Devon Abts is Assistant Director of the Luce Center and Visiting Assistant Professor in theology and the arts. She holds a PhD in Theology from King’s College London, and an MA in Arts and Religion from Yale Divinity School. Her research and teaching is situated at the intersections of theology, Christian ethics, and the arts, with a focus on literature. Dr. Abts has taught on both sides of the Atlantic, and her work is published in academic journals and edited volumes as well as in works of popular media. She is currently preparing a manuscript on theological trajectories in modern poetry for publication.

Education
PhD, Theology & Religious Studies, King’s College London.

MA (magna cum laude), Arts and Religion, Yale Divinity School.

BA (cum laude), English Language & Literature, Gordon College.

Research Interests
Theology and literature
Constructive Theology
Modern Christian doctrine
Poetry & Poetics
Theology and film
Religion and Trauma

Publications (selected)
“Visual Traditions of the Noli Me Tangere,” in Mary Magdalene: The Exhibition. Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht, Netherlands, October 2020.

“Seeing through Idols: Art and Imagination at the Border,” Image Journal no. 106, September 2020.

“‘A Billion Times Told Lovelier’: Reclaiming G. M. Hopkins’s Theological Legacy through Geoffrey Hill’s Kenotic Lens.” The Fire that Breaks: Gerard Manley Hopkins’s Poetic Legacies. Clemson, SC: Clemson University Press, June 2020.

“Faithful Encounters: Toward a Christian Ethic of Reading.” Among Winter Cranes: The Quarterly of the Christian Poetics Initiative. Volume 2, Issue 2, Spring 2019.

Relevant Classes Taught
Scripture in Literature
Faith on Film
Visionary Poets
Theological Themes in Fiction
Creative Responses to Community Trauma