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ABOUT

CONSULTING

EDUCATION

RESEARCH

Marian Gh. Simion, PhD

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CURRENT ACTIVITIES

• President & CEO| Institute for Peace Studies in Eastern Christianity
• Honorary Adviser | Parliament of Romania
• Field Education Supervisor | Harvard Divinity School
• Senior Fellow | George Mason University, Arlington, VA
• Associate Fellow | University of Pretoria, South Africa
• Visiting Professor | Fitchburg State University

EDUCATION

Prior to immigrating to the United States, Dr. Simion completed six years of intensive theological education in Orthodox theology at the Theological Seminaries of Craiova and Bucharest, and at the University of Bucharest. While in Bucharest, he also studied music theory and Byzantine musicology at the Academy of Music in Bucharest. He studied bel canto privately with the renowned Romanian tenor, Corneliu Fânățeanu, and then became a professional baritone in the Choir of the Romanian National Opera in Bucharest. He is a religious studies graduate of Hellenic College and Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology. At Northeastern University, Dr. Simion studied public policy and political leadership with Michael S. Dukakis, the former Governor of Massachusetts, and 1988 Democratic Nominee for President of the United States. Governor Dukakis was Dr. Simion’s academic advisor, and PhD dissertation committee member. At Harvard Divinity School Dr. Simion completed postdoctoral research on religion and diplomacy.

ADMINISTRATIVE

Between 2001 and 2014, Dr. Simion was the Assistant Director of the Boston Theological Institute where he founded The BTI Magazine, and reactivated the BTI book series, which under his direction and co-leadership, the series featured several Peace Nobel Laureates (Mikhail Gorbachev, Kim Dae-jung, and Desmond Tutu), and created partnerships with Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, UK) and Vanderhoek & Ruprecht (Göttingen, Germany).

TEACHING

Dr. Simion taught at Harvard University, Boston College, and Hellenic College (where he served as Chair of the Religious Studies Department), and lectured around the world on international security, conflict resolution, and religious diplomacy; most recently in Romania, China, Korea, Syria, Germany, UK, and others.

WRITINGS

Dr. Simion is the author of several dozens of scholarly papers, and author and co-editor of several books including Religion and Public Policy: Human Rights, Conflict and Ethics (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015); Just Peace: Orthodox Perspectives (Geneva: WCC Publications, 2012); Religion and Political Conflict: From Dialectics to Cross-Domain Charting (Montréal: Presses internationale polytechnique, 2011); Overcoming Violence: Religion, Conflict and Peacebuilding (Newton Centre: Boston Theological Institute, 2010), and others.

Latest peer-reviewed article: "The ambivalence of ritual in violence: Orthodox Christian perspectives" in HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 73, No 3 (2017)

MEDIA EXPERTISE

Dr. Marian Simion welcomes media inquiries on the following subjects:
• Political Violence and Religion
• Orthodox Christianity
• Ecumenical Affairs
• Terrorism, International Security and Religion
• Nationalism and Identity Politics
• Romanian Studies
• Eastern Europe, Middle East and Eurasia
• Global Politics and Religion

PERSONAL

Dr. Simion enjoys singing, writing, fishing, boating, graphic design, and flying single engine airplanes. He is married to Denise Simion, and together they have four children.