Benjamin Wong has been a Registered Clinical Counsellor in BC since 2005. A doctoral student at the University of Illinois, and holder of degrees from the University of British Columbia and Colorado Christian University, Benjamin held clinical positions in sectors including vocational rehabilitation, school counselling, education consultancy, and addictions. A sought-after advocate in the mindful use of digital technologies, he has spoken at professional conferences throughout North America on the prevention and treatment of Gaming Disorder. Over the past several years, Benjamin has focused his efforts on clinical supervision and teaching, with ongoing appointments at various institutions including City University in Canada. Benjamin is also a contractor of outreach services with the BC Government’s Responsible Gambling Program.
Pyschology
BSc, University of British Columbia
MA, Colorado Christian
PhD, University of Illinois (pending completion)
Faculty, Rhodes Wellness College
Faculty, Stenburg College
Faculty, Alexander College
Faculty, City University of Canada
Faculty, Vancouver Community College
BC Association of Clinical Counsellors
Mr. Marchfelder is an award-winning producer, writer, director, and cinematographer whose films have premiered in competition at Cannes, Toronto, and Berlin. In addition to his feature films and documentaries (see IMDB), his commercial work has earned multiple industry awards for clients including the BBC, CBC, Coastal First Nations, Ducks Unlimited, Humboldt Forum Berlin, Mercedes-Benz, Museum of Anthropology, Porsche, Smithsonian Institute, UBC, Telus, TRIUMF, MITACS, the Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
As a business entrepreneur, he co-founded and served as president of international media and technology start-ups including: SoHo New Media (NYC), Noema Pictures (NYC), and the Screen Development Fund (London). In 2016, he co-founded UBC Studios on the Vancouver campus. He later served in senior leadership roles at the University of British Columbia, including Director of Knowledge Exchange within the Faculty of Applied Science Dean’s Office, and with the Office of the President.
Drawing on his extensive experience as a creative director and content creator, Mr. Marchfelder translates complex ideas into compelling narratives that inspire and engage diverse audiences. As a business strategist, he advises not-for-profits, cultural organizations, and academic institutions, helping them clarify and better articulate their core purpose. He continues to maintain strong relationships with the Coastal First Nations and the Musqueam Coast Salish Peoples and is currently working on two feature-length documentaries.
Mr. Marchfelder has consistently balanced his professional work with a commitment to teaching. In 2007, he articulated and taught six courses at Corpus Christi and St. Mark’s Colleges on the UBC campus. He has also taught graduate-level courses at Regent College (UBC) and previously directed the Vancouver Film School’s Directing Program. He is delighted to be returning to teach at St Mark’s/Corpus Christi.
Media Studies, Film History, Film Production, Directing, Screenwriting
IMDB: professional film credits (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0006507/)
Recent portfolio of select work (https://vimeo.com/channels/lwpcreative)
Carla Shore APR FCRPS is a senior public relations professional with 25+ years experience working in BC and Ontario. She is also a writer with expertise in everything from news releases to corporate reports to fabulous social media posts. She’s been teaching communications and marketing at post-secondary institutions for six years, including University of the Fraser Valley, Langara College, and BCIT. She is pleased to be joining Corpus Christi to teach communications.
Communications
Master of Arts in Environmental Education and Communications
Bachelour of Journalism from Carleton University
Diplôme d’Études Françaises from Université de Bourgogne
Currently researching the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in communications and marketing.
Colin’s research ranges primarily over two areas: epistemology and the philosophy of religion. In epistemology, he’s interested in what kinds of reasons one must possess in order to be rationally justified in holding a belief, and what the structure of those reasons must be. In the philosophy of religion, he works mainly on arguments about the nature and existence of God. His current work focuses on debunking arguments as they arise in epistemology, the philosophy of religion, and the philosophy of mathematics. In addition to his teaching at Corpus Christ College, Colin is Chair of Philosophy at Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Outside of philosophy, Colin is a lifelong vert skateboarder and surfer.
Philosophy
PhD
Editor of Christian Philosophy of Religion: Essays in Honor of Stephen T. Davis (2015, The University of Notre Dame Press.)
Editor (with Peter Horban) of Contemporary Arguments in Natural Theology: God and Rational Belief (2022, Bloomsbury.)
“The X-Claim Debunking Argument and Theistic Mooreanism” Philosophia Christi. Vol. 25. No.1 (2023), 61-75
“Theism, Explanation, and Mathematical Platonism” Philosophia Christi. Vol. 22. No. 2 (2020), 325-334
“Retributive Justice” (with Patrick Findler) in Think 21 (60): 57-64. 2022
“Propositional Platonism, Representation, and Divine Conceptualism”, in The European Journal for the Philosophy of Religion Vol. 8. No 4. (2016), 195-212
“A Note on Mind-Dependence” in Philo: A Journal of Philosophy. Vol. 17. No. 1 (2014), 92-98
“Swinburne on Basing and Deviant Inferential Pathways,” in Acta Analytica: International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition Vol. 30. No. 1. (2015), 87-95.
