Faculty Directory

Stephen J. Molvarec, S.J.

Assistant Professor of Church History

Photo of Stephen J. Molvarec, S.J.

Stephen J. Molvarec, S.J.

Ph.D.

Contact

Simboli Hall 305

Email: stephen.molvarec@bc.edu

Education

  • B.A. Canisius College
  • M.A. University of Notre Dame
  • M.Div. Boston College
  • S.T.L. Boston College
  • Ph.D. University of Notre Dame

Research Interests

Religious life, Monasticism, Sacraments, Historical soundscapes, social network theory.

Expertise

  • Historical Theology and Church History

Profile

A Jesuit priest originally from Buffalo, New York, Steve has earned graduate degrees in history and theology. During his doctoral studies at Notre Dame, he was the recipient of the Birgit Baldwin Fellowship from the Medieval Academy of America. This fellowship allowed for two years of work in France with archives and manuscripts. After entering the Society of Jesus, he taught history at Marquette University for several years prior to coming to Boston College to study for ordination and joining the faculty.

An expert on medieval Carthusian monks, he specializes in twelfth- and thirteenth-century religious life as well as the history of medieval cities. He also has an interest in Eucharistic theory.

Selected Courses

  • Reforms and Reformations
  • Heresy and Revolution, Protest and Reform
  • History of Western Christianity I
  • “Where Two or Three Are Gathered”: A History of Religious Life in the West
  • Tolkien: Catholicism, History, and Myth

Selected Publications

2024 (Forthcoming) S.J. Molvarec. “The Holy Greyhound Guinefort: Human Interaction with the Natural and Supernatural Worlds,” in Saints and Animals, edited by Mathilde van Dijk (London: Routledge) 

2024 (Forthcoming) S.J. Molvarec. Carthusian Monasticism: History, Life, World, Texts introduced and edited with Demetrio S. Yocum. (Kalamazoo: Medieval Institute Publications). 

2024 (Forthcoming) S.J. Molvarec. “From Bruno of Cologne to the Carthusian ‘Golden Age,’” in Carthusian Monasticism: History, Life, World, Texts. 

2023 S.J. Molvarec. “Only to Forget Again: Eucharist, Destruction, and Chauvet’s Presence-in-Absence,” Worship 97: 3 (July 2023). 

2020 S.J. Molvarec and Tom J. M. Gaens. “The Carthusian Customaries” in A Companion to Medieval Rules and Customaries, edited by Krijn Pansters (Leiden: Brill), 103-125.

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