Sharon D. Welch is the new Provost of Meadville Lombard Theological School, Chicago. For many years she was Professor of Religious Studies and Women's Studies at the University of Missouri, Columbia. She is author of After Empire (2004, 978-0-8006-2986-1) and A Feminist Ethic of Risk (2d ed. 2000, 978-0-8006-3185-7).