Nik Rodewald
3rd Year PhD student
Nik Rodewald is a PhD student in the Integrative Studies in Ethics and Theology program. His research focuses on the intersection of queer theories of temporality, liberation theology, and sacramental theology. Prior to entering the PhD program at Loyola, Nik was a high school campus minister and theology teacher. Nik is also a composer, arranger, and orchestrator whose work has been performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and has received critical acclaim from Fanfare Magazine, Textura, and the Maryland Theatre Guide. Outside of theology and music, Nik enjoys running, hiking, reading, and playing board games.
Research Interests
Queer Theology, Sacramental Theology, Theological Aesthetics, Philosophy of Religion, Liberation Theology, Decolonial/Postcolonial Ethics
Professional/Community Affiliations
American Academy of Religion (Midwest Region)
College Theology Society
European Academy of Religion
Courses Taught
Secondary School:
Marist Way (7th Grade)
Marist Way (9th Grade)
Faith and Reason (12th Grade Theology Elective)
Archdiocese of Atlanta Permanent Diaconate Formation Program:
Missiology and Evangelization
Publications/Research Listings
“Towards a Sacramental Theology of Erotohistoriography,” Münchener Theologische Zeitschrift (forthcoming)
“The Passion of Matthew Shepard as Metanoia-Event,” Religion and the Arts (forthcoming)
“Illuminative Paths of Erotic Desire: Margaret Kamitsuka’s Desirable Belief,” Religious Studies Review (forthcoming)
Review of All My Eyes See: The Artistic Vocation of Fr. William Hart McNichols by Christopher Pramuk and William Hart McNichols, Religion and the Arts (forthcoming)
Review of Subversive Habits: Black Catholic Nuns in the Long African American Freedom Struggle by Shannen Dee Williams, Reading Religion (November 7, 2025), https://readingreligion.org/9781478018209/subversive-habits/
“Ban on Gender-Affirming Care Compromises U.S. Bishops’ Authority,” Bondings 2.0: a New Ways Ministry Blog (November 19, 2025), posted online at https://www.newwaysministry.org/2025/11/19/ban-on-gender-affirming-care-compromises-u-s-bishops-authority/
Selected Presentations
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, 23 November 2026, “Courage International, Anti-Trans Violence, and the Possibility of Queer Grace” (accepted)
European Academy of Religion Ninth Annual Conference, Rome, Italy, 02 July 2026, “Fiducia Supplicans and Biopower: A Threat to Synodality?”
College Theology Society 2026 Annual Convention, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 30 May 2026, “Sacramental Time, Christian Nationalism, and the Heteronormative Iconography of Progress”
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston, Massachusetts, 22 November 2025, “The Normal Gay Guy: J.D. Vance, Catholicism, and the Colonial Politics of Recognition”
European Academy of Religion Eighth Annual Conference, Vienna, Austria, 10 July 2025, “Towards a Sacramental Theology of Erotohistoriography”
American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, California, 25 November 2024, “Performing the Eschaton: Queer Performativity and Sacramental Action”
Awards
2026-2028: Louisville Institute Doctoral Fellowship
2022-2024: Candler Merit Scholarship, Candler School of Theology (Emory University)
2014: Clare Fischer Jazz Composition Award (Berklee College of Music)
