PhD Students

Research Focus

Will’s research integrates studies of prison literature, cognitive linguistics, trauma, and biblical interpretation in prison. He is writing a dissertation on the imprisonment narratives in the Book of Jeremiah.

Background & Activities

Will studies and teaches at the intersection of prisons, literature, and biblical studies. Since 2001, he has volunteered or worked inside prisons in four states and one federal facility. Will founded and chairs the Prison Literature Permanent Session of the Midwest Modern Language Association. He is also a member of the Illinois Coalition of Higher Education Programs in Prison (IL-CHEPP) and the Correctional Ministries and Chaplains Association (CMCA). In 2016, Will was named a “Woody Guthrie Fellow” by the Broadcast Music Industry Foundation. This allowed him to conduct research in the archives at the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Subsequent to his dissertation, Will plans to complete a book on Woody Guthrie’s experiences of incarceration. Will has served as a licensed United Methodist pastor and is currently a Lecturer at North Park Theological Seminary’s School of Restorative Arts, a Christian ministry degree program inside Stateville Correctional Center near Joliet, Illinois. He lives with his wife Kristin and son Josiah in the North Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago.

Courses

Instructor - Pentateuch & Interpretation
Instructor - New Testament Texts and Their World
Instructor - Religion in Prison: A Survey of Religious-Themed Prison Literature
Instructor - Scripture and Violence Against Women

Research Focus

Jared studies the Hebrew Bible and is especially interested in the areas where biblical studies intersects with queer theory and animal studies. He is currently writing his dissertation on Song of Songs.

Courses

Adjunct Professor, "Interpreting the Hebrew Bible"
Adjunct Professor, "LGBTQ Issues and Biblical Interpretation"
Teaching Assistant, "Interpreting the Hebrew Bible II" with Rabbi Dr. Rachel Mikva

Research Focus

Whitney Bond is currently a third-year PhD student in the field of Theology, Ethics and the Human Sciences at Chicago Theological Seminary. Her research centers on womanist approaches to bridging gaps between pastoral care and practical theology within human sexuality and spiritual spaces for Black bodies, primarily Black Church spaces and queer bodies.

Background & Activities

A native of East Saint Louis, Illinois, Whitney is a May 2016 graduate of The Candler School of Theology at Emory University and received her Master of Divinity with a certificate in Black Church Studies. She is also a proud alumna of Spelman College where she received her B.A. degree in Drama with a Concentration in Dance. In the past, Whitney has presented at the American Academy of Religion (2014, 2017, & 2018), served as moderator for both AAR (2015) and the Love Thyself convening (2016). She is a member of the American Academy of Religion, The National Alumnae Association of Spelman College, the Society of Christian Ethics, Women of Color Sexual Health Network, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, and a board member for the Children of Combahee, . Additionally, she is SafeSpace trained and creator of the apparel line, Unbossed and Unbought.

Courses

Teaching Assistant, Intro to Pastoral Care,  with Dr. Zachary Moon
Teaching Assistant, Black Lives Matter: Theological Anthropology, with Dr. Linda Thomas

Research Focus

Rachelle's research is focused on the formation of American Theology during the Antebellum period. Critique of historical movements and the construction of theologies in the early 19th century interrogate the debate and boundaries of being human in Christian thought.

Background & Activities

Professional career includes communications, Interim ministry leadership, teaching, and application of Queer Theology. Rachelle is an amateur photographer and enjoys teaching in various contexts, in person, online, and in small group settings.

Courses

Teaching Assistant, "History of Christian Thought" with Dr. Julia Speller
Teaching Assistant, "North American Religion" with Dr. Susan Thistlewaite
Adjunct Professor, "North American Religion"

Research Focus

Charing Wei-Jen Chen (he/him)’s research focuses on the interdisciplinary of the Hebrew Bible, postcolonialism, and gender/queer theories. His dissertation explores new approaches to reading the Book of Judges through the lens of LGBT/queer Christian experiences and movements in Taiwan.

Background & Activities

The first coming-out LGBTQ seminarian in Taiwan and the valedictorian of 2014. Moderator of Hayward-Boswell Society at CTS (2017-19), Co-leader of Chicago Chapter, The Reformation Project (2018-19), Co-leader of Queer Theologians Illinois (2018), co-host of 'Queer of God' podcast (2020-). An ordained United Church of Christ pastor keeps exploring the final frontier.

