Faculty
Karen L. King
Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History
- BA, University of Montana
- PhD, Brown University
- To contact, please refer to:
- HDS Faculty Directory
Karen L. King was appointed to the Divinity School in 1998 and since 2003 has been the Winn Professor of Ecclesiastical History. Trained in comparative religions and historical studies, she pursues teaching and research specialties in the history of Christianity and women's studies. Her books include Reading Judas: The Gospel of Judas and the Shaping of Christianity (with Elaine Pagels); The Secret Revelation of John; The Gospel of Mary of Magdala: Jesus and the First Woman Apostle; and What Is Gnosticism? Other publications include Revelation of the Unknowable God; Images of the Feminine in Gnosticism (ed.); and Women and Goddess Traditions in Antiquity and Today (ed.). Her particular theoretical interests are in religious identity formation, discourses of normativity (orthodoxy and heresy), and gender studies. She has received many research grants and awards for excellence in teaching and research; among them are grants from the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst, and the Graves Foundation. Professor King is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society of Biblical Literature, the International Association for Coptic Studies, the Westar Institute, and the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas.