Stephen Bede Scharper

Stephen Bede Scharper M.A., Ph.D, (born September 5, 1960) is Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Toronto Mississauga and Centre for Environment, University of Toronto. Scharper has taught and worked in the field of social and environmental justice since the 1980s, as an editor, professor, and “civic scholar,” seeking and forging connections among issues of spirituality, ecology, and social justice.
Life and Work
Scharper was born in Port Chester, New York to Philip Jenkins and Sarah Jane (Moormann) Scharper. He is married to Hilary Cunningham Scharper and they have one son, Nolan Bede Scharper. Scharper received a B.A. (Hons.) in 1982, at the University of Toronto, an M.A. in Theology at the Toronto School of Theology in 1986, and his Ph.D. from McGill University in 1997. Scharper and his family currently reside in Toronto.
Scharper worked as Assistant Editor for Orbis Books, Maryknoll, N.Y. between 1984-1986, Acquisitions Editor for Twenty-Third Publications in Mystic Connecticut between 1986-1991, and Editorial Director (English Sector) Novalis Publishing between 1997-1999. Scharper taught at University of Notre Dame from 1994-1997. He became Assistant Professor at the Department for the Study of Religion and Centre for Environment, University of Toronto, from 1999-2006.
Scharper also serves as a Contributing Columnist on issues of environmental and social ethics for The Toronto Star.
Notable Accomplishments and Standings
*Senior Fellow, Massey College, University of Toronto, 2011.
*Member, Canadian Pugwash Group (invitation only), 2010.
*Associate Fellow, Trinity College, University of Toronto, 2010.
*Faculty Associate, Centre for Ethics, University of Toronto, 2007.
*Selected for Who's Who in Canada, University of Toronto Press, 2004.
*Selected for Who's Who in the 21st Century, International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England, 2002.
*Selected for Who’s Who in Religion, 1992-93, Fourth edition, Marquis Publications.
*Visiting Fellow, University of St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, 1998-2004.
*Senior Resident, Massey College, University of Toronto, 1997-1999.
*Fellow, Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame, 1996-1999.
*The John A. O’Brien Visiting Chair in Ethics, University of Notre Dame, 1998-1999.
*Second Place, International Reporting, Catholic Press Association, 1992 (for article on Miguel D’Escoto of Nicaragua in the Catholic New Times).
Bibliography
Books:
* Redeeming the Time: A Political Theology of the Environment, Continuum Publishing Company, New York, 1997 (cloth), 1998 (paper) (third printing 2005).
*The Green Bible, (co-written with Hilary Cunningham), Maryknoll: N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1993. Revised edition, New York: Lantern Books, 2003.
*For Earth's Sake: Toward a Compassionate Ecology, Edited and with Introduction by Simon Appolloni, Toronto: Novalis Publishing, 2013.
Works Edited:
*The Natural City: Re-envisioning the Built Environment, (co-edited with Prof. Ingrid Stefanovic of the University of Toronto, University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division, 2012).
Chapters in Books and Articles:
*"From Community to Communion: The Natural City in Biotic and Cosmological Perspective." In The Natural City: Re-envisioning the Built Environment, 2012: 89-103.
*"An Invitation to Inclusive Environmental Reflection: Reflections on the Compendium," (co-authored with Andrew Weigert), Catholic Social Thought: American Reflections on the Compendium, edited by Paul Sullins and Anthony J. BlasiLanham, Md.: Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.
*"Liberation Theology’s Critique of the Developmentalist Worldview: Implications for Religious Environmental Engagement," Environmental Philosophy, Volume 3 (1) (Spring) 2006: 47-69.
*"The Genetic Commons: Resisting the Neoliberal Enclosure of Life," (co-written with Hilary Cunningham), Social Analysis: The International Journal of Cultural and Social Practice, Volume 50 (3) (Winter) 2006: 193-202.
*"Finding Our Place: The Ecological Challenge to Being Human," Econightmare: Culpability, Responsibility and the Environmental Crisis, edited by Anthony Luengo. Walter Gordon Massey Symposium Papers. Massey College Publications, 2006.
*"Philip J. Scharper and the Editorial Vocation: Publishing Ideas of Consequence," U.S. Catholic Historian, Volume 21 (3) 2003: 19-35.
*"Democracy, Cosmology and The Great Work of Thomas Berry," Worldviews, Volume 5 (Fall) 2001: 188-197.
*"Christianity and Ecological Awareness," When Worlds Converge: What Science and Religion Tell Us About the Story of the Universe and Our Place in It, edited by Mary Evelyn Tucker, Cliff Matthews, and Philip Hefner, Chicago, Ill: Open Court Press, 2001.
*"The Ecological Crisis," The Twentieth Century: A Theological Perspective, edited by Gregory Baum, Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books, 1999.
*"The Gaia Hypothesis: Implications for a Christian Political Theology of the Environment," Cross Currents, Volume 44 (2) (Summer 1994), 207-221. (French edition: "La portée de l’hypothese Gaia sur une théologie politique Chrétienne de l’environnement," Religiologiques, Volume 10 1995: 325-355.

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