“Divine Thoughts and Fregean Propositional Realism,” in International Journal for the Philosophy of Religion Vol. 76. No. 2. (2014) 2014, 41-51.
“Epistemic Supervenience and Internalism: A Trilemma,” in Theoria: The Swedish Journal of Philosophy Vol. 75, No.2 (2009), 129-151.
“Modal Stability, and Warrant,” in Philosophia Vol. 34, No. 2 (2006), 173-188.
“Plantinga’s S5 Modal Argument, Obvious Entailment, and Circularity: Response to Sennett,” in Philo: A Journal of Philosophy Vol. 7, No. 2 (2004), 71-78.
“Evidentialism, Warrant, and the Division of Epistemic Labor,” in Philosophia Vol. 31, Nos. 1-2 (2003), 185-203.
“Some Remarks on BonJour on Warrant, Proper Function, and Defeasibility,” in Principia: An International Journal of Epistemology Vol. 4, No. 2 (2000), 215-228.
The Canadian Philosophical Society, The American Philosophical Association
Physics
Dr. Bruce Martin teaches geography online at Corpus Christi College, Crandall University, and Briercrest College. He has also taught geography and/or theology at Acadia University, Carey Theological College, Tyndale Seminary, Tyndale University College, and Taylor University College.
Bruce appreciates the positive dialogue that can exist between science and Christian faith. He also enjoys exploring the practical ethical imperative that Christian faith can provide for living in relationship with the natural world. In 2016, Bruce was a Visiting Scholar at St. Edmund’s College, Cambridge University, U.K. (the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion) and the recipient of a Study Grant from the Louisville Institute.
Originally from Vancouver and a graduate of UBC, Bruce now lives in Lethbridge, Alberta. Bruce has been active on and chaired School Councils at Catholic Central High, St. Francis Junior High, and St. Patrick’s Fine Arts Elementary Schools (Holy Spirit Roman Catholic School Division).
In his spare time, Bruce has volunteered with the City of Lethbridge in affordable housing and environmental issues. He enjoys traveling, hiking, photography, and painting. He is still searching for the perfect dark chocolate.
Geography
Dr. Emil Canlas joined St. Mark’s College and Corpus Christi College in 2011. Prior to joining St. Mark’s, he occupied a variety of academic and administrative positions at Angeles University Foundation in the Philippines; he has also taught religious education and education courses both in the undergraduate and graduate levels in the same University.
Educational Management
Ph.D. in Educational Management (Angeles University Foundation, Philippines)
M.A. in Christian Formation Education (Maryhill School of Theology & Angeles University, Philippines)
B.S. Education in Religious Education (St. Joseph’s College, Philippines)
Management Certificate in Human Resources Management (British Columbia Institute of Technology, Burnaby, Canada)
Dr. Farnaz Pournia received her PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from UBC in 2023. She worked under supervision of Dr. Linda Matsuuchi (Department of Zoology) and the title of her dissertation was “The role of Connexin43 carboxyl terminal domain in regulating various signaling-induced cytoskeleton-dependent cellular processes in B-lymphocytes.”
During her PhD work, she was able to show an unconventional role for a channel forming protein, Connexin43, in various cellular processes that are important for development and responses of one of the cells of our immune system (B-lymphocytes).
During her PhD training, Dr. Pournia discovered a passion for teaching and higher education through teaching assistant (TA) experiences as well as outreach and community events. Consequently, she decided to pursue a career in teaching and higher education and worked towards it by completing multiple training programs offered by UBC Centre for Teaching and Learning. After completing her PhD program in Fall 2023, she started teaching at UBC.
At the same time, she participated in the Teaching and Development Program (TDP) for new faculty at UBC as well as course design intensive (CDI) to be able to advance her skills in teaching and learning, pedagogy development and use of new technology, as well as communication.
Dr. Pournia believes in student-centered learning approach where a respectful and inspiring learning environment is facilitated by the instructor to help students thrive and reach their full potential.
Biology
PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology, UBC (2023)
Society of Canadian Women in Science and Technology (SCWIST)
Discipline: Feminist theology, Mariology, Systematic theology, Theology and Culture
Education:
PhD (Regis College and the University of Toronto, 2024)
STL (Regis College, 2023)
ThM (University of St. Michael’s College and the University of Toronto, 2018)
MTS (University of St. Michael’s College and the University of Toronto, 2015)
H.BA (University of Toronto, 2013)
Publications
Book Reviews:
“Grace Ji-Sun Kim, Invisible: Theology and the Experience of Asian American Women,” Journal of Moral Theology vol. 12, no. 1 (2023): 153-4.
“Scott Lewis, SJ, How Not to Read the Bible: An Authentical Catholic Approach to Scripture for Today,” Religion & Theology vol. 28, no. 1-2 (2021): 115-6.
