Director, Graduate Program in Spirituality and Spiritual Direction & Associate Professor of Practice
The Sacred Cosmos: Theological, Philosophical, and Scientific Conversations in the Twelfth Century School of Chartres. Scranton, PA. University of Scranton Press, 2007.
“Not Green Enough: A Response to the Green Pope and the Green Patriarch Based on the Dark Green Thought of Thomas Berry”. In The International Journal of Environmental Studies. Volume 69, Issue 3, June 2012, 524-539.
“Preparing and Adapting our Campuses for the Effects of Climate Change”, with Kori Swieter. In Planning for Higher Education. Volume, 44 Number 1, October -December, 2015.
“Exposing the Roots and Healing the Wounds of Religiously Sanctioned Violence”. In Ruminations on Violence. Derek Pardue, ed. Long Grove, Il.: Waveland Press, 2008.
“The Thought of Thomas Berry as the Groundwork for a Dark Green Catholic Theology”. In Confronting the Climate Crisis: Catholic Theological Perspectives. Jame Shaefer, ed. Marquette Wisconsin: Marquette University Press, 2011.
“Thomas Berry’s Challenge: Recognizing the Great Self in the Great Work”. In Living Cosmology: Christian Responses to Journey of the Universe. Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim, ed. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2016.
“Building a Proactive Retention Plan for At-Risk Student: Siena’s Early Warning and Retention Team (SEWART)” National Symposium on Student Retention, Norfolk, VA, November 2, 2017. Also published in the proceedings of the Symposium, 67-78.
“Don’t Think Your Campus Needs to Prepare for Climate Change?: Here’s Why You’re Wrong”. Chronicle of Higher Education. May 3, 2019, B36-37.
WAMC Radio Discussing the MLK Lecture Series (aired 1/26/09)
Troy Record News: On Siena’s STOP Conference (1/23/10)
The Daily Gazette: Students study example set by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ( 1/14/11)
Saratogian News: On the Resignation of Pope Benedict XVI( 2/11/13)
USA Today: Hollywood finds religion and profits at theaters ( 3/27/14)
The Atlanta Journal Constitution, Will Pope’s Political Messages Sway Congress?
Dr. Peter Ellard has been teaching and writing for 33 years. He earned his BA, MA, and PH.D. in Theology at Fordham University. He was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY.
His interests are wide, ranging from the medieval world to environmental ethics, climate change and the works of Thomas Berry. His scholarship spans a wide breadth of topics. His first book was The Sacred Cosmos: Theological, Philosophical, and Scientific Conversations in the Twelfth Century School of Chartres. He has published articles, book chapters and book reviews, and he has lectured widely on many topics.
Dr. Ellard is a teacher, writer, administrator, father and husband. He currently teaches in the Honors Program at Merrimack College where he is an Associate Professor of Practice in Religious & Theological Studies and the Director of the Graduate Program in Spirituality & Spiritual Direction. He teaches courses in Religious Studies, Philosophy, Environmental Studies, and Freshmen Seminar, and previously served as Dean and Vice President at Merrimack, where he created many student success programs.
He recently created a new class for Honors course called “Science & Spirituality: From Jesus & the Buddha to Darwin & the Big Bang,” where students learn that these two areas can not only exist together but can form a solid basis for a life well lived.
All of Dr. Ellard’s courses are discussion-based and students are encouraged to come prepared to offer their own analysis of the material covered. He incorporates and teaches mindfulness in all of his courses, empowering students to learn how to manage stress & anxiety to build compassion and understanding.
In summer 2023, Dr. Ellard inaugurated Merrimack’s Honors Signature Summer in Rome Program where he teaches students inside the churches, museums, monuments and catacombs.
He has twice been invited by the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I to take part in Symposia, in Greece and Turkey. He has also spent time in Mexico and Guatemala and his Spanish is pretty good.
Fun Facts: He bleeds maroon as all three of his degrees are from Fordham University, where he also was on the NCAA Division I Swimming Team (two-time captain) and Water Polo Team.
He plays guitar, base & piano and during and after college he was a practicing musician, singer songwriter (before YouTube). In the late 1980s and early 90s he played in famed venues in NYC such as Folk City, The Speakeasy, and OMFUG at CBGBs, and he ran the Hootenanny at The Sun Mountain Cafe
He was a Lifeguard for 19 years, including five years on the beaches of Coney Island, NY. If your heart stops, he has a good chance of starting it again.
He has appeared on the Front page of the NY Times and the NY Daily News, and was an extra in the original Cosmos with Carl Sagan. He was also at Game 7 in 1986 at Shea.
He resides in New Hampshire with his wife and they have two adult children, Olivia and Holden; a dog named Sid; and three cats (Fern, Essie and Walter).
