Devan Stahl, Ph.D.

Education

• Saint Louis University, PhD
• Vanderbilt Divinity School, MDiv
• University of Virginia, BA

Biography

Devan Stahl is an Associate Professor of Bioethics and Religion at Baylor University and Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Education, Innovation, and Technology at the Baylor College of Medicine. She also serves as Associate Director of the Baylor Ethics Center. She received her Ph.D. in Health Care Ethics from St. Louis University and her M.Div. from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Stahl also volunteers as a clinical ethics consultant for the Supportive and Palliative Care Team at Baylor Scott & White Hillcrest. Dr. Stahl is the cohost of the popular podcast Bioethics for the People, now in its ninth season. 

Academic Interests and Research

Clinical ethics, theological bioethics, disability ethics, medicine and the visual arts, history of medicine and religion.

Professional Awards/Activities/Grants and Fellowships

-John Templeton Foundation, “Illuminating Theological Inquiry and Christian Ethics Through Training in the Psychological Sciences,” PI, 2023-2025

-Texas Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, “Dementia: Determining the Capacity Necessary to Designate a Surrogate,” PI, 2020-2024

-Wabash Center, “Disability Pedagogy: Mapping the Lay of the Land,” PI, 2021-2023

-Issachar Fund, "Bioenhancement Technologies and the Vulnerable Body,” PI, 2019

- Emerging Scholar Award, Institute for Theology and Disability, 2018

Books 

Disability and Christian Theology Handbook. Ed. D. Stahl and S. Barton. London: T&T Clark, 2027.

Disability’s Challenge to Theology: Genes, Eugenics, and the Metaphysics of Modern Medicine. Notre Dame Press, 2022.

Bioenhancement Technologies and the Vulnerable Body: A Theological Engagement. Ed. Devan Stahl, Waco, TX: Baylor University Press, 2023.

Imaging and Imagining Illness: Becoming Whole in a Broken Body. Ed. Devan Stahl, Eugene OR, Cascade Books, 2018.

The Body and Ultimate Concern: Reflections on an Embodied Theology of Paul Tillich. Ed. Pryor A. and Stahl D, Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2018. 

Selected Research Articles

Stahl, D., Davidson, S., Le Shana, J.L., Rojales, K., and Carter, E.W. (2026). “Pastoral Perspectives on God’s Role in Causing Disability,” Pastoral Psychology, htps://doi.org/10/1007/s11089-026-01356-1

Stahl, D., Le Shana, J., Davison, S.P., Rojales, K., Carter, E.W. (2026). “Disability and Sin: A Qualitative Study of the Perspectives of Pastors,” Journal of Pastoral Theology. https://doi.org/10.1080/10649867.2026.2665945.

Stahl, D., Wasserman, J., Barron, L., Weaver, S. (2025). “A Novel Tool to Assess the Capacity of Dementia Patients to Designate a Surrogate,” The Gerontologist 65 (12): 1-9. https://doi.org/10.1093/geront/gnaf259

  Stahl, D. (2025). “Disability, Quality of Life, and Vitalism in End-of-Life Care,” HEC Forum 37: 479-492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10730-025-09561-w

 Stahl, D. (2025). “AI and Human Dignity within Health Care: A Christian Bioethical Assessment,” Review of Faith and International Affairs 23 (3):100-111. https://doi.org/10.1080/15570274.2025.2531654

 Stahl, D., Escobar, M., Carter, E. (2025). “A Gospel Choir and an Elevator: The One Wishes of Disabled Christians,” Journal of Religion and Disability 30 (1): 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/23312521.2025.2522662

 Stahl, D. (2024). “Scans and Prints,” Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 67 (4): 496-506.

Stahl, D. (2023). “Misuses of ‘Quality of Life’ Judgments in End-of-Life Care,” CHEST 163 (5): 1228-1231.

Stahl, D. (2022). “Why Medicine Needs a Theology of Monstrosity” Journal of Medicine and Philosophy 47 (5): 612-624. 

Stahl, D. and Curry, L. (2022) “Intersections and Methods in Disability Theology: Bioethics and Critical Studies as Dialogue Partners” Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics 42 (1): 153-168. 

Stahl, D. (2021). “Understanding the Voices of Disability Advocates in Physician Assisted Suicide Debates.” Christian Bioethics 27(3): 279-297.

Stahl, D. (2021). “The Continuing Need to Combat Disability Discrimination in Organ Transplantation,” Surgery 171 (4): 1123-1125.

Stahl, D. (2020). “Re-Imagining the Healing Service,” Theology Today 77(2): 165-178.

Courses Taught at Baylor

REL 4395 Bioethics

REL 4389 Disability Ethics 

REL 5174 Clincal Research Practicum

5368 Theological Bioethics 

View Dr. Stahl's Books