Member of the Perkins faculty since 2005
vkarras@smu.edu
214.768.1400

Education
Ph.D., The Catholic University of America, 2002; Th.D., Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 1991; M.T.S., Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, 1982; B.A., Washington University in St. Louis, 1979

Teaching Specialties
Patristic (early Christian) theology, Byzantine church history, Orthodox theology

Research Interests
Women in the Byzantine liturgy, gender in Greek patristic thought, Orthodoxy and feminist theology, Orthodoxy in ecumenical and interreligious contexts, Greek patristic anthropology and soteriology

Selected Publications
“The Liturgical Functions of Consecrated Women in the Byzantine Church,” Theological Studies 66:1 (Spring 2005): 96-116; “A Reevaluation of Marriage, Celibacy, and Irony in Gregory of Nyssa’s On Virginity,” Journal of Early Christian Studies 13:1 (Spring 2005): 111-121; “Female Deacons in the Byzantine Church,” Church History 73:2 (June 2004): 272-316; “Beyond Justification: An Orthodox Perspective,” in Justification and the Future of the Ecumenical Movement, ed. William G. Rusch (Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press, 2003), 99-131; “Eschatology,” in Cambridge Companion to Feminist Theology, ed. Susan F. Parsons (Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press, 2002), 243-260.

Professional Distinctions
Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies Board, 2002-present; Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research Board of Directors, 1997-2001; North American Academy of Ecumenists Executive Board, 1996-2001; American Academy of Religion, Eastern Orthodox Studies Group Steering Committee, 1993-2000; Byzantine chanter, Greek Orthodox Church