Chester Gillis

Dean of Georgetown College
Age: 62
Hometown: Providence, R.I.
Time at Georgetown: 26 years

What drew you to the field of theology?
I was a philosophy major in college, which raised foundational questions, and I went from that into the theological domain because the questions are very similar, but the answers are significantly different. The theological realm, for me, is where people’s lives are profoundly affected by theological discourse and ritual and a range of other things. I found religion to be the additional element, having a kind of claim on human beings that philosophy doesn’t always have in the same way.

What drew you to Georgetown in particular?
Well, I’m a Catholic theologian. You can’t find a much better place than Georgetown to practice what I do as a theologian. The support from the university for my discipline, the strength of the department, the strength of the student body — it’s a no-brainer, for me. 

Does your job as dean of the College allow you sufficient freedom to pursue your own academic interests?
“Sufficient” is a great modifier. I do continue to publish regularly, every year. It’s a struggle, however, to find the time to do the research and to write, but virtually every year I’ve been in this job I’ve published at least one article, and I have a book halfway-done and another book that needs to be revised. It’s hard to find the time to do all of that, so I have to balance my primary job as being dean with my passion of being a scholar and a teacher, but I recognize what I’m in this job for, so my time is often devoted to a lot of things other than my scholarship.

What is the greatest challenge you face as dean?
I would say that it’s the delta between talent and resources. The talent is remarkable, both from the faculty and the students; the resources are somewhat constrained for all of us, and that’s a challenge. You’ve always got to make decisions on what we can advance the most, and sometimes you have to do that at the expense of other things.

Is there an aspect of your job that most people may not know about, but that you still view as significant?
Most people would not know about most of my job; it depends upon your perspective. If you’re a faculty member, you see my interaction with the faculty; if you’re a student, you’ll see my interaction with the students and you won’t see my interaction with the faculty; if you’re an alumnus, you’ll see that interaction; if you’re a donor, you’ll see that interaction; if you’re a scholar, you’ll see that interaction. There are lots of pieces to the job, it’s very interesting and exciting, and I think many people would not know the full range of things that I do, but that’s because I interact with them in a certain area and not on another. I’m not comparing myself to someone like President DeGioia—most people have no idea how much he does—but most people don’t know all of the things I do, and they don’t need to know all of the things, just the area in which I intersect with them.

How has the field of theology developed since you began studying it?
You know, there are two separate fields really: religious studies and theology, and each has changed to some degree. The field of religious studies is influenced by a range of other disciplines very heavily; theology is in conversation with those disciplines but less so influenced by them. Theology, depending upon where you are, takes a different tone, meaning that it takes a certain form if you’re Catholic, in the protestant context it takes another, and I think that theology is most by the impact of interreligious dialogue, taking into consideration other traditions than one’s own theological tradition. It’s the effect of knowledge of other religions when one constructs one’s own theology; it makes a big difference if you understand other traditions. I think it’s difficult to do Christian theology without other traditions.

When you do get a change to teach courses, what kinds of students do you find they attract?
Well, I’ve taught the Problem of God for years and years, so no one in particular is drawn to it since they’re all required to take it. But, the magic of that course is that if it goes well, you can really capture the interest of the student in the theological discipline, and they find it to be—which it is—fascinating. It’s interesting, it’s challenging, it’s the hardest thing you’ll do, and it’s some of the best critical thinking you’ll do. After that, it depends; the student makes their choice on the areas they’d like to study. I’ve taught a range of things, from Christology, to interreligious dialogue, to religious pluralism, to feminist theology, to “Catholicism in Society.” Sometimes, these just draw a student who needs a second theology, which is fine. But others draw students of specialized interests. For example, “Catholicism in Society” draws students who are interested in the intersection of religion and American culture. When I do “Christianity of World Religions” students are interested in those questions I just mentioned, about comparative theology. Some just want the foundations of the Christian tradition; “Christology” would do that. I did do feminist theology for a while, though I haven’t in a few years, and I’m probably not the most qualified individual, but these are people who see Christianity and religion through that lens. They come for very different reasons, and sometimes it’s for a second theology course, but mostly it’s because this course suits their interests.

Do you have a particular overarching goal for the College going forward?
I think that the College must be nimble in its curriculum and in its serving students and serving the academy in a way that has to shift to some degree. You have to be ready to do new things, and that’s an important piece of what we’ve tried to do, for example with a bunch of new minors in the College. 

What would you be doing if you weren’t in academia? Has the thought ever crossed your mind?
Yes, it has. I’m very happy doing what I’m doing, but I’ve always said that if I had my choices, I’d be a poet. If I could be a poet, I’d be a poet. I love poetry, I love what it does and I love language and the worlds that it opens up but, you know, I’m a theologian.

Is there anything you’d like to add?
Let me say that, while Georgetown is not unique, I do think that it provides a distinctive context, and that it is a very special place, for its Catholic values, for the quality and values of its students, and for the commitment of its faculty to those values. It’s just a very special place.

Interview by Alexander Brown