“Mary and the Incarnation: An Illustrated Anthology by Christine Granger (review),” Toronto Journal of Theology vol. 35, no. 2 (2019): 221-2.
Previous Appointments
Associate Director of the Msgr. John Mary Fraser Centre for Practical Theology at Regis College (2021-2024)
Professional Societies
Active Member of the Catholic Theological Society of America
Member of the Centre for Marian Studies
Member of the Canadian Theological Society
Current Research Projects
Editing dissertation for publication
Decolonializing images of Mary
A relational reading of the Marian Dogmas
Dr. Gerrit Krueper is a member of the Killam Family of Scholars and graduated with a Ph.D. in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of British Columbia in November 2024. Specializing in New Media Studies, his research interrogates the socio-political implications of livestreaming platforms and media audiences that draws upon new media theory frameworks to critique paradigms of audience engagement and agency. His work extends to the study of video games, focusing on themes of play, leisure, and anti-work as ideological constructs in capitalism.
Film and Media Studies
Krueper, Gerrit. The dialectical stream : a new media theory of live streaming and its political and social potentials (T). University of British Columbia. Retrieved from
https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/ubctheses/24/items/1.0445564
Krueper, Gerrit. “Becoming Cyborg: Liberating One’s Real Species-Being. A Materialist Ontology of the Posthuman.” Culturally Sustainable Social Robotics. IOS Press: 2020. 501-509.
Print. https://www.iospress.nl/book/culturally-sustainable-social-robotics/
2019 – 2024 | University of British Columbia, Canada
2017 – 2018 | University of Rochester, New York, USA
2016 – 2017 | Research Master at the a.r.t.e.s. Graduate School for the Humanities
2016 – 2017 | University of Cologne, Germany
2014 – 2015 | State University of New York at Albany (SUNY Albany), USA
2012 – 2016 | University of Würzburg, Germany
Dr. Hamid Maghzian is an engineering Ph.D. graduate of the University of British Columbia with a diverse educational background in Civil/Structural engineering and Mechanical engineering.
During the past 8 years, Dr. Maghzian has taught courses in Mathematics, Physics, Engineering and Computer programming. His philosophy in teaching involves engaging students in class and providing ample practical examples as well as problem sets to demonstrate and achieve the learning objectives of the course.
In their future careers, the students would be facing new challenges, which they have not seen in any course before. Dr. Maghzian helps instill a problem solving skill in students so they can think critically when the time comes. Presenting thought-provoking problems in class and allowing students to work on them in groups has been an efficient technique to that end.
“One on one interaction with the students has been a central point of my teaching practice. Each student is unique, hence has a unique way of understanding. It is important for me to recognize their differences and be the guide along their unique journey towards understanding.”
Mathematics
English language; Linguistics; Stylistics
Ina grew up in Potchefstroom, a university town in South Africa, where she completed
her MA in English at the PU for CHE (founded on 29 November 1869, in 1994 renamed the North-West University). Her doctoral thesis in Stylistics was supervised by Geoffrey Leech, Lancaster University.
She taught for several years at UNISA where she took part in the formation of a new
Department of Theory of Literature out of the Department of Linguistics, after which she started teaching courses at UBC in the Department of English language and literatures on the structure of Modern English (including phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and discourse), the early and later history of English, grammar and usage, stylistics, sociolinguistics and academic and technical writing. Her teaching experience further includes teaching both language and literature as a sessional lecturer at St. Mark’s College and other BC tertiary institutions.
Her research interests are the analysis and interpretation of literary and non-literary
texts across various eras and styles, with an abiding interest in the poetry of Gerard
Manley Hopkins.
The conviction that studying the language of any literary text is essential for reading and understanding a poem, narrative or drama informs all of Ina’s teaching. Similarly, she regards studying and describing the language use of any author as crucial for sustaining claims about an author’s style, the characteristics of a particular era or a literary trend.
She strives to guide students towards appreciating how much there is to gain from
learning about language and stylistics both for those who are primarily interested in
studying and teaching English language and linguistics and for those who are pursuing the study of literature.
UBC Department of English Language and Literatures: Sessional lecturer (2021-current), Lecturer (2013-2021), Sessional lecturer (prior to 2013)
St. Mark’s College: Sessional lecturer for ENGL310 (Sep-Dec 2023; 2021)
DLitt et Phil, University of South Africa (UNISA), Supervisor: Geoffrey N. Leech, University of Lancaster, England, Co-supervisor: Ina Gräbe, UNISA
Thesis: A study of the language of the sonnets of Gerard Manley Hopkins, with special reference to sound patterns
MA English, Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education (PU for CHE)
Dissertation: A linguistic analysis of certain poems by T. S. Eliot
PALA (Poetics and Linguistics Association)
Biermann, Ina (2024) (”The cognitive study of literature”).
Ina Biermann & Luna Bergh (2022) Stilistiek, in Carstens, W.A.M. & T.J. van Dyk, eds. (2022) Toegepaste Taalkunde in Afrikaans. (“Applied Linguistics in Afrikaans”.) J.L. van Schaik, pp. 657-680.