Courses

Teaching Assistant, Interpreting the Hebrew Bible, with Dr. Ken Stone
Teaching Assistant, Global Sensitivity in Ministry, with Dr. Bo Myung Seo
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to LGBTQ+ Religious Studies, with Dr. Scott Haldeman
Teaching Assistant, Pastoral Care and LGBTQ Experience, with Dr. Cody J. Sanders
Teaching Assistant, History of Christian Thoughts, with Dr. Cynthia Stewart
Teaching Assistant, Marriage: Rites and Wrongs, with Dr. Scott Haldeman

Research Focus

William's research, “On Earth as It Is in Heaven: The Legacy of Henrietta Lacks as a Blueprint for DNA Theology, Human Transformation, and the Reclamation of the Imago Dei in the Biotechnological Age,” explores the intersection of theology, biotechnology, and cultural criticism. His work reclaims Lacks’ legacy as sacred, constructing a DNA Theology that centers human dignity and divine identity amid scientific and ethical disruption.

Background & Activities

William is a pastor, scholar, and community-based theologian with nearly three decades of ministerial leadership in North Carolina, where he has served congregations at the intersection of rural struggle and urban complexity. His ministry is rooted in social justice, theological imagination, and grassroots empowerment, reflecting a lifelong commitment to the dignity and liberation of marginalized communities. He currently serves as an adjunct professor in the Department of Religion and Philosophy at Campbell University, where he teaches courses exploring the intersections of theology, ethics, and cultural critique. He holds a Master of Arts in Theological and Cultural Anthropology, with a thesis titled “Legacy of Injustice: Interplay of Slavery, Reconstruction, Segregation, and Violence in Vance County, North Carolina: Exploring Intergenerational Poverty, The Church, and Community Trauma.” He is now pursuing a PhD in Theology and Cultural Criticism, with his current dissertation expanding the conversation into the realms of bio-theology, sacred anthropology, and human transformation through the lens of Henrietta Lacks and the ethics of biotechnology. In his spare time, he enjoys boating, riding motorcycles, and spending time with his family. He is the proud Baba to five grandsons, who continue to inspire his commitment to building a more just and beautiful world.

Research Focus

Research Focus

Lindsay's research focuses on the effects of Western media on the spiritual and cultural development of Palestinian-American Christian GenZ youth

Courses

Living Into our Commitments and Effecting Social Change

Research Focus

Background & Activities

Elle Dowd (she/her/hers) is a bi-furious recent graduate of the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, a current PhD student at the Chicago Theological Seminary, the campus minister of South Loop Campus Ministry and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Elle has pieces of her heart in Sierra Leone, where her two children were born, and in St. Louis where she learned from the radical, queer, Black leadership during the Ferguson Uprising. She was formerly a co-conspirator with the movement to #decolonizeLutheranism and currently serves as a board member of the Euro-Descent Lutheran Association for Racial Justice, does community organizing in her city as a board member of SOUL, serves on the Clergy Advocacy Board for Planned Parenthood, writes regularly as part of the vision team for the Disrupt Worship Project, and facilitates workshops in both secular conferences and Christian spaces. In 2021 she published a book with Broadleaf, Baptized in Teargas, about her conversion from a white moderate to an abolitionist is available now in print, e-book, or audiobook. To get in touch with Elle and to keep up with updates, you can visit her website www.elledowd.com and subscribe to her newsletter. You can also see her online ministry via Facebook.com/elledowdministry or follow her on Twitter/SnapChat/Insta @hownowbrowndowd or on TikTok @elledowdministry And order her book Baptized in Teargas: From White Moderate to Abolitionist here https://bit.ly/2YICjBf Or download the audiobook here https://christianaudio.com/baptized-tear-gas-elle-dowd-audiobook-download

Research Focus

Cheryl's research focuses on how Afro-Latinas in parts of Colombia and Peru, speak of God, embrace and embody ancestral spirituality and practices in the face of systemic multiple macro and micro aggressions attributed to regional colonialism, military (national and U.S.) backed/enacted genocide and massacres, forced internal displacement, and statelessness.

Background & Activities

Preacher-Teacher, Scholar-Activist, Public-Practical Theologian, Cheryl is committed to the work of disrupting, decolonizing, and dismantling global systems and structures that oppress, dehumanize, disenfranchise, and marginalize persons. She has serves as an activist and advocate in parts of Spanish speaking Central and South America, working with and on behalf Afro-descendent and Indigneous persons on issues of racism, land and economic justice, gender disparity, and penal reform. As an ordained Itinerant Elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Cheryl has served Senior leadership and congregations in several capacities, including: Director of Prison Ministries, Director of Social Justice Ministries, Director of Prayer and Spiritual Formation, Crisis Chaplain, and Executive Administrative Assistant. At present she serves as the Executive Administrative Assistant for the Department of Church Growth and Development AME Church Worldwide, the Co-Dean of the Seminar on Church Growth and Evangelism AME Church and on the Ministerial Staff of Cathedral of Grace-St. John AME Church, in Aurora IL where she facilitates the Prayer Ministry and Senior Adult Bible Study. When she is not reading and researching, teaching, preaching, or speaking in public spheres, Cheryl spends her time engaging in advocacy and awareness for Neuroendocrine Pancreatic Cancer, accompanying persons on their journeys for justice, being present with individuals who are in crisis situations and serving as a Death Doula for individuals at the end stages of life. Cheryl enjoys reading, writing, music and the arts, sewing, DIY, photography, and simply being still.

