Mary Cunningham

Bio

Mary Kathleen Cunningham is Associate Professor of Religious Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at North Carolina State University.  She earned the B.A. in Religion from Carleton College, the M.Div. from Yale Divinity School, and the Ph.D. in Theology from Yale University.  The recipient of several teaching awards at NC State, including election to the Academy of Outstanding Teachers and Alumni Distinguished Undergraduate Professor, she also received a course award from the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences for her course “Darwinism and Christianity.”  Her research interests include the relationship between scripture and theology in contemporary Christian thought and more recently, issues in science and religion, with a focus on God and evolution.  She is the author of What is Theological Exegesis?  Interpretation and Use of Scripture in Barth’s Doctrine of Election (Trinity Press International, 1995) and editor of God and Evolution:  A Reader (Routledge, 2007).  Her book God and Evolution:  An Introduction is under contract with Routledge.  She speaks frequently on Intelligent Design and public education, Darwin’s legacy, religion and ecology, and God in an evolutionary world.

Area(s) of Expertise

Darwinism and Christianity, history of Christian thought, contemporary Christian and Jewish thought, religion and ecology, women and religion. Research focus: God and evolution, theodicy, relationship between scripture and theology in contemporary Christian thought.