Ina Biermann & Annette Combrink (eds.) (2001) Poetics, Linguistics and History:
Discourses of War and Conflict: Proceedings of the 19th PALA Conference. PU for
CHE: Potchefstroom.
Ina Biermann & Hilton Hubbard (guest eds.) (1999) Introduction. Journal of Literary Studies/Tydskrif vir Literatuurwetenskap 15(3 4) Special double issue on Stylistics. R.
Ina Biermann (1999) Sound repetition as characterisation technique in Salman Rushdie’s The Moor’s Last Sigh, in Journal of Literary Studies / Tydskrif vir Literatuurwetenskap 15(3 4): 324-354. R.
Ina Biermann (1995) When metaphor counts: review article of Understanding Metaphor by Gerard Steen, in Language and Literature 6(1):57 68, February. R.
Ina Biermann (1993) Intertextuality as parallelism in two South African poems. Language and Literature 2(3):197 220. R.
Ina Biermann (1988) Sound in poetry: the role of phonetics in the study of poetic language as exemplified in the study of a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins. SA Journal of Linguistics 6(3):15 29. R.
Ina Biermann (1984) “Greeks Today” (English translation of the poem “Grieke vandag” by T.T. Cloete) Tydskrif vir Letterkunde NR22(3):3. R.
John Aveline teaches Introduction to Greek Civilization, Introduction to Roman Civilization & Classical Mythology at Corpus Christi College. His areas of specialization are Julio-Claudian history, Aristophanes, historiography, epigraphy, numismatics and Latin language. He has published a number of articles and book reviews on these subjects.
John has taught at Brock University, McMaster University, University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University. Outside of academia, he has provided Latin translation services to academics, organizations and private individuals. John has also done consultation work for films and television.
Currently, John is researching the use of Classical Latin in tattoos and what it reveals about the place of the Latin language in contemporary society.
Classical Studies
PhD – Roman History (2006) – University of Calgary
MA – Classics (1989) – McMaster University
BA – Classics, honours (1987) – Brock University
Dr. Josiah Akinsanmi has over 20 years of experience working in British Columbia colleges and American universities, teaching a number of quantitative business courses including Business Math, Business Statistics, Principles of Microeconomics, Principles of Macroeconomics, Managerial Economics, Principles of Finance (Financial Management), Corporate Finance, Production Management and Management Science (Quantitative Decision Analysis). Knowledgeable and articulate in teaching international students with various academic and cultural backgrounds, he takes pride in adapting teaching strategies to various learning styles. Dr. Akinsanmi also has extensive experience at the senior administrative level in Program Coordinator and Registrar positions.
Dr. Akinsanmi participates actively in community events and activities, organizing seminars and information sessions on issues relating to personal health, immigrant integration and fundraising for foundations such as sickle cell anemia, cancer, and diabetes.
Business and Economics
Judith Scholes comes to St. Mark’s and Corpus Christi Colleges from the University of British Columbia, where she taught as a sessional lecturer in the Department of English Language and Literatures, as well as in Arts Studies in Research and Writing. She holds a PhD in English from UBC, and specializes in nineteenth-century American print culture, women’s poetry and editing, and Emily Dickinson.
As anyone who has taken a course with her can attest, Dr. Scholes loves thinking about context, bringing into her classroom the eclectic historical, cultural, and rhetorical worlds in which literature was produced and read. She is currently teaching academic writing, introduction to literary genres, and American literature at Corpus Christi College, where she helps students identify and develop their creative and critical inquiries.
English
Dr. Scholes is currently completing a book that examines the rhetoric of women’s poetry as it emerged in mid nineteenth century American periodicals, and shaped Emily Dickinson’s understanding and representation of herself as a poet.
She is also pursuing a new book-length project that investigates the existence and rhetoric of women’s editorial work at U.S. daily newspapers during the first 70 years (~1830-1900) of women’s presence in newsrooms.
Ph.D. in English, University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver BC | September 2015
M.A. in English, McMaster University, Hamilton ON | 2007
B.A. (Hons.) in English, summa cum laude, McMaster University, Hamilton ON | 2005
B.A. (Hons.) in Psychology, McMaster University, Hamilton ON | 2003
“‘My business is to love’: Address and Affect in Emily Dickinson’s Circulated Poems.” The Handbook of Emily Dickinson, edited by Cristanne Miller and Karen Sánchez-Eppler, Oxford UP, forthcoming Fall 2020.
“Emily Dickinson and Fidelia Hayward Cooke’s Springfield Republican.” Emily Dickinson Journal, vol. 23, no. 1, 2014, pp. 1-31.
“Receiving Emily: Dickinson’s Epistolary Poetics,” Canadian Comparative Literature Association: Poetics, Ideas, Structures: Situating the Poetic Object, Joint-Sponsored Panel, Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE) Conference, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC. June 2019.
