Rate My Professor Rima Nasrallah van Saane

Rima Nasrallah van Saane serves as Academic Dean and Associate Professor of Practical Theology at the Near East School of Theology (NEST) in Beirut, Lebanon. She earned her Ph.D. in Liturgical-Ritual Studies from the Protestant Theological University (PThU) in Amsterdam, an MPhil focused on ethnography and theology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and an MA in Living Reformed Theology from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Prior to her current roles, she held the position of Assistant Professor of Practical Theology at NEST, contributing to the institution's academic programs in pastoral care, worship, and ecumenical engagement. As an ordained pastor, she bridges theological scholarship with practical ministry in the diverse religious landscape of the Middle East.

Her research specializations include contemporary Eastern Christian studies, Christianity in late modernity, empirical investigations of lived theology, and faith practices in everyday life, with particular attention to gender, context, performance, and the arts. Nasrallah van Saane teaches courses in Pastoral Theology, Worship and Liturgy, Preaching, and Eastern Christianity, fostering interdisciplinary approaches to theological education. Key publications feature 'Itinerant Feasting: Eastern Christian Women Negotiating (Physical) Presence in the Celebration of Easter' in Exchange: A Journal for Missiological and Ecumenical Research (2013, co-authored with Marcel Barnard and Martien Brinkman); 'Kinetics of Healing: Protestant Women Pledging Baptism in Saydnaya Orthodox Monastery' in Studia Liturgica (2012); 'Rearranging Things: How Protestant Attitudes Shake the Objects in the Piety of Eastern Christian Women' in Material Religion (2016, co-authored with Marcel Barnard and Heleen Murre-van den Berg); and 'Which Mary? Eastern Christian Women Bringing their Mary into the Lebanese Protestant Church' in Mission Studies (2016, co-authored with Marcel Barnard). She has delivered lectures and seminars at institutions such as the University of Göttingen and addressed the German Kirchentag, enhancing ecumenical dialogues on liturgy, gender, and interfaith practices in the region. Her work underscores the interplay of ritual, identity, and community in Eastern Christian contexts.