Ph.D., Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
Th.M., Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago
M.A.T.S., Claremont School of Theology
B.A., Augustana University
Caryn D. Riswold is the Mike and Marge McCoy Family Distinguished Chair in Lutheran Heritage and Mission at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. She is a professor of religion and has been teaching theology and gender and women’s studies since 2000, spending 16 of those years at Illinois College and two at Valparaiso University. There, she was a postdoctoral teaching fellow in the Lilly Fellows Program, on whose National Network Board she has served two terms. She earned her Ph.D. and Th.M. at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, her M.A. at the Claremont School of Theology, and her undergraduate degree at Augustana University in her childhood hometown of Sioux Falls, SD.
Caryn serves on the Faculty Working Group on Lutheran Higher Education for the Network of ELCA Colleges and Universities, building on the work that she does at Wartburg College to empower campus constituents at all levels to understand, engage, and live into the institution’s mission and identity.
She is the author of four books, the most recent of which is ReEngaging ELCA Social Teaching on Abortion (Fortress Press, 2024). She has had dozens of articles, book chapters, and essays published on a range of topics at the intersection of religion, feminism, social justice, and pop culture. She regularly speaks to audiences in churches, on campuses, and at community events. She also writes and speaks about pedagogy, equity, and vocation in undergraduate education, having engaged with the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE) since its inception.
Books Published
ReEngaging ELCA Social Teaching on Abortion (Fortress Press, 2024).
Feminism and Christianity: Questions and Answers in the Third Wave (Cascade Books, 2009)
Two Reformers: Martin Luther and Mary Daly as Political Theologians (Cascade Books, 2007)
Coram Deo: Human Life in the Vision of God (Wipf and Stock, 2006)
Callings hosted by NetVUE: Asking Good Questions podcast
Courses Taught
Sacred Stories
Introduction to Theology
Gender, Race, and Religions
History of Christianity
Religion in the Contemporary World
Interfaith Studies