“Recovering the Unarchived: Newspaper Women in the Mid-Nineteenth-Century U.S.” Gender and the Archives Roundtable, Special Session, MLA Annual Convention, Vancouver BC. Jan. 2015.
“Emily Dickinson, Nineteenth-Century Women’s Poetry and Mrs. Cooke’s Springfield Republican.” Emily Dickinson International Society Conference, College Park MD. Aug. 2013.
“Discovering Fidelia Hayward Cooke.” What’s New in the Old: Archives Roundtable, The Society for the Study of American Women Writers Conference, Denver CO. Oct. 2012.
“American Women’s Poetry and Civil War Relief in The Drum Beat.” Northern Women and the Civil War Panel, The Society for the Study of American Women Writers Conference, Denver CO. Oct. 2012.
“Ethos and the Victorian Poetess in Nineteenth-Century American Women’s Poetry.” ACCUTE Conference, Fredericton NB. May 2011.
Sessional Lecturer, Dept. of English Language and Literatures, UBC, Vancouver BC
Sessional Lecturer, Arts Studies in Research and Writing, UBC, Vancouver BC
Dr. Kevin Tipper is a naturopathic doctor practicing evidence-based naturopathic medicine in Vancouver, BC. In addition to a passion for practicing medicine, Dr. Tipper has a passion for teaching. He joined the faculty at the Boucher Institute of Naturopathic Medicine upon graduation in the fields of biomedical sciences, clinical diagnosis, and anatomy.
Dr. Tipper’s love for the sciences and learning about the human body shines through in his teaching. He enjoys the challenge of finding unique ways to make material approachable with his gift of taking complicated ideas and breaking them into understandable pieces. Dr. Tipper finds the importance in fostering a relaxed learning environment and connecting with his students, believing it makes learning more accessible.
When Kevin is not in the office or teaching, he enjoys hiking the local mountains, hitting the tennis court and golf course, playing hockey, and can often (very often) be found at the movie theatre.
Biology
Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, Boucher Institute of Nat. Med. (2018) BSc, Life Sciences, University of British Columbia (2013)
Core Faculty, Boucher Institute of Nat. Med (2019-2020)
Dr. Michael Ledger-Lomas comes to Corpus Christi and St Mark’s College from London, UK, and brings with him passionate and overlapping interests in the history of Christianity and in modern British and European history. He is excited to introduce students to historical sources and to explore with them the extraordinary relevance of the past to understanding our present moment.
History
Michael is beginning a new book project on encounters between religions and the British Empire in the reign of Edward VII. He also has essays forthcoming on a variety of nineteenth-century topics: the career and reception of the notorious biblical critic David Friedrich Strauss, royal tours of the world, heretical explorers in the Holy Land, the Victorian controversy over whether the Bible permitted men to marry the sisters of their deceased wives and the sermons of the pioneering scientist William Whewell.
BA, MPhil and PhD in History, University of Cambridge
Queen Victoria: This Thorny Crown (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021)
Editor, The Oxford History of Protestant Dissenting Traditions: The Nineteenth Century (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018)
Editor, Dissent and the Bible in Britain, c.1650-1950 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013).
Editor, Cities of God: The Bible and Archaeology in Nineteenth-century Britain (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013).
Lecturer in the History of Christianity in Britain, King’s College, London
Nathan holds a PhD. from University of Wales Trinity Saint David Wales, United Kingdom. His research focuses on culture and religious change and identity-formation in a globalizing world and engages in post-colonial critique.
Although his initial training was in theology and religious history, Nathan has branched out and now embraces an interdisciplinary approach to his scholarship that includes, in particular, anthropology and sociology.
He is a believer and practitioner of creative and interactive content- delivery using different approaches and tools. The classroom space provides him an opportunity for in-person contact with students, whom he engages with as individuals with unique stories. As a facilitator, he hopes to cultivate in his students the skills of critical thinking and helping them embrace empathy. His teaching philosophy is ‘Equipping my students to construct their own learning.’
He is a singer-songwriter and recording artist.
Sociology
Certificate, Teaching in Higher Education (Harvard University)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) University of Wales Trinity Saint David, Wales, UK
Master of Theological Studies (ThM) Regent College, Vancouver, Canada
Master of Arts (MA) Regent College, Vancouver, Canada
Bachelor of Arts (English), University of Maiduguri, Nigeria
Monograph: Understanding Religious Change in Africa and Europe: Crossing Latitudes: The Christianization of Jukun of Nigeria and Celtic Irish in Early Medieval Europe (Springer, 2020) and has published in the journal, Studies in World Christianity (2022.)
Elawa, Nathan I. (2022). ‘The Eliminated Gods’: The Christian Reconfiguration of Jukun Theism. Studies in World Christianity, 28(2), 205–225.
Nathan has worked as a teacher, youth mentor and coach and human resources developer with University students and emerging leaders within the West African sub-region.
Professional Societies: Member of the African Association of for the Study of Religions (AASR) and the American Academy of Religion (AAR).
The Popularity of African hand-drumming across cities of the Global North: A Case study of Vancouver, Canada.
Assistant Professor, Marie Anne Blondin Chair in Catholic Theology, St. Mark’s College
Dr. Nicholas Olkovich comes to Vancouver from the Faculty of Theology, University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto where he taught and served as Director of Field Education and Pastoral Formation from 2015-2017. During his MDiv and PhD programs, he served as parish catechist and RCIA Director at a large parish in Toronto’s west-end.
Nick teaches in the areas of foundational, systematic and pastoral theology. His ongoing research focuses primarily on the relationship between ethics, politics and religion in democratic contexts and on a variety of issues in theological anthropology, fundamental ecclesiology, and foundational theology. His teaching and research is strongly influenced by the work of Canadian Jesuit philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan.
Religious Studies
Ph.D., Theology, University of St. Michael’s College (2009-2016)
S.T.L., Regis College (2009-2013)
M.Div., University of St. Michael’s College/University of Toronto (2005-2009)
B.A., Honours, History and Philosophy, University of Toronto (2001 – 2005)
“Complicating the Reception of Lonergan on ‘Sacralization and Secularization,’” Irish Theological Quarterly 86.2 (2021): 164-183.
“Whose Populism? Which People? Mouffe, Girard and Lonergan in Dialogue,” Religious Studies and Theology 39.2 (2020): 177-193
“Solidarity and the Possibility of Global Human Rights,” in Everything is Interconnected: Towards a Globalization with a Human Face and an Integral Ecology. Milwaukee: Marquette Univ. Press, 2019 (57-78)
“Dimensions of Freedom: Human and Christian,” Touchstone 37 (2019): 31-41.
“Rethinking the Politics-Religion Distinction,” Political Theology 19 (2018): 227-246.
“Vatican II and Thomist Revivalism: MacIntyre and Lonergan on the Dialectic of History,” in The Promise of Renewal: Dominicans at Vatican II. Adelaide: Australasian Theological Forum (ATF Press), 2016 (159-183)
The Promise of Renewal: Dominicans at Vatican II. Adelaide: Australasian Theological Forum (ATF Press), 2016 (co-edited with Michael Attridge, Darren Dias and Matthew Eaton)
“Politicizing Religion: Cavanaugh, Levinas and Lonergan in Dialogue,” with Matthew Eaton and Michael Buttrey, in Didaskalia 25 (2015): 103-127
“Reinterpreting Original Sin: Integrating Insights from Sociology and the Evolutionary Sciences,” The Heythrop Journal 54 (5) (2013): 715-731
“Conceptualism, Classicism, and Lonergan’s Retrieval of Aquinas,” Pacifica: Australasian Journal of Theology, 26 (1) (2013): 37-58
“Beyond Radical Particularism: A Lonerganian Response to S. Mark Heim’s ‘Pluralistic Inclusivism,” Method: Journal of Lonergan Studies 2 N/S (2011): 89-122
Dr. Allen is Academic Dean of the college. His scholarly work is situated in the fields of science-theology dialogue, theological anthropology and in systematic theology. Publications include these book volumes: Ernan McMullin and Critical Realism in the Science-Theology Dialogue (2006); Catholicism and Science (2008); and Theological Method: A Guide for the Perplexed (2012). Articles have appeared in such journals as Heythrop Journal of Theology, Ex Auditu, Neue Zeitschrift für Systematische Theologie und Religionsphilosophie and American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. His next book is an edited volume with ten other contributors titled Augustine and Contemporary Social Issues. In addition, he is writing the entry on “Monarchy” for the St. Andrews Encyclopedia of Theology. He is subject editor for the forthcoming T&T Clark Encyclopedia of Christian Theology and is working on a three part systematic theological anthropology.
Professor Emeritus of St. Mark’s College
Dr. Paul Burns came back St. Mark’s College and to Corpus Christi College after many years of teaching interdisciplinary courses in Arts One and in Religious Studies at UBC and then at Quest University. For fifteen years he was also responsible for teaching World Religions and the History of Christian Thought at UBC. For these courses, in particular, he won the University Teaching Prize. With colleagues in the Faculty of Arts at UBC, Paul helped to begin the Major in “Religion, Literature and the Arts”.
Paul studied Greek and Latin language, literature, philosophy and history at the University of Toronto before doing a program in Catholic Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College. For his work in Ecumenism in an organization for theological students across Canada, the World Council of Churches arranged for him to do advanced studies in the history of Christian Thought at Oxford.
Here at Corpus Christi College Paul was Director and then Dean of Liberal Arts which meant that he was responsible for developing and integrating the whole curriculum around a contemporary version of the Liberal Arts grounded in the Catholic intellectual tradition. He enjoys working with colleagues at Corpus Christi to incorporate some of the innovations in curriculum design and in teaching styles which he had learned in his previous experiences at UBC and at Quest University.
