social-Statements/Health-Care

Frontline Program on Global Health & Healthcare: www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/sickaroundtheworld/

A PBS Series— RX for Survival: A Global Health Challenge: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/

Global Health Facts & News: http://kff.org/globaldata/

Partners in Health: www.pih.org

Doctors without Borders: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

Books Relevant for Health, Healthcare, & Ethics:

Lisa Cahill, Theological Bioethics: Participation, Justice, & Change (2005)

Tina Cassidy, Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born (2006)

Margaret Farley, Just Love: A Framework for Christian Sexual Ethics (2007)

Paul Farmer, Pathologies of Power (2005)

Tracy Kidder, Mountains Beyond Mountains (about the work of Paul Farmer) (2003)

David Moller, Dancing with Broken Bones: Portraits of Death and Dying Among Inner-City Poor (2004)

Mary Roach, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2004)

Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty (2006)

Jeffrey Sachs, Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008)

Debora Spar, The Baby Business (2006)

Harriet A. Washington, Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans from Colonial Times to the Present (2006)

Traci West, Disruptive Christian Ethics: When Racism and Women's Lives Matter (2006)