M. Shawn Copeland received her Ph.D. in Systematic Theology from Boston College with a dissertation on the notion of the human good in the thought of theologian and philosopher Bernard Lonergan. Before returning to Boston College in 2003 as a faculty member, she taught at St. Norbert College, Yale Divinity School, and Marquette University. In addition, she served for twelve years as an adjunct-faculty member of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies (IBCS) at Xavier University of New Orleans—New Orleans, Louisiana.