Tina Beattie


Tina Beattie is a British writer and broadcaster. She is the Professor of Catholic Studies at the University of Roehampton in London and Director of the Digby Stuart Research Centre for Religion, Society and Human Flourishing.
Beattie's academic research and publications include work on Catholic theology and psychoanalytic theory ; the cult of the Virgin Mary ; theology and art; atheism and religion, and religion and women's rights.
In addition to her academic work, Beattie has been a public speaker on issues relating to the role of religion in contemporary society and contributes to radio and television. She has written for the Catholic weekly journal, The Tablet, and contributed to The Guardian. She has engaged in a wide range of educational and awareness-raising activities and projects among religious groups, including inter-religious dialogue and issues concerning social justice and non-violence. Beattie, who is not a Catholic theologian, has been criticised for misrepresenting Catholic teaching on abortion and for promoting population-control.

Early life and career

Beattie is the eldest of three daughters born to Charlie and Nan Bell. She was born in 1955 in Zambia and lived there for eighteen years, attending the Dominican Convent School in Lusaka. Beattie also lived for several years in Kenya and Zimbabwe. She is married to Dave Beattie, and worked as a secretary before the birth of their four children. In 1986, or 1987, she converted to Roman Catholicism from Presbyterianism. After moving to Bristol with her family in 1988, she became a mature student at the University of Bristol in 1991, where she received a first class honours degree in theology and religious studies before completing a PhD on the theology and symbolism of the Virgin Mary, viewed in a "gynocentric" light in engagement with the ideas of Luce Irigaray. Since then, she has lectured at the University of Bristol and Wesley College, Bristol and has also taught for the Open University. She took up a full-time post at the University of Roehampton in 2002. Her teaching interests include Christian mysticism and spirituality; theology, art and culture; moral theology and Catholic social teaching, and religion and human rights.

Work and publications

Beattie has published in academic and non-academic publications. Her theological output includes books and articles on the theology, art and symbolism of the Virgin Mary and Eve; the new atheism; the work of Swiss Catholic theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, from the perspectives of feminist theology and critical theory; theological perspectives on Christian art, and religion and women's rights. She writes regularly on a wide range of topics for the Catholic weekly, The Tablet, and is also a frequent contributor to the "Comment is Free" website of The Guardian newspaper, including an eight-part series on Thomas Aquinas. She sometimes presents Thought for the Day on BBC Radio 4.

Writings

Books