M. Shawn Copeland

Theologian M. Shawn Copeland was born on August 24, 1947, in Detroit, Michigan to Geraldine C. and Johnine L. Copeland. Copeland received her B.A. degree in English from Madonna University in Livonia, Michigan in 1969 and her Ph.D. degree in systematic theology from Boston College in Massachusetts in 1991.

In 1991, Copeland was hired as an assistant professor of theology and black studies at the Yale Divinity School and was promoted to associate professor in 1994. Between 1992 and 1994, she also served as an adjunct assistant professor of systematic theology at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies at Xavier University of Louisiana, where she was promoted to associate professor in 1994. That same year, Marquette University hired Copeland as an associate professor of systematic theology, a position she held for eight years. From 2003 to 2006, she served as associate director of Xavier University’s Master of Theology degree program. She held the Joseph Visiting Professorship of Catholic Theology at Boston College from 2002 to 2003 before joining the faculty as an associate professor of systematic theology in 2003. In 2013, Copeland was promoted to professor of systematic theology at Boston College, and she retired from there in 2019 as professor emerita. She served as visiting distinguished professor and McDonald Chair at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology from 2020 to 2021. In 2021, she was named theologian-in-residence at St. Katharine Drexel Catholic Parish in Roxbury, Massachusetts. During the 2022-2023 academic year, Copeland served as the Vincentian Chair of Social Justice at St. John’s University in Jamaica, New York.

A Roman Catholic, Copeland has been a member of the Black Catholic Theological Symposium since 1978 and served as associate convenor from 1992 to 2001 and as convenor from 2001 to 2005. Since 1981, she has been a member of the Catholic Theological Society of America (CTSA) and served as its president from 2003 to 2004. Copeland was also elected to the Society for the Study of Black Religion in 1992 and holds membership in the American Academy of Religion (AAR) since 1989, serving as co-chair of the Women and Religion Program Section from 1993 to 1996 and as a steering committee member for the Black Theology Group from 2001 to 2008. The American Theological Society (ATS) selected Copeland as a member in 2014.

Copeland has received numerous recognitions for her professional achievements. These include eight honorary doctorates, the Civitas Dei Medal from Villanova University, and two book awards in theology from the Catholic Media Association for her books Desire, Darkness, and Hope: Theology in a Time of Impasse: Engaging the Thought of Constance FitzGerald, OCD and Knowing Christ Crucified: The Witness of African American Religious Experience.

Copeland and her partner, Barbara Louise Pietrzak Bzura, reside in Watertown, Massachusetts.

M. Shawn Copeland was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on July 29, 2024.