Dr Beth Dodd

Bio:

Programme Leader for Postgrad Programmes in Theology, Ministry and Mission. Beth specialises in theological aesthetics, particularly lyric poetry and theory.

I have taught in theological education since 2012, taking various roles across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes as a programme leader and director of studies. I teach Christian doctrine and specialise in theology, arts and culture. A child of the manse and daughter of the Lake District fells, the stomping ground of Wordsworth and Coleridge, I bring a poetic sensibility to my writing, which focuses on what poetry can teach us about the ‘grammar’ of Christian theology and the experience and practice of Christian faith. I have a passion for retrieving neglected or devalued ideas, recovering the beauty that once made them powerful and reimagining them for a contemporary context. Previous publications focussed on a Christian theology of innocence while my forthcoming book takes a step beyond narrative theology and theodramatic theory to explore the lyric voice in Christian theology. I have published on spoken word artists such as Kae Tempest and Tony Walsh alongside religious poets like John Clare, George Herbert and Thomas Traherne.

I am currently working on a project with Jarel Robinson-Brown that celebrates the contribution of Black poetry to British spiritual life.

As well as programme leader for postgraduate programmes in Theology, Ministry and Mission at Sarum College, I am also a research associate for the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture.

I am available to supervise research projects and offer teaching sessions, study days and retreats in the areas of Christian doctrine, theology, arts and culture and theological reflection.

“Excellent quality. Prepared, thoughtful, challenging delivery – now that’s the gold standard that should be followed!“ (postgraduate student feedback)

Research Interests

• Christian doctrine, esp. pneumatology, logos theology, Christology
• Theology arts and culture, esp. spoken word/performance poetry/contemporary Black British poetry, Romantic poetry inc. William Blake, metaphysical poets inc. Thomas Traherne, medieval lyric.
• Theological aesthetics, inc. narrative theology, theological dramatic theory, theology and poetry

Select Publications

• The Lyric Voice in English Theology (London: T&T Clark, 2023)
• ‘Why Lyric? A Theological Perspective’, T&T Clark Handbook of Theology and the Arts, ed. Imogen Adkins and Stephen Garrett (London: T&T Clark, 2024)
• ‘Silence, Breath, Body, Cry: Poetry and Prayer’, ‘Poetry and Prayer’, The T&T Clark Companion to Christian Prayer, ed. Ashley Cocksworth and John C. McDowell (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2021)
• Luke 1:46-55: ‘The Magnificat’, The Visual Commentary on Scripture (2020)
• ‘John Clare’s Romantic ‘I’: A Prophetic Poetics of Testimony’, Prophetic Witness and the Reimagining of the World, ed. Mark S. Burrows, Hilary Davies, Jospehine von Zitzewitz (London: Routledge, 2020)
• ‘Spoken Word and Spirit’s Breath: A Theopoetics of Performance Poetry’, Literature and Theology (Autumn 2019)
• Genesis 3:22-24: ‘Expulsion and Exile’, The Visual Commentary on Scripture (2019)
• Boundless Innocence in Thomas Traherne’s Poetic Theology: “Were all Men Wise and Innocent…” (Farnham: Ashgate, 2015)
• Elizabeth S. Dodd and Carl E. Findley III (eds), Innocence Uncovered: Literary and Theological Perspectives (London: Routledge, September 2016)
• Elizabeth S. Dodd and Cassandra Gorman (eds), Thomas Traherne and Seventeenth-Century Thought (Cambridge: D.S. Brewer, 2016).

Public Appearances and Interviews
• ‘Interview: Beth Dodd, Theologian’, The Church Times (21 June 2019)
• Church Times Festival of Poetry https://churchtimespoetry.hymnsam.co.uk/speakers
• Greenbelt Festival, ‘A Bright Field’ https://www.greenbelt.org.uk/talks/no-enclosed-garden-thomas-trahernes-boundless-innocence/

Education

• 2013 – PhD in Theology, University of Cambridge
• 2008 – MTh, University of Edinburgh
• 2007 – MA in Modern History, Oxford University