Dr. Ford's presentation, "Co-Creating Beauty: Queer Bodies and Queer Loves Beyond the Anathemas" explores how our roles as co-creators with God allows for new ways to understand the truth revealed by sexuality and gender identity beyond the boundaries of heteronormativity. Such redeployment of this theological status as co-creator, Ford argues, may provide a pathway beyond the impasse currently experienced at the level of official church teaching with respect to these topics.

Craig A. Ford, Jr., is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint Norbert College, where he teaches courses in Christian Ethics, Ecclesiology, and on Race, Gender and Sexuality while also serving as Co-Director for the Peace and Justice Interdisciplinary Minor. He is also on the faculty at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies—hosted at Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only Catholic HBCU— where he teaches courses on Black Theology as well as on Topics in Moral Theology from a Black Perspective. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Boston College, Dr. Ford writes on topics at the intersection of queer theory, blac studies, and the Catholic moral tradition. His most recent book project, All of Us: The Future of Catholic Theology From the Perspectives of Queer Theologians of Color is a co-edited volume with Bryan Massingale and Miguel Diaz, drawing scholars and activists from North and South America, the Pacific Islands, Australia, and Europe who seek to chart new directions for Catholic theology when the oppressive realities of racism, heteronormativity, and sexism within church and world are engaged equally and fiercely. This volume is currently under contract with Fortress Press.
 
Considering himself a scholar-activist, Dr. Ford’s work bridges the academy and a wider popular audience, with publications in professional outlets like the Journal of Moral Theology, Horizons, as well as in popular outlets like Commonweal Magazine and the National Catholic Reporter. Dr. Ford is also sought out as a workshop leader on issues of racial, sexual, and gender justice, working not only with Catholic parishes but with other colleges, universities, and professional bodies, including most notably with the Association of Catholic College and Universities (ACCU) as its 2022 inaugural speaker for its Consortium for Senior Diversity Officers in Catholic Higher Education.
 
Recognized for his leadership at St. Norbert College, Dr. Ford, in 2021, was the recipient of the St. Norbert College Founder’s Award, which honors members of the St. Norbert College community who embody the personal, intellectual, and spiritual values of the Norbertine tradition of education. Next year, in 2022, Dr. Ford was honored not only with the Beloved Community Social Justice Award, but also with the Donald. B. King Distinguished Scholar Award. Beyond St. Norbert College, Dr. Ford has also been honored with the 2022 “Future 15” Award from the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce, which recognizes the region's most promising young professionals. And, most recently, Dr. Ford received the 2022 Catherine Mowry LaCugna award, which recognizes the author of the best essay in theology by a younger member of the Catholic Theological Society of America, the largest body of theologians in the world.