Teresa Berger named the inaugural Golden Professor of Catholic Theology

Teresa Berger, newly named as the inaugural Thomas E. Golden Jr. Professor of Catholic Theology, teaches liturgical studies at Yale Divinity School and the Yale Institute of Sacred Music. She focuses her research at the intersections of liturgical studies and Catholic theology with gender theory, specifically gender history.

Berger is the author or editor of numerous books, including “Gender Differences and the Making of Liturgical History,” “Dissident Daughters: Feminist Liturgies in Global Context,” and  “Fragments of Real Presence: Liturgical Traditions in the Hands of Women.” She has contributed scores of articles and chapters to edited volumes and journals. Her multimedia productions include a video documentary, “Worship in Women’s Hands,” and a CD-ROM, “Ocean Psalms: Meditations, Stories, Prayers, Songs and Blessings from the Sea.”

Originally from Germany, Berger received a Licentiate of Theology from St. John’s College (Nottingham, England) and two master’s degrees from Johannes Gutenberg-Universität (Mainz, Germany). She holds a doctorate in constructive theology from Ruprecht Karl-Universität (Heidelberg, Germany) and a doctorate in liturgical studies from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität (Münster, Germany). She was also awarded the Habilitation, a postdoctoral degree, from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität.

Berger has held teaching positions at Johannes Gutenberg-Universität, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Humboldt-University, and Uppsala University. Before coming to Yale in 2007, she was a full professor at Duke University’s Divinity School.

Berger is a member of the American Academy of Religion, Societas Liturgica, and the European Society of Women in Theological Research, among others. In 2003, she received the Herbert Haag Prize for Freedom in the Church.