Theology: Gaudino

Rebecca Gaudino, Ph.D.

At the University of Portland since 2004 

• B.A. in English   Friends University  1975
• M.A. in English  Kansas State University  1978
• Ph.D.  University of California, Davis  1987
• M.Div. Columbia Theological Seminary  1994

I have an enduring fascination with travel, both physical and intellectual. I began my life in a tiny village in the heart of the Belgian Congo, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this village and later in the Congolese capital of Kinshasa, I came to know many different people. To this day, I cherish these people and their openness and hospitality. When civil war forced my family and me to leave the Congo, and we were allowed to immigrate to the U.S., I began another adventure in getting to know people. These experiences have influenced me greatly, especially in my dual choice of literature and religious studies as the focus of my life’s work. How better to understand humankind—our dearest longings, our beauty, and our struggles—than to study our literature and religious belief. Intellectual travel, indeed! In a brief, recently published study of Isaiah, I pulled many of the strands of my life together, reflecting on the prophet’s understanding of shalom (wholeness and peace) and how this shalom is a concrete part of how we humans live our lives and practice true hospitality.