Biographies

Kirsten Abbott completed her M.Theol. at the University of Auckland in 2004. Her thesis was on the rhetoric of the monstrous in Job. She is an Anglican priest, and is currently working in a parish in Wellington.

Helen Bergin belongs to the Catholic Institute of Theology and teaches within the School of Theology in Auckland. She especially enjoys teaching the topics of Trinity and Holy Spirit. Introductory courses in systematic theology and in feminist theological perspectives also offer regular and spirited challenges.

Ann Gilroy is the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the School of Theology of the University of Auckland. Her teaching and research is primarily in the interdisciplinary area of Spirituality where the Christian traditions of spirituality engage with contemporary contexts, their perspectives, beliefs and values, issues and expressions. Ann has a special interest in feminist theories and theologies.

Dr Catherine Laudine is an anthropologist from the University of Newcastle in NSW Australia. Since her undergraduate days she has had a strong interest in the intersection between religion and science. This forms the basis of enquiry for her master’s work, informs her doctoral studies and is an ongoing area of interest. In her doctorate, this theme is examined by means of an anthropology of diverse contemporary Australian practices, which their exponents believe allow them to make contact with the natural world in some way.

Diane Strevens, BA (Auckland), MTheol (Melbourne) is a retired lecturer in Church History at the University of Auckland, and retired Co-ordinator of the Continuing Faith Education programme at the Catholic Institute of Theology in Auckland. She is currently writing the history of the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart In Aotearoa-New Zealand, and is a member of the Josephite Associate leadership Team. In between these activities she makes time for skiing, tramping and her marriage to Bob.