he/him or they/them

Assistant Professor

Religion

As a scholar of African American religions, my research brings an interdisciplinary lens, including African American religious history, literary criticism, Black studies, contemporary theology (particularly Black, womanist, and queer theologies), and queer studies to bear in exploring the relationship of religion to varying socio-political phenomena, particularly race, gender, and sexuality. In my current research, these diverse academic disciplines converge in the life and literature of James Baldwin, who, I argue, engages religion in a queer fashion, reimagining and redeploying religious language and symbols throughout the whole of his literary corpus. In conversation with Baldwin, my research explores the relevance and meaning of Black religion for those on the margins of or considered outside of traditional religious spaces, whether due to transgressive religious identities (Black skeptics, agnostics, humanists, or non-theists), or because of non-normative sexual or gender expressions (i.e. queer persons).

 

Regular Classes

RE 200 Religion and Race in the Modern World
RE 200 African American Religious History: An Introduction
RE 200 Queer(ing) Religious Thought: An Introduction to Queer Studies in Religion
RE 200 Black and Womanist Theologies
RE 200 James Baldwin and Religion