Dr. Stephanie Arel
Dr. Stephanie Arel is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for the Bio-Cultural Study of Religion (IBCSR) at Boston University, where she completed her Ph.D. in Theological Studies. Her research interests lie at the intersection of theology, psychology, and philosophy where she focuses on issues of human suffering, especially in the aftermath of trauma. She studied religion and psychiatry at Union Theological Seminary, and she holds a certificate in trauma modalities for clinical treatment from the New York Institute for the Psychotherapies. She is also the Secretary/Treasurer of the Society of Ricoeur Studies, an international, interdisciplinary body dedicated to the work of Paul Ricoeur. Probing questions about the body’s affective response to life experiences, including how rhetoric and practice shape bodies as a means of self-formation, her work advances the interrelation between theology and the humanities and social sciences.