He designed and taught the course “Explorations in Catholicism” He also taught “World Religions”. Recently to acknowledge the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, Paul team taught a graduate course on Augustine with Dr. Jason Byassee of VST.
Paul continues to research and to publish on major Christian Thinkers in the fourth century. He is particularly interested in the ways Hilary of Poitiers and Augustine of Hippo evangelized Christian and non-Christian members of the educated class of their respective generations. Integrating Catholic faith and public culture was also a challenge for Thomas Aquinas, as noted in the quotation above, and this task continues to be an important challenge for the Church of our own generation.
Education Ph.D. in Classics from the University of Toronto B.Litt. in History of Christian Thought from Oxford S.T.B. in Theology from the University of St. Michael’s College M.A. in Classics from the University of Toronto * B.A. (Honors) in Classics from the University of Toronto
Recent Publications Burns, P.C. “Augustine of Hippo: The Christian Life Then and Now” in Sources of the Christian Self: A Cultural History of Christian Identity, Edd. J.M. Houston and J. Zimmermann, (Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmanns, 2018) 209-222 and reprinted in Crux Vol. 44, No 3 16-25. Burns, P.C., “Child Sacrifice: A Polyvalent Story in Early Eucharistic Piety,” in Sparing the Child: …, Edd. Arbel, D.V., Burns, P.C., Cousland J.R.C., Menkis, R.C., Neufeld, D. (New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2015) 141-164. Burns, P.C., A Model for the Christian Life: Hilary of Poitiers’ Commentary on the Psalms (Washington: Catholic University of America, 2012) * Burns, P.C., editor, Jesus in Twentieth-Century, Art and the Movies (New York: Continuum 2007).
Religious Studies/Historical Theology
“Grace does not repress or ignore nature but rather builds on it and expands it (Thomas Aquinas Summa Theologica I,1.8).”
Richard Angelo Bergen comes from a family of five kids in which all of them studied very different subjects, but nevertheless remain the closest of friends. Richard became interested in literature in large part because he was trying to write songs for a hard rock band, for which he sang and played drums: thus, he became fascinated with the question of what makes poetry deep, eloquent, and electrifying. Dr. Bergen completed a PhD at the University of British Columbia on the role of architectural and topographical representation in allegorical narratives. Richard now teaches introduction to literature courses and has research and teaching interests in fantasy literature (especially C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien), journey and voyage narratives, and the raptures of Renaissance literature (with particular work on William Shakespeare, John Milton, and John Bunyan). When anyone, himself included, studies a piece of art, there is always the possible tragedy of never noticing: never connecting to the focused or meaningful potentiality of experience that the writer allows. Richard aims in every one of his classes at Corpus Christi College to enable moments when literature translates into wakefulness and enrichment.
English
Richard is currently working on finishing his dissertation and a book form of it, which is about the connection between allegorical stories and setting (A Theory of Allegorical Spatiality).
Numerous other works are in progress that relate to this connection (between allegory and place), including conference papers, and essays consigned for submissions to journals like Chaucer Review, Speculum, and Bunyan Studies.
He also has an essay on C. S. Lewis and historical philosophy, which is being published with Cambridge Scholars Press in 2020.
PhD in English Language and Literature – The University of British Columbia
Date Conferred: December 2022
Dissertation Title: The Nature of Allegory: Spatial Tropes in Medieval and Early Modern Allegorical Narratives
Distinctions: honours on comprehensive exams, pass with no revisions on dissertation/oral defence
Trinity Western University, Langley, BC; 2007-2014
Degrees Conferred:
Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Humanities (MA), 2014
-With distinction as the top-ranking student in my cohort: Philosophy, History, and English Literature components
Bachelor of Arts, Honours Major in English (BA, Hons), Minor in History, 2012
“‘A Warp of Horror’: J. R. R. Tolkien’s Sub-creations of Evil.” Mythlore vol. 30 (Fall 2017), pp. 103-121.
“C. S. Lewis: Interpreting History as Interpreter.” The Inklings and Culture: A Harvest of Scholarship from the
Inklings Institute of Canada. Edited by Monika B. Hilder, Sara L. Pearson, and Laura N. Van Dyke,
Cambridge Scholars Press, 2020, pp. 262-74.
“Hawes, Stephen.” The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain. Edited by Robert Rouse and Siân Echard.
Wiley-Blackwell, 2017.
“The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe: Mere Allegory or More Allegory?” The Journal of Inklings Studies.
Edinburgh University Press, vol. 9, no. 1 (Spring 2019), pp. 43-62.
The Nature of Allegory: Spatial Tropes in Medieval and Early Modern Allegorical Narratives. The University of
British Columbia, 2022. [Dissertation]
A link can be found at ubc.ca and through Google Scholar
“Paradise Lost and the Descent of Urania: From Astrology to Allegory.” Culture and Cosmos vol. 18, no. 2
(Fall 2014 [2016 release]), pp. 105-124.
