Ellen Ott Marshall
Professor of Christian Ethics and Conflict Transformation; Director of the Graduate Division of Religion
Degrees
PhD, Vanderbilt University, 2000
MA, Vanderbilt University, 1996
MA, University of Notre Dame, 1992
BA, Davidson College, 1991
Phone
(404) 727-1214
EMAILPrior to joining the Candler faculty in 2009, Dr. Ellen Ott Marshall worked with the refugee resettlement programs of Church World Service and the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and served as the lead writer for God’s Renewed Creation, a pastoral letter and foundation document for The United Methodist Church Council of Bishops.
Marshall’s work focuses on contemporary Christian ethics, with particular attention to violence, peacebuilding, and conflict transformation. She is also interested in questions about gender and moral agency, and the dynamic relationship between faith, history and ethics. Marshall has edited three volumes and written three books, including most recently Parenting for a Better World (co-edited with Susanna Snyder, Chalice Press, 2022) and Introduction to Christian Ethics: Conflict, Faith, and Human Life (Westminster John Knox, 2018). She has published essays on gun violence prevention, the use of film to teach ethics, and the United Methodist response to war.
As a teacher, scholar and practitioner, Marshall strives to facilitate clarity of thought, transparent and honest discussion, mutual understanding, and respectful disagreement. She is deeply committed to fostering practices of careful moral discernment and civil conversation, especially when hot button issues are in play. In 2019, Marshall was awarded a grant from the Louisville Institute to co-direct a team of pastoral and academic researchers in exploring how the church and academy form Christian conflict workers theologically and practically.
Marshall co-convenes the Religion, Conflict, and Peacebuilding Initiative for Emory’s Graduate Division of Religion. She also serves as the Co-Chair for the Religion, Social Conflict, and Peace Group of the American Academy of Religion, chairs the New American Pathways Advisory Councils, and is a member of the Society of Christian Ethics.
In 2011, Marshall received Candler’s On Eagle’s Wings Excellence in Teaching Award for faithful and dedicated service, and in 2013, she won the Candler Faculty Person of the Year award. In 2015, she was awarded the Emory Williams Teaching Award, the highest teaching award granted by the university. In 2019, Marshall received the Emory Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellence in Graduate and Professional Education, an award granted to one faculty member from each of the university’s seven graduate and professional schools.
BOOKS
Co-editor, Parenting for a Better World: Social Justice Practices for Your Family and the Planet, Chalice Press, 2022
Introduction to Christian Ethics: Conflict, Faith, and Human Life, Westminster John-Knox Press, 2018
Editor, Conflict Transformation and Religion: Essays on Faith, Power, and Relationship, Palgrave, 2016
Christians in the Public Square: Faith that Transforms Politics, Abingdon Press, 2008
Though the Fig Tree Does Not Blossom: Toward a Responsible Theology of Christian Hope, Abingdon Press, 2006
Contributing Editor, Choosing Peace through Daily Practices, Pilgrim Press, 2005
CHAPTERS AND ARTICLES
”Christian Arguments for Gun Violence Prevention: Reflections on Moral Claims in the Context of Advocacy,“ in Journal of Moral Theology, vol. 12, issue SI 2, 2023, Oct. 24, 2023
Co-author, “Meditation with Collage,” Parenting for a Better World: Social Justice Practices for Your Family and the Planet, Chalice Press, 2022
“Reflection, Interpretation, and Accountability: Exercises in Religious Peacebuilding,” A Collection of Essays Honoring Robert C. Johansen, Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, 2022
“Theological Ethics in a World of Violent Extremism.” Teaching in a World of Violent Extremism, edited by Eleazar S. Fernandez, Wipf & Stock, 2021
“Dignity and Conflict: Religious Peacebuilding.” Value and Vulnerability: Contemporary Interfaith Dialogue on the Value and Vulnerability of Human Life, edited by Matthew Petrusek and Jonathan Rothchild, University of Notre Dame Press, 2020
“Maternal Thinking in U.S. Contexts of Gun Violence and Policy Brutality.” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, 40.2 (2020)
“Pacifism and the Question of Responsibility.” Political Theology, 21.3 (2020)
“Bed Rest Stinks,” in Encountering the Sacred: Feminist Reflections on Women’s Lives, T&T Clark, December 28, 2018
“Review of Religion, Conflict, and Peacemaking: An Interdisciplinary Conversation,” in Peace and Change: A Journal of Peace Research, vol. 43, issue 4, Wiley, August 27, 2018
“Baptism of the Lord: Connecting the Reading with the World” and “Epiphany: Connecting the Reading with the World,” in Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship, Westminster John Knox Press, September 25, 2018
“Theological Humility in the World of Law,” in Journal of Law and Religion, vol. 32, no. 1, 2017
“Conflict, God, and Constructive Change: Exploring Prominent Christian Convictions in the Work of Conflict Transformation,” in Brethren Life and Thought, vol. 61, no. 2, 2016
“Learning through Conflict, Working for Transformation,” in Conflict Transformation and Religion, Palgrave MacMillan, 2016
“War, Revolution, and Peace in the Twenty-First Century,” in Religion and Ethics in the Twenty-First Century, Anselm Academic Publishing, 2013
“Psalm 91” and “Isaiah 53:4-12,” in Feasting on the Word, Year B, Additional Essays, Westminster John Knox Press, 2011
“A Matter of Pride: A Feminist Response to Billy Graham,” in The Legacy of Billy Graham, Westminster John Knox Press, 2008
“Teaching Ethics with Film: A Course on the Moral Agency of Women,” in Teaching Religion and Film, Oxford University Press, 2008
“United Methodist Witness in Times of War: Five Characteristics,” in Quarterly Review, vol. 24, no. 1, General Board of Higher Education and Ministry and The United Methodist Publishing House, 2004
“Liberation from the Welfare Trap?” in Welfare Policy: Feminist Critiques, Pilgrim Press, 1999
The Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Excellent in Graduate and Professional Education for the Laney Graduate School, Emory University, 2019
“Forming Christian Conflict Workers,” Collaborative Inquiry Team Grant, Louisville Institute, 2019
Emory Williams Distinguished Teaching Award, Emory University, 2015
Faculty Person of the Year Award, Candler School of Theology, 2013
“On Eagle’s Wings” Excellence in Teaching Award, Candler School of Theology, 2011
Grant for “Peace and Justice Studies Consultation,” Regions Committee of the American Academy of Religion, 2006-2006
Summer Research Grant, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion
College Life “Advisor Award,” Elizabethtown College, 2001-2002
Exceptional Performance Award for teaching, research, and service, Elizabethtown College
Contemporary Christian Ethics
Christian Ethics
Engaging the World
Feminist and Womanist Ethics
Introduction to Christian Ethics
Religion, Violence and Peacebuilding
Skills in Conflict Transformation
Voices of Nonviolence
In the media
June 7, 2022
Book Review: Parenting for a Better World: Social Justice Practices for Your Family and the Planet
The Presbyterian Outlook
February 15, 2022
Youth Ministry as Peace Education: Overcoming Silence, Transforming Violence
Candler School of Theology
July 27, 2020
Skytyping as Moral Agency under Constraint
Emory Scholar Blogs: Moral Agency Under Constraint
June 4, 2020
I teach conflict transformation. If Trump’s speech were a student paper, here’s how I would respond.
The Christian Century
