Describing herself as an interdisciplinary theologian, Dr. Lea F. Schweitz earned her M.A. and Ph.D in philosophy of religion at the University of Chicago and a B.A. from Luther College in biology and philosophy.
Lea is the co-founder of Nature120, a non-profit organization that provides nature play and airway therapy for children on Chicago’s west side and in the western suburbs; she also is the Director of Children’s Education for Yorkfield Presbyterian Church. Previously she was a a tenured professor at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and directed the Zygon Center for Religion and Science.
Schweitz collaborates across disciplinary and institutional boundaries to teach courses, organize conferences, mentor emerging student-scholars, edit special sections of academic and denominational journals, and serve on an advisory board with the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
As a theological educator, she was awarded a fellowship for teaching from Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning, served as the principle investigator on a curriculum grant from Templeton Foundation that was featured in a special issue on theological education in The Christian Century, and was a keynote speaker at the Pedagogical Possibilities: New Paradigms for Teaching in Ministry conference at Vanderbilt University. Her articles have appeared with the University of Chicago Press, Zygon: Journal for Religion and Science, Oxford University Press, and Bearings Online from the Collegeville Institute. Currently, she is working on a book that reimagines urban nature as a locus for theological reflection and spiritual formation.
She lives in Oak Park, IL with her musician/composer spouse, Kurt, and her two wildly inspiring sons.