Francis X. Clooney

About

Francis X. Clooney is the Parkman Professor of Divinity and Professor of Comparative Theology at Harvard Divinity School. His research focuses on comparative theology, engaging with diverse religious traditions and exploring their intersections. As a distinguished scholar, he contributes to the understanding of religious diversity and the dialogue between different faiths, emphasizing the importance of cross-cultural and interreligious understanding.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Political Science
• Sociology
• Geography
• History
• Mathematics
• Ancient history
• Law
• Mechanical engineering
• Botany

Selected publications

• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent

  Common Knowledge · 2022 · 74 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  For my entire adult life, I have been engaged in study of the Hindu traditions: most of my writing has been perched on the border between my own Catholic tradition and Hindu traditions, and so too my thirty-eight years of teaching have been almost entirely given over to Hindu-Christian themes or simply to the close reading of Hindu texts. As a Jesuit—baptized Francis Xavier, in honor of the first Jesuit to arrive in India in 1542—I also have been mindful of the long history of my religious order…

  PublisherDOI

• Western Jesuit Scholars in India Tracing Their Paths, Reassessing Their Goals

  2020 · 22 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

• His Hiding Place Is Darkness

  Stanford University Press eBooks · 2020 · 4 citations

  1st authorCorresponding

  This work of comparative theology brings together the Biblical Song of Songs and the Hindu Holy Word of Mouth to show how we can learn interreligiously and honor traditional commitments even while admitting the radical changes, losses, and gaps that pluralism is bringing to religious consciousness.

  DOI

• The Comparative Theologian at Home and Abroad

  Toronto Journal of Theology · 2023-06-08 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding

  [Figure: see text] This essay addresses the question of the home of the comparative theologian, arguing that it is not inappropriate for a theologian to have a home, whence the comparative theological work is undertaken, and to which one returns after deep inter-religious learning. Inter-religious learning impresses upon us the value of having a home; certain poetic traditions make it almost impossible to imagine writing from nowhere, without a strong sense of personal place and of the place one…

  PublisherDOI

• The Hindu-Catholic Encounter: A Natural Home for Comparative Theology

  2022-07-28 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding

  It is commonplace good sense to admit that all the traditions studied in comparative theological work have their own histories, deep resources, problems and potential. Each proceeds in accord with its own inner dynamics in encounter with other traditions near and far, and the chemistry of each encounter will have its own distinguishing features. The Hindu-Catholic encounter, one among many pairings that might be made for the purpose of theological exchange, has its own distinctive character that…

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• David Hempton

  Norwegian University of Science and Technology

  355 shared

• Giovanni Bazzana

  355 shared

• Mayra Rivera

  Edmonds Community College

  355 shared

• Faye Bodley-Dangelo

  New York University Press

  355 shared

• Matthew Hass

  Cambridge University Press

  309 shared

• James Given

  British Horseracing Authority

  302 shared

• Jon Levenson

  259 shared

• Thomas Whittaker

  Harvard University Press

  249 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies

  Harvard University

  1994

• M.A., Religious Studies

  Harvard University

  1989

• B.A., Philosophy

  University of Notre Dame

  1985

Similar researchers at Harvard University

• John Duffyh-103
• Shaye J.D. Cohenh-29
• Anya Bernsteinh-14