Theology Department Faculty
Joshua Snyder
Associate Professor of the Practice
Cooney Family Director, PULSE Program for Service Learning
Director of the Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor
Joshua Snyder
Ph.D.
Contact
Stokes Hall 125N
Telephone: 617-552-3886
Email: joshua.snyder@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., St. Peter's University
- M.A., Villanova University
- Ph.D., Boston College
Courses
PULSE
The Challenge of Justice
The Challenge of Peace
Peaceful Ethics: Social Action Leadership Methods
Faith, Peace, & Justice Senior Seminar
God, Self, and Society
Introduction to Christian Theology
Research Interests
Transitional Justice and Catholic Peace-Building
Areas of Specialization: Guatemalan Catholic Church & Human Rights; Peace, Justice, & Reconciliation; Public Context of Forgiveness; Efficacy of Truth Commissions; Comparative Truth Commissions; Catholic Social Teaching; Nonviolent Peacebuilding, Religious Approaches to Human Rights
Medical & Bioethics
Areas of Specialization: Global Public Health; Health Implications of Climate Change; Virtues of Accompaniment & End of Life Care; Palliative Care & Social Justice
Office Hours
Tues/Thurs noon-1:15 PM
Wednesday 2:00-4:00 PM or by appointment
Biography
Joshua R. Snyder, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of the Practice in Theological Ethics at Boston College. He also is the Director of the Faith, Peace, and Justice Minor. Joshua earned his Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Boston College. His dissertation entitled, Love Promoting Justice: An Augustinian Ethic for Transitional Justice from the Context of Guatemala explored how charity as a civic virtue can bring about social reconciliation in a divided society. Joshua’s research focuses on transitional justice and Catholic Peace-Building with an emphasis on the Guatemalan Catholic Church & Human Rights. Additionally, he is interested in Catholic Social Teaching and its contribution to global public health with a specific focus on ethical accompaniment and end of life care.
Selected Publications
With Scott Seider and Elisa Magri, “Investigating the Associations Between Parents’ Faith SocializationPractices and Young Adults’ Character Formation,” Journal of Character Education 21, nos. 1-2 (2025): 89-110.
“Reconciliation: A Pathway Forward,” C21 Resources: Reconciliation Healing Hearts (Fall 2025): 2-3.
“Cultivating Civic Virtue and Educating for Peace: Insights from Transitional Justice,” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 45, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2025): 111-130.
“Ethical Accompaniment and End of Life Care,” Christian Bioethics 30, no. 3 (December 2024): 189-199.
“Catholic Social Teaching & Global Public Heath: Insights for COVID-19," Journal of Catholic Social Thought 19, no. 2 (Summer 2022): 299-319.
“Peacebuilding, not Just War, is how to respond to the Ukrainian Crisis,” SACRU Document on Ukraine In Light of the Holy Father’s Appeal for Peace (February 25, 2022), https://www.sacru-alliance.net/sacru-international-document-on-ukraine/
“The Role of Truth, Memory & Forgiveness in Reconciling a Divided Society: Lessons from Guatemala and El Salvador,” in Ajlina Karamehic-Muratovic and Laura Kromják, eds. Remembrance and Forgiveness: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Genocide and Mass Violence (London and New York: Routledge Press, 2020), 98-113.
“Should Transitional Justice Promote Forgiveness? Insights from Guatemala’s Recovery of Historical Memory,” Journal of Peace and Justice Studies 20, no. 1 (2020): 3-24.
“Structures of Vice and Communities of Care: Reading Laudato Si’ from the Context of Guatemala,” Voices: EATWOT’s Theological Journal 39, no. 2 (July-December 2016): 89-103.