Stephanie N. Arel  is  currently  a Postdoctoral  Fellow  at  the  Institute  for  the  Bio- Cultural  Study  of  Religion  (IBCSR)  at  Boston  University,  where  she  completed  her Ph.D. in Theological Studies. Her research interests lie at the intersection of theology, psychology, and philosophy where she focuses on issues of human suffering, especially in the aftermath of trauma. She studied religion and psychiatry at Union Theological Seminary, and she holds a certificate in trauma modalities for clinical treatment from the New  York  Institute  for the Psychotherapies.  Probing  questions  about  the body’s affective response to life experiences, including how rhetoric and practice shape bodies as a means of self-formation, her work advances the interrelation between theology and the humanities and social sciences. She most currently draws on the psychological literature in affect theory to inform a theological evaluation of shame, and subsequently human dignity. Issues of embodiment also emerge in her work at the IBCSR, where she works on the Sex Gender Differences in Religion Project. She is also the Secretary/Treasurer of the Society of Ricoeur Studies, an international, interdisciplinary body dedicated to the work of Paul Ricoeur.