Shelly Rambo

Assistant Professor of Theology

A constructive theologian, Shelly Rambo engages the textual tradition of Christianity with particular attention to postmodern literary analysis and criticism. Trained as both a systematic and constructive theologian, she is interested in how classical themes in the Christian tradition interact with and inform contemporary discourses around suffering, trauma, and violence. Her most recent work forges a theology of the Spirit through engagements with postmodern biblical hermeneutics, a theology of Holy Saturday, and contemporary trauma theory. Her book, Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining, was published in 2010 by Westminster John Knox Press. Her teaching and research interests include: feminist theory and theology, postmodern theology, pneumatology, and trauma studies. Through a series of faculty grants funded by the Center for Practical Theology and the Lilly Endowment, she has developed and presented workshops that offer religious leaders critical tools for thinking theologically about trauma. She received her PhD in theology from Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion in 2004, as well as master’s degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Yale University.