Ingrid Shafer
Prof. Emerita of Philosophy & Religion/Editor of CrosstimbersBiography
Ingrid Shafer, Professor Emerita of Philosophy and Religion and Mary Jo Ragan Professor Emerita of Interdisciplinary Studies, is the Editor of Crosstimbers, a biannual multicultural interdisciplinary journal of arts and ideas published by the USAO Foundation. Dr. Shafer joined the USAO faculty (then called Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts) in 1968 and was deeply involved in developing and implementing the innovative IDS program.
Dr. Shafer retired from her USAO teaching position in 2009 in order to devote more time to writing and publishing. Since 1998 she has also taught, and continues to teach, an online graduate course on Global Ethics and World Religions for the University of Oklahoma.
She is the author/editor/translator of several books, three of which focus on Father Andrew Greeley who is considered to be one of the most influential Catholic thinkers, writers, priests, sociologists, authors or journalists of recent times. She is the official translator of the Oberammergau Passion Play (2000 and 2010) and has served as consultant to the play’s producers along with representatives of Jewish groups. With Alan Race she co-edited Religions in Dialogue: From Theocracy to Democracy (Ashgate 2002). Her articles have appeared in professional journals, especially Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, as book chapters, and encyclopedia entries. For more than two decades she has been Area Chair of the Religion and Culture section of the National Popular Culture Association (PCA) and chaired panels at conferences in New Orleans, San Francisco, Boston, Atlanta, San Diego, San Antonio, Philadelphia, Las Vegas, Chicago, Louisville and Toronto.
Over the years she has developed an extensive network of ecumenical websites and edits the sites of several non-profit organizations including the Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church (ARCC) the Association of Communal Harmony in Asia (ACHA), India-Pakistan Peace, and the Bumuntu Peace Institute. She has lectured in Austria, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, Bangladesh, India, and Kenya.
Shafer was a finalist for the Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in Teaching and Administration in 2001 and was honored in 2002 with the State of Oklahoma Medal for Excellence in College/University Teaching. At the time she was the first and woman to receive that award and the first person not associated with one of Oklahoma’s comprehensive universities. In 2003 she received the distinguished alumna award from the OU College of Arts and Sciences.
In 2001, Shafer received the Star Award in Recognition of Meritorious Work to Promote Peace and Harmony from The Association for Communal Harmony in Asia. She received USAO Regents’ Research Awards in 2000 and 1991 and received the USAO Regents’ Superior Teaching Award in 1981.
Fellowship
NEH Summer Institute: "Religious Studies and Liberal Education: Opportunities and New Directions" (part of the multi-year Berkeley/Chicago/Harvard Summer Institutes: "The Study of Religion in the Liberal Arts: Towards a Global Perspective"), University of Chicago, June 18-July 30, 1986.
Education
Ph.D. (Philosophy, 1984) University of Oklahoma (Dissertation:
"The Infinite Circle: The Chiliastic Soul in Hegel, Jung, and Hesse with Particular Emphasis on Hesse's Glasperlenspiel."
M. A. (Human Relations, 1975) University of Oklahoma
M. A. (German Literature, 1967) University of Oklahoma
Thesis: "Between God and Demon: Else Lasker-Schüler: A Dialectical Interpretation."
Ph.D. Candidate (American Literature, 1960) University of Innsbruck
Dissertation topic: "Suffering of the Righteous. From Tabu-utul-Enlil to Archibald MacLeish's J.B."
Education
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