Dr. Mariele Courtois

Dr. Mariele Courtois joined the Theology Department at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas as an Assistant Professor in 2022. Her research interests include biomedical ethics, technology ethics, disability theology, and the sacramentality of the hospital. She earned a Ph.D. with distinction in Moral Theology & Ethics (2022) and a Master of Philosophy in Theology and Religious Studies (2021) from the Catholic University of America. Her dissertation entitled “Biomedical Challenges to Identity and Parenthood: An Investigation into the Ethics of Genetic Technologies at the Beginning of Life” applies Edith Stein’s understanding of individuality to ethical questions concerning genetic therapies and the relationship between disability and identity. She also holds a Master of Theological Studies from the University of Notre Dame (2017) and a B.S. in Biology from Loyola Marymount University (2015). She is a member of the International Association for the Study of the Philosophy of Edith Stein.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in Moral Theology & Ethics, Minor Concentration in Philosophy

The Catholic University of America (2022)

M.Phil., Theology & Religious Studies

The Catholic University of America (2021)

M.T.S., Moral Theology & Ethics

University of Notre Dame (2017)

B.S. Biology

Loyola Marymount University (2015)

Areas of Expertise

Moral Theology
Theological Anthropology
Biomedical Ethics
Virtue Theory
Edith Stein

Areas of Research:

Genetic Engineering Ethics
Beginning- and End-of-Life Ethics
Technology Ethics
Disability Ethics
Benedictine Spirituality and the Sacramentality of the Hospital

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Contributing author of Encountering Artificial Intelligence: Ethical and Anthropological Investigations, ed. Matthew J. Gaudet, Noreen Herzfeld, Paul Scherz, Jordan J. Wales. AI Research Group for the Vatican Center for Digital Culture. Eugene, Oregon: Pickwick Press, 2024. 

SELECTED PRESENTATIONS

Keynote: “Probing the Heart of Medicine: Applying Edith Stein’s Ontological Studies to Prenatal Genetic Ethics.” 4 July 2023. Valor Personae et Amor Dei: The Value of the Human Person and Divine Love; Meeting Edith Stein. Edith Stein Centre, Alyesford Carmelite Priory, Kent, England.

Featured presentation: “Unfolding a Gift of God: How Edith Stein’s Educational Theology Opposes the Technocratic Paradigm.” 7 October 2023. VII Congreso Internacional De La International Association for the Study of the Philosophy of Edith Stein: Pensar La Educacion: Edith Stein. (Online) Catholic University of Avila, Avila, Spain.

Invited: Respondent to lecture by 2023–2024 Russell Family Research Fellow Brian Patrick Green, Ph.D. 10 November 2023. Annual Russell Family Research Conference. Graduate Theological Union’s Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. (Online) Berkeley, California.

Invited: “The Technocratic Gaze and a Perspective of Gift: The Distinctiveness of Catholic Theology for Technology Ethics.” 27 October 2022. Workshop on Catholic Technology Ethics for the 2022 Tech Ethics Symposium. Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law. Duquesne University. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania.

“Challenges to Identity and Parenthood: Resources from Edith Stein for Genetic Ethics at the Beginning of Life.” 9 September 2023. Edith Steins Leben und Werk. Edith-Stein-Archiv zu Köln. (Online) Cologne, Germany.

“Investigating the Relationship between Disability and Identity through Edith Stein: Insights for Biomedical Ethics.” 12 November 2022. de Nicola Center for Ethics and Culture 22nd Annual Fall Conference—“‘And It Was Very Good’: On Creation.” University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame, Indiana.

“The Future for the Terminally Ill Infant: Developing an Art of Dying for Perinatal Hospice.” 21 October 2018. The American Society for Bioethics and Humanities Annual Conference. Anaheim, California.