Clare Benedicks Fischer

Biography

Dr. Fischer served as Starr King School’s Aurelia Henry Reinhardt Professor of Religion and Culture from 1981 to 2005, focusing her teaching and research on the question of religion and moral community.

She has written and published on feminism and work, and created a major bibliography about women in religion entitled, “Of Spirituality: A Feminist Perspective.” Her latest project is a book about 20th century mystic Simone Weil and her social philosophy of “otherness.” Fischer also works on questions of civil society in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia.

In 2005, the Graduate Theological Union honored her with the Sarlo Award for Excellence in Teaching, noting her exemplary commitment to interdisciplinary and interreligious teaching methods.