Catherine M. Roach
Associate Professor
New College & Graduate Adjunct Faculty in Women's Studies
email: croach@nc.ua.edu
Office: Carmichael Hall 101F
Office Phone: 348-8415

Click the above book cover to learn more about Prof. Roach's Mother/Nature

Please note: In the Fall semester of 2006, Prof. Roach's 50% cross-appointment to REL was changed to a 100% appointment to NEW.

Catherine M. Roach, who was tenured and promoted to the rank of Associate Professor as of August 2004, was cross-appointed to REL from New College from 1998-2005, at which time her appointment was switched to New College (though she continues to teach one REL course per academic year). As well, she is a member of the Graduate Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Women's Studies. Dr. Roach also directs The University's minor in Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies. She graduated in 1998 with a Ph.D. in the Study of Religion from Harvard University and a dissertation on environmental ethics and Mother Nature imagery. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of ethics, gender, and popular culture. Two main foci for her work are environmental ethics and gender in society. Her main research project at the moment is a book about exotic dance and contemporary "striptease culture." She is originally from Canada and has two young sons, Nathaniel and Benjamin.

Courses taught:

REL 101 - Western Approaches to the Problem of Evil

REL 344 - God and Moral Reasoning

NEW 226 - Natural Science I: Organic Farming

Prof. Roach's work includes:

A new book, Mother/Nature: Popular Culture and Environmental Ethics. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003.

Other Works by Prof. Roach:

"Why Religious Studies Can't Be Religious Studies (But Why I Like It Anyway): Methodological Agnosticism and Critique of Power in the Study of Religion." The Bulletin of The Council of Societies for the Study of Religion. Vol. 33, n. 2 (April 2004): 37-39.

"Mother Nature Imagery." Thematic essay in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Nature. Bron Taylor and Jeffrey Kaplan, Gen. Eds. London: Continuum International, (Spring 2005).

"Stewards of the Sea: A Model for Justice?" in Just Fish: Ethics and Canadian Marine Fisheries. Harold Coward, ed. St. John, Newfoundland: ISER Books (Institute of Social and Economic Research, Memorial University), 2000.

"Advertising: Getting Back at Mother Nature" in Sierra Magazine (May / June 2002). 2000.

Government Report

"Auditing Municipal Wetlands Stewardship in Newfoundland: A Report Outlining How to Conduct an Audit." Lead author, with Brian McLaren, Tim Hollis, and Dean Bavington. Report commissioned by the Dept. of Tourism, Culture, and Recreation of the Newfoundland provincial government, in partnership with Wildlife Habitat Canada and Memorial University of Newfoundland. June 2002.

Works in Progress

"Thinking Like a God: Nature Imagery in Advertising." Chapter in Eco-Cultures: Cultural Studies and the Environment. Alexandra Ganser, ed. Oxford, UK: Berg Publishing, forthcoming 2005.

"Ducks, Bogs, and Guns: Stewardship Ethics in Newfoundland" (co-authored article currently under review, based on grant-funded consulting work).

Take It Off! Stripping, Sex, and Society (book under contract with Berg Publishing, Oxford, UK).

"Knowledge, Conservation Values, and Municipal Wetlands Stewardship," co-authored with Brian McLaren et al., in How Knowledge Moves: Lessons from Restructuring on Canada's East and West Coasts, John Lutz and Barbara Neis, eds., (under contract with McGill-Queens University Press).

For more information about Dr. Roach, see her New College web page.