Andrew O’Connor

Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies

B.A., University of Wisconsin-Madison (‘10)
M.A., University of Chicago (‘13)
Ph.D., University of Notre Dame (‘19) 

Programs: Theology and Religious Studies

Andrew O’Connor joined St. Norbert College in fall 2019. He earned his Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame in Theology (World Religions & World Church) with an emphasis on Islamic studies. His undergraduate degree from the UW-Madison was in history (with certificates in Medieval Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and Religious Studies) and his master’s degree in Middle Eastern studies from the University of Chicago. He never thought he would end up teaching world religions and theology—as a kid he wanted to be an archaeologist or historian. He started taking Arabic on a whim during his undergraduate studies and was able to make a trip to Egypt for the first time in December 2009 to conduct research for his senior thesis. His interest in Arabic has since led him back to the Middle East on multiple occasions; most notably, he was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Amman, Jordan, for the 2017-18 academic year.

Andrew’s chief academic interest is the Qur’an and its relationship to Jewish and Christian traditions in Late Antiquity. His current projects include writing a book about the notion of “prophethood” in the Qur’an and a book chapter about the Qur’an’s presentation of Saul, David, and Solomon. In addition to frequently presenting at conferences across the United States, he has given talks in the UK (Oxford), Tunisia, Morocco, Palestine, Jordan, and Sicily.

At SNC, Andrew teaches courses on world religions, world scriptures, interfaith leadership, and comparative theology. He has even led a group of students to both Rome, Italy and Amman, Jordan for a Global Seminar on interfaith relations.

Andrew’s other hobbies include traveling, playing board games, reading fiction, brewing, camping, and spending time with his family.

Courses
THRS 117 Theological Foundations
THRS 313 Interfaith Leadership in America
THRS 339 World Scriptures
THRS 340 World Religions in Dialogue
THRS 343 Muslim-Christian Theologies in Dialogue
THRS 350 Christianity and Religious Diversity
THRS 389/311 Interfaith Relations in the Middle East
THEO 5578 Theologies of Ecumenical and Interreligious Dialogue