Tina Beattie

Tina Beattie left her post as Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Roehampton in August 2020. She now works as an independent researcher, writer and broadcaster. Much of her research focuses on the relationship between the Catholic tradition and contemporary culture, particularly in areas to do with gender, sexuality and reproductive ethics; Catholic social teaching and women's rights, and theology and the visual arts. She has a keen interest in Marian theology, art and devotion, and in the relationship between medieval mysticism, sacramental theology, and psychoanalytic theory.

Her doctoral research was on the theology and symbolism of the Virgin Mary, drawing on the psycholinguistic theory of Luce Irigaray as a resource for the analysis of Christian writings on Mary and Eve in the early Church and in recent Catholic theology. Her thesis formed the basis of her book, God's Mother, Eve's Advocate (Continuum 2002), and these ideas are further developed in New Catholic Feminism: Theology and Theory' (Routledge 2006). Her latest research monograph, Theology After Postmodernity: Divining the Void, was published by Oxford University Press in 2013. She is also the author of The New Atheists (Darton, Longman & Todd 2007; Orbis Books 2008). She has co-edited several books and has published articles in numerous journals and edited collections.

Tina is a contributor to The Tablet, The Guardian online, The Conversation, and several other publications. Television and radio appearances include BBC1, BBC2, Sky News and Al Jazeera, BBC Radio 4 (including 'Thought for the Day'), BBC Radio Ulster, BBC World Service, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and RTE (Ireland). She has given talks and lectures in many different countries including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Sweden and the United States.

Tina also writes fiction and has published two novels, The Good Priest (Matador, 2019), and Between Two Rivers (Weaver Press, 2022). She posts regular reflections on Substack.

Ph.D., University of Bristol, Theology, 1998

Catholic social teaching and women's reproductive health; Thomas Aquinas; Jacques Lacan; gender, art and symbolism in the Catholic tradition, with a particular emphasis on the Virgin Mary; feminist theology and theory; theology and human rights; theology and literature.

Previous research:

Leverhulme Research Fellowship, September 2004 to February 2005, researching gender, theology and feminist theory for New Catholic Feminism.

AHRC research leave, January to May 2008, researching Theology after Postmodernity.

Current research:

Gendered perspectives on human dignity and creation, with a focus on poetry, literature, music and art as expressions of sacramentality.

Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA)

Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
Former President, Catholic Theological Association of Great Britain
Member of the Society for the Study of Theology
Member of European Theology Society
Member of the American Academy of Religion
Member of the Bioethics Subcommittee, National Board of Catholic Women
Trustee, the Centre for Marian Studies

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