The School of Theology and Religious Studies (STRS) at The Catholic University of America welcomes two new faculty members this year whose research and expertise include the relationship between faith and reason, as well as Eastern Christianity.
Reinhard Huetter, a native of Lichtenfels, Germany, who has taught at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and at Duke University Divinity School, joins STRS as an ordinary professor of fundamental and dogmatic theology, as well as a faculty fellow for the University’s Institute for Human Ecology.
Huetter studied theology, philosophy, and German literature and philosophy at the University of Erlangen, the University of Bonn, and Duke University. He has held numerous fellowships, including at the University of Chicago, Princeton University, the University of Jena in Germany, and Providence College in Providence, R.I. Most recently, Huetter served as the Chester and Margaret Paluch Chair in Theology for the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Ill.
Huetter’s teaching and research looks at the fundamental theological questions of the relationship between faith and reason, nature and grace, revelation and faith, theology and philosophy, dogma and history, theological anthropology, and the theology and epistemology of faith. He is the author of numerous books, including his most recent Dust Bound for Heaven: Explorations in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas. His book Divine Happiness: Aquinas on the Journey to Beatitude, the Ultimate Human End, will be published in 2018.
Very Rev. Mark Morozowich, dean of theology and religious studies, said he is pleased to welcome Huetter to the STRS faculty, adding that Huetter’s “keen intellect coupled with his careful scholarship will continue the long heritage of academic excellence at the School of Theology and Religious Studies.
“His engaging personality and willingness to spend time outside of the classroom with students enriches the learning process,” Father Morozowich said. “I trust that his style of interaction will help to encourage students at all levels to do research.”
Also joining the STRS faculty is Nina Glibetic, who studies the history of Christian ritual culture with a specific interest in the Eastern Mediterranean world.
Glibetic has studied at McGill University in Montreal; the University of Belgrade in Serbia; and the University of Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Oriental Institute, both in Rome. Previously, she worked as a postdoctoral associate at the Yale Institute of Sacred Music; a research fellow in Byzantine studies at the Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in Washington, D.C.; and as a postdoctoral research fellow for the Center for the Study of Christianity at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She is the author of The History of the Divine Liturgy Among South Slavs: The Oldest Cyrillic Sources (13th-14th century), which was published in 2013.
Father Morozowich said he hopes Glibetic’s expertise in Eastern Christianity will help solidify STRS’s reputation as “a world leader in Eastern liturgy.”
“Dr. Glibetic brings a rich experience of ritual and liturgy with her vast knowledge of the sources together with her interdisciplinary approach,” he said. “She will make important contributions in advancing the liturgy and sacramental theology.”