“Praying Hard: Milton, Metal Music, and Religious Representation.” Cutting Edge ISGP Journal: vol. 5, no. 1
(Winter 2018): 8-18.
“Reforming Allegory in The Pilgrim’s Progress.” Love, Knowledge and the University. Edited by John North.
North Waterloo Academic Press, 2015, pp. 107-23.
“Substance Abuse: The Symbolic Geography of Hell in The Great Divorce.” Mythlore vol. 36, no. 1
(Spring 2024), 21-41.
The Recorder: Newsletter for the International John Bunyan Society. Vol. 26, 27, 28, 29. (Fall 2020-2023).
[as editor]
“Topic and Topography: Mind and World.” INK: Ideas Numbers and Knowledge: vol. 4, no. 1 (Fall 2017),
pp. 8-9.
“The Word and the World: Spatial Allegory and the ‘Nature’ of The Pilgrim’s Progress.” Bunyan Studies vol. 26
(Fall 2022), pp. 79-100.
Review of Paradise Lost and the Cosmological Revolution by Dennis Danielson. Culture and Cosmos 18.2 (Autumn 2014).
Review of Reading the Road, from Shakespeare’s Crossways to Bunyan’s Highways. Edited by Lisa Hopkins and Bill Angus. Bunyan Studies 25 (Fall 2021), pp. 131-34.
Review of The Similitude of a Dream. The Neal Morse Band, Radiant Records, 2016. Bunyan Studies 23 (Fall 2019), pp. 113-15.
Review of Spenser in the Moment, eds. Paul Hecht and J. B. Lethbridge. Sixteenth Century Journal. XLVII/2 (Summer 2017), pp. 559-61.
Review of With Wandering Steps: Generative Ambiguity in John Milton’s Poetics, eds. Louis Schwartz and Mary C. Fenton. Sixteenth Century Journal. XLIX/3 (Fall 2018), pp. 845-47.
“Into the Cloud of Unknowing.” Short Educational film. Scripted, produced, and edited by Richard Bergen and Naomi Hogg. Uploaded to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ov7XY_d-sIk&t=123s (2011). With over 20,000 views.
Part-time Professor, University of Ottawa September 2023-Present
Richard has been working as professor for five sections of ENG 1100 (Workshop in Essay Writing and Research) at the University of Ottawa, and will continue to teach other courses and sections throughout the remainder of the Academic Year.
Teaching Assistant, TWU, UBC 2011-2013, 2016-2023
He has served as TA for 15 courses in total. These teaching assistant positions have primarily involved marking, lecturing, leading discussions, invigilating, and general classroom facilitation. I have also helped with curriculum and administration.
Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English (ACCUTE)
Canadian Society of Renaissance Studies (CSRS)
Inklings Institute of Canada (IIC)
International John Bunyan Society (IJBS)
Medieval Association of Place and Space (MAPS)
Medieval Association of the Pacific (MAP)
Mythopoeic Society
Renaissance Society of America (RSA)
Spenser Society
A book version of Richard’s dissertation on allegorical spatiality.
A study of concept albums and their approach to musical and lyrical characterization, based on William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and John Milton’s Paradise Lost.
A study on “houses of fame” and the representation of crises in mnemonics, looking at Geoffrey Chaucer’s original House of Fame and some of his notable imitators (Stephen Hawes, John Lydgate, and some anonymous authors).
A study of the relationship of ars memoratiua to Nonconformist writers, and John Bunyan’s works.
An essay on medieval and early modern Death topifications and figural landscapes concerning mortality.
Tatiana’s teaching interests include: slavery and abolition in the Atlantic world, North American histories from early contact to present day, social history, labour history.
History
PhD History
“Enslaved women in America: from colonial times to emancipation” by Emily West Journal of Southern History 82(May 2016):407-408
“An African Republic: Black and White Virginians in the Making of Liberia,” by Marie Tyler-McGraw Journal of Southern History 76(Aug, 2010): 712-713.
“Africans, Creoles, and Rumoured Rebels: New Readings in American Slavery” (Review essay) Canadian Review of American Studies 33, no.3(2003): 267-285
At St. Mark’s and Corpus Christi Colleges, Fr. Nick teaches New Testament and Old Testament studies. In his doctoral studies, he is researching Paul’s views on sexuality, marriage and singleness under the supervision of Professors John Barclay (primary supervisor, Durham) and Harry Maier (secondary supervisor, Vancouver School of Theology).
Fr. Nick was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Vancouver in 2013. As part of his formation, he spent several years with the Missionary of Charity Fathers, serving in various ministries in Tijuana, Mexico City and Rome. Prior to teaching, he served in several parishes in Surrey and Richmond. In addition to teaching at St. Mark’s and Corpus Christi Colleges, he is involved in parish and high school ministry.
Religious Studies
“What Was Moses Shown on Mt. Sinai?” Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. Annual Conference. Vancouver, BC. June 3, 2019.