Alison Marie Fitchett Climenhaga

Alison Marie Fitchett Climenhaga serves as a Research Fellow at the Institute for Religion and Critical Inquiry within the Faculty of Theology and Philosophy. Her research centers on religious practices in East African Catholic communities, examining intersections of faith, healing, and post-conflict recovery through ethnographic and theological lenses.

Her primary research areas include Religious Studies, Missiology, and African Christianity, with specialized focus on Catholic shrines in Rwanda, charismatic healing practices in Uganda, and trauma recovery in mission contexts. She investigates how religious narratives shape community resilience and human flourishing in post-genocide societies.

Recent publications demonstrate a cohesive trajectory analyzing Biblical interpretation in African Catholicism and contested healing modalities within charismatic movements. Her work bridges theological reflection with anthropological fieldwork, revealing tensions between institutional prayer teams and independent healers while exploring how mission frameworks address psychological trauma in communities affected by violence.