Trauma, Sin, and Reconciliation: Neurobiology, Epigenetics and Human Responsibilities
Join us for an Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion public seminar with Dr Karen O'Donnell (Academic Dean, Westcott House).
What is the relationship between the experiences of trauma and the human capacity to sin? Research emerging on trauma in bio-psycho-social contexts indicates that there in an inherited or parentally transmitted element to trauma which has the potential to significantly impact human agency and free will, often resulting in poor lifestyle choices, poor emotional regulation, and poor decision making. This emerging research has yet to be adequately addressed theologically and significantly impacts the ways in which we think about sin the context of trauma. This paper takes seriously this emerging research as a catalyst for examining sin and trauma, with a particular focused on the inherited or transmittable nature of trauma responses. Specifically, this paper addresses these questions in a reimagined lens of Original Sin as a mode of binding the human will. I examine the systematic structures that cause experiences of trauma both individually and communally and conclude with a trauma-informed reimagining of sin and reconciliation that takes the potential transmission of trauma, the way it binds a will, and the structural dimension of trauma theologically seriously.
Event Details:
- Date: Wednesday, 28 October 2026
- Time: 16:00 - 17:30
- Location: L1 Lecture Theatre, Schwarzman Centre, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, University of Oxford
- Registration necessary: Click here to register on Eventbrite
- Open to the public
- A wine reception will follow the public seminar in the Faculty of Theology and Religion (third floor, Schwarzman Centre), providing an opportunity to meet the speaker and fellow attendees.
About the Speaker: Karen O'Donnell is Academic Dean at Westcott House, Cambridge and affiliated lecturer in Gender and Theology in the Divinity Faculty, Cambridge University. She is a feminist theologian with research interests in trauma and bodies. Recent publications include Survival: Radical Spiritual Practices for Trauma Survivors (SCM Press, 2024) and “Dismantling the Patriarchy: The Ongoing Work of Feminist Theology.” Feminist Theology 34, no. 2 (2026): 143–53.
For any queries, please contact: irc.admin@theology.ox.ac.uk
This event is hosted by the Ian Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford. To stay up to date with our events, join our mailing list: Click here to join our mailing list.
