Pickell

Travis Pickell headshot
Travis
Postdoctoral Fellow

I am a scholar of religious ethics, with a particular focus on the intersection of religion, medicine, and society. I am also interested in the impact of modernity on religious belief and practices, issues of religious pluralism and public life, and the broad field of Christian theological ethics. My doctoral work focused on ethical and religious responses to novel challenges in decision-making at the end of life. This work has been informed by participation in the ethics community and ethics consult service at the University of Virginia Medical Center, as well as an immersive ethics internship with a palliative care physician at UVA. Throughout my doctoral work I have become increasingly convinced of the importance of religious and philosophical reflection on human embodiment, vulnerability and finitude for the way we think about the moral life more generally. I am excited to bring this long-standing interest and my academic work into the classroom, teaching the Engagements course “Mortality & Morality.” Attention to this universal—but often neglected—aspect of the human condition, provides a profound lens for considering how we engage in the task of ethics and moral reasoning, both individually and as a society.