Faculty Directory
Timothy W. O'Brien
Assistant Professor of Church History
Timothy W. O'Brien
S.J., S.T.D.
Contact
Simboli Hall 215
Telephone: 617-552-6505
Email: timothy.obrien@bc.edu
Research Interests
Church History, especially the History of Christian Spirituality; Catholicism, 16th–20th Centuries; Jesuit Studies, especially Jesuit and Ignatian Spirituality; Global Catholicism; Modern Catholic Mysticism and Asceticism
Expertise
- Historical Theology and Church History
- Global Catholicism
- Ignatian Spirituality and History
- Spirituality Studies
Profile
Timothy W. O’Brien, S.J. is a church historian specializing in early modern and modern Catholicism, with research interests in Christian spirituality and Jesuit studies. O’Brien earned a doctoral degree (S.T.D., 2024) in the history of spirituality and religious life from Facultés Loyola Paris (formerly Centre Sèvres), the Jesuit faculties of Paris. He holds several additional graduate degrees, including in early modern religious and cultural history from The Johns Hopkins University (M.A., 2021), theology from Facultés Loyola Paris (S.T.L., 2018), and the history of Christianity from the University of Chicago Divinity School (M.A., 2014). A Jesuit priest of the USA East Province, O’Brien entered the Society of Jesus in 2008 after graduating from the College of the Holy Cross (B.A., 2006). Before joining Boston College, he served as Associate Vice President for Mission at his undergraduate alma mater.