Congratulations to Dr. Hilda P. Koster, Associate Professor of Theology and Director of the Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology at the Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology, Toronto School of Theology, on being awarded a 2026–2027 Small Project Grant from the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

Dr. Koster’s project, Teaching Eco‑Theology across the Curriculum, is a collaborative teaching initiative that brings together faculty across the Toronto School of Theology to develop shared and innovative pedagogical approaches to ecological theology in the context of today’s intersecting social, political, and ecological crises. Rooted in the teaching commitments of the Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology at Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology, the project is intentionally interdisciplinary, engaging colleagues from the University of Toronto’s School of the Environment, the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE), and the Department for the Study of Religion as active partners in teaching and curricular development.

This grant recognizes the importance of collaborative, justice‑oriented approaches to teaching and affirms the ongoing commitment of Regis St. Michael’s Faculty of Theology to innovative theological education responsive to the urgent challenges of our time.

Elliott Allen Institute for Theology and Ecology and MSGR Fraser Centre of Pastoral Theology Lecture

Dr. Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo

Eco-Martyrdom in the Americas: Living and Dying for our Common Home

Monday, February 3, 2025 from 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Regis College, St Joseph Chapel (100 Wellesley St. W.)

Elizabeth O’Donnell Gandolfo is Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Earley Associate Professor of Catholic and Latin American Studies, at Wake Forest University, School of Divinity (North Carolina, USA). Her award winning book “Eco-Martyrdom in the Americas: Living and Dying for our Common Home” (Orbis, 2023) highlights the ongoing murder of land and environmental defenders, particularly in Latin America (many of them Indigenous), and theologically engages their witness in light of recent developments in Catholic social thought and liberation theology. For additional information, please contact Dr. Hilda Koster (hilda.koster@utoronto.ca) or Dr. Gerard Ryan, SJ (gerard.ryan@utoronto.ca)

To RSVP please email Dr. Hilda Koster hilda.koster@utoronto.ca

On Monday, November 18 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm Dr. Jan-Olav Henriksen, Professor of Philosophy of Religion in the MF Norwegian School of Theology, Religion, and Society in Oslo will be delivering the annual Elliott Allen Lecture in Theology and Ecology. Dr. Henriksen will be speaking on “Allowing Grace to Work in the Anthropocene: Lessons from Nordic Creation Theology.”

The lecture will take place at Charbonnel Lounge (81 St. Mary St., Toronto) and is free and open to the public. There will be a reception in Dr. Henriksen’s honour immediately following the lecture.  

Please direct inquiries to Dr. Hilda Koster, Director of the Elliott Allen Institute hilda.koster@utoronto.ca