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M. Cathleen Kaveny currently holds two positions at Notre Dame University in South Bend, Indiana. In the university’s law school Kaveny serves as the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law, where she focuses her courses on the relationship between religion, law and morality. Her second role is a professor in the Department of Theology, where she regularly teaches both undergraduate and graduate students. Since she received her first degree, an A. B. from Princeton University in 1984, Kaveny has influenced the realm of theology through her essays and articles that have been published. Additionally, Kaveny’s role as a blogger and columnist for Commonweal Magazine, an online journal of religion, politics and culture complements her interest in theology. Undoubtedly, Kaveny’s education, experience and dedication for exploring law and Catholic morality makes her a notable, contemporary theologian of politics and morality.

Education and Early Career
Unlike most people who grew up during the same time as her, M. Cathleen Kaveny furthered her education beyond the baccalaureate level directly after she earned her A. B. summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1984. She then enrolled in Yale University’s graduate school; by 1991 Kaveny earned a total of four degrees from this university, including her M. A. in 1986, M. Phil in 1990, J. D. in 1990, and Ph. D. in 1991. After a successful eleven years of studying, Kaveny joined the workforce.

Her background in law enabled her to become a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association in 1993 and clerk for the Honorable John T. Noonan, Jr. of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Shortly after serving as a clerk, Kaveny worked as an associate at Ropes & Gray, a law firm in Boston, in the health-law division.

Apart from her career in law, Kaveny also taught at three universities. She began working as an associate professor in the Notre Dame Law School in 1995 and gradually worked her way up to the position she holds now. In 1998, she served as the Royden B. Davis Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Georgetown University. Lastly, in 2002, Kaveny held the title as the Senior Fellow, Martin Marty Center, at the University of Chicago.

Kaveny served on a number of editorial boards including The American Journal of Jurisprudence, The Journal of Religious Ethics, the Journal of Law and Religion, and The Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.

Where is she now?
M. Cathleen Kaveny has been working at Notre Dame Law School in 1995. However, it was not until 2001 when she received her current title as the John P. Murphy Foundation Professor of Law. In this role, she teaches contract law to first-year law students. She also teaches a range of different seminars that explore the relationships between theology, philosophy and law. One of these seminars called “Mercy and Justice,” focuses on relationships using texts drawn from case law, analytic philosophy, Byzantine history, as well as both medieval and contemporary theology. Another seminar that Kaveny teaches, titled “Ethics and Law at the End of Life,” considers issues of assisted suicide and euthanasia from an interdisciplinary perspective. Some of the other seminars Kaveny currently teaches are called “Faith, Morality & Law” and “Complicity.”

In the media, Kaveny has been noted for her accomplishments and contributions at different schools. Her accomplishments include combining research and religion into the curriculum of her ethics seminars, speaking at a Vatican conference in 2001 and meeting with Cardinal Rratzinger in 2005.

M. Cathleen Kaveny is a blogger and columnist for Commonweal Magazine, an online journal that publishes editorials, columns, essays and poetry as well as both film and book reviews. Kaveny, in completing her role as a columnist, frequently writes columns on a range of different subtopics under religion, law and ethics.