Skip to main content

Janice A. Thompson, Ph.D.

Janice Thompson, Ph.D.
Professor
Theology Department

Hafey-Marian 400

Expertise: systematic theology, suffering, interfaith dialogue

Biography

Janice A. Thompson, Ph.D., is Professor of Theology at King's College. She grew up in Canada (Montreal and Toronto) with summer visits to the Lake of the Woods, Ontario. Her love of philosophy and topics from math to music led her to the "Great Books Program" at St. John's College in Annapolis, where she earned her B.A. She followed the theological questions she encountered there to complete an M.A. in Systematic Theology at Boston College and then a Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at the University of Notre Dame. She taught at Notre Dame as a Visiting Assistant Professor in 2004-05 before coming to King's in 2005.
Dr. Thompson’s passion is the problem of suffering and theological responses to suffering. She studies the theology of Johann Baptist Metz, a German theologian who sought to change theology in response to the Shoah (Holocaust). She continues to write about Metz and other experiences and narratives of suffering. Dr. Thompson discovered the poetry of the Book of Job in college and still loves any opportunity to write about Job or discuss it in class. Recently, she has been writing about the poetry of disability, especially the poet Vassar Miller.
Dr. Thompson has completed programs to develop interfaith understanding, including: the Program on Ethics, Religion at the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; the Certificate in Indigenous Cultural Awareness at the Parliament of World Religions in Toronto; and the Teaching Interfaith Understanding Seminar in Boston.
Dr. Thompson looks forward to trips back to Canada, especially to the Lake.

Education

  • B.A., St. John's College, Philosophy, Annapolis
  • M.A., Systematic Theology, Boston College
  • Ph. D., Systematic Theology, University of Notre Dame

Publications, Presentations, and Conferences

  • "Fragmented Order: The Poetry of the Book of Job and Nelly Sachs," Annual Conference of the Association of Jewish Scholars, Zoom, 2024.
  • “From Eschatological Absence to Incarnational Presence: Poets Transforming Metaphors of Disability,” College Theology Society Annual Convention, 2023.
  • “’O That My Words Were Written Down!’: Contested Bodies and Unwelcome Words in the Book of Job and Modern Poetry of Disability,” Horizons, December 2022.
  • “Job’s Lament, Benatar’s Logic: Listening to the Polyphonic Text of the Book of Job,” Zeal: A Journal for the Liberal Arts, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2022.
  • "Challenging Interpretations of Disability and Incarnation in Vassar Miller’s Poetry of Connection,” in Christianity and Literature, Volume 70, Issue 4, December 2021.
  • “Likely to Become a Public Charge: Immigration Policy and Theological Anthropology,” Annual Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Zoom, June 2021.
  • Theologie in gefährdeter Zeit: Stichworte von nahen und fernen Weggefährten für Johann Baptist Metz zum 90. Geburtstag, Hans-Gerd Janßen, Julia D. E. Prinz & Michael J. Rainer Religion–Geschichte–Gesellschaft 50. Berlin: LIT Verlag, 2018, in Theological Studies, December 1, 2019.
  • “Renewing the Church as a Community of Hope: The German Catholic Church Confronts the Shoah,” Journal of Ecumenical Studies, Summer 2016.

Awards and Designations

  • Rev. Donald J. Grimes, C.S.C. Annual Award for Service-Learning Teaching Excellence, 2016
  • All-College Award: Faculty, King’s College, 2010

CV / Website