Rate My Professor Christian Stephens

Dr. Christian Stephens serves as a Lecturer in Philosophy and Theology at the School of Philosophy and Theology, University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney campus. He has been lecturing and tutoring in the school since 2012. His academic qualifications include a Bachelor of Exercise Science from Australian Catholic University, a Master of Philosophy from the University of Notre Dame Australia awarded in 2013 for his thesis "A Thomistic Understanding of Happiness," a Master of Arts from the Catholic Institute of Sydney, and he is currently pursuing a PhD focused on the nature of idolatry and its contemporary significance. Stephens teaches courses covering introductions to philosophy and theology, apologetics and fundamental theology, moral theology, spiritual theology, and the philosophy and theology of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Stephens' scholarly contributions include book chapters such as "Rediscovering Old Solutions to New Problems: From Slogans and Streaming to Wisdom and Enlightenment" in Education in an Age of Lies and Fake News (Routledge, 2022), and in Introduction to Philosophy and Theology within Catholic Liberal Education (McGraw-Hill, 2015): "Revelation and Truth," "The Theological Virtues," "Moral Theology," "Ultimate Happiness," and "Philosophical and Theological Reflection." Key journal articles are "Catholic or Utopian? Two Irreconcilable Views about Moral 'Ideals' in Veritatis Splendor" in Nova et Vetera 18, no. 1 (2020), "Mary and Youthfulness" in Apostles of Mary 39, no. 4 (2018), and "Theology of the Body" in Inform, no. 147 (2014). He has delivered conference papers including "Screwtape, Acedia and Curiositas: Diagnosing the Contemporary Crisis in Moral Education" at the World Conference of Catholic University Institutions of Philosophy (Sydney, 2019), "Is the moral good an ideal? An analysis of St John Paul II's Veritatis Splendor" (2018), and others on ecclesiology and ethics. For his teaching, he earned the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Initiatives Enhancing Student Learning (2014) and numerous School Letters of Merit. Stephens contributes to university committees including the School Learning and Teaching Committee, First-Year Experience Committee, and Faculty Board. A member of the Catholic Scholars Guild, he provides professional development seminars to teachers in multiple dioceses, delivers public talks on topics like theology of the body and atheism, and has published in The Catholic Weekly while appearing on YouTube and podcasts.