Courses

Graduate Assistant, "Leadership and Ministry" with Professor Dr. Stephanie B. Crowder
Teaching Assistant, "Systematic Theology" with Professor Dr. JoAnne M. Terrell

Research Focus

As a person living with a severe visual impairment, Thomas is interested in the complex and dynamic ways that disability is constructed and used in biblical texts and contemporary society. Thomas utilizes an interdisciplinary approach in his research by engaging biblical, theological, historical and cultural resources on disability.

Background & Activities

Thomas is an ordained Elder in the A.M.E. Zion Church. He is active in the ministries of preaching, Christian education and spiritual formation. Currently, Thomas serves as Visiting Instructor in biblical studies at Hood Theological Seminary. He has also served as Adjunct Instructor in Religion at Catawba College.

Courses

Instructor, "Introduction to the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament"
Instructor, "Disability in the Old Testament"
Instructor, "Elementary Biblical Hebrew"
Instructor, "Theology in the Book of Exodus"

Background & Activities

Yoshua received his MTh from Jakarta Theological Seminary (JTS) and ordained as a pastor at Christian Churches of Java (GKJ), Indonesia. His publications include, "Liberatio Communio: The ecclesiological identity of Sadrach's Javanese Community" International Bulletin of Mission Research 41.3 (July 2017) and "Mending the Memory? A Socio-Pastoral Approach to Re-experiencing the Peaceful Religion through Ruwatan" in Mending the World (Wipf and Stock, 2017). Some of his works also presented in several international conferences such as International Barth Conference (Barth Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, 2018); Ways of Knowing Graduate Conference (Harvard Divinity School, 2017); Reading Bonhoeffer for the Life of the Church Conference (Cranmer Hall - Durham University, 2016); "Mending The World?" Conference (Church of Sweden Research Unit, 2015). As a lecturer in JTS, his previous team-teaching classes include Digital Theology: Doing Theology in Disruptive Era (Fall 2019), Introduction to Western and Eastern Philosophy (Spring 2019), Public Theology and Social Issues (Fall 2018), and Theology in Asia (Fall 2017). He also actively engaged in interreligious dialogue in the Interfaith Youth Dialogue (PELITA) in South Tangerang, Banten, and served as the Head of "Kabar Baik" Institute of Research and Development (LPPKB) own by the Christian Churches of Java, clasiss Jakarta. In 2020, Yoshua receives The Fulbright Doctoral Scholarship.

Research Focus

Research Focus

Haeman’s research focuses on theology, race, gender, and sexuality in Asian contexts. He is particularly interested in Womanist Theology. Through a womanist methodology, he critically engages Black Theology, Queer Theology, Asian Liberation Theology, and Liberation Theology in Latin America. He also reinterprets Asian subcultures theologically from womanist and queer perspectives.

Background & Activities

Haeman was born and raised in South Korea. He is a father of two cats. Although he is not an otaku, he likes Japanese animes, games, pop songs, and novels. He is a member in discernment of United Church of Christ (Philadelphia Association, Pennsylvania Southeast Conference).

Courses

Teaching Assistant, "Systematic Theology (Online)" with Professor JoAnne Marie Terrell

Research Focus

Alex's areas of focus include Theological Ethics, Political Economy, Critical Theory, and Asian American Theology.

Research Focus

Quincy's research examines Black gay men’s bodies and the 1960s Civil Rights Movement. He explores the life of Bayard Rustin as an epistemological paradigm for heroism, based on the Kierkegaardian concepts of the “leap of faith,” and the biblical Abraham as the “knight of faith.” He plans to critique conventional conceptualizations of Black male identities, and offer a more complex understanding of human sexuality.

Background & Activities

Reverend Quincy James Rineheart is a Cis queer historian of African American Religion, theologian, academic activist, and teacher. He is a fourth-year Ph.D. student at Chicago Theological Seminary. His doctoral research has afforded him the opportunity to present at Harvard University, Oxford Symposium on Religion at the University Church of St. Mary the Virgin of Oxford, Oxford, England, Morehouse College, Governors State University, among other universities. In addition to his academic responsibilities, Rev. Rineheart is the Scholar-in-Residence for the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. and the Micah Institute-Economic Justice Fellow. Rev. Rineheart served as the first African American Interim Pastor of Immanuel United Church of Christ in Streamwood, Illinois. He currently serves as a board member of the Chicago Black Gay Men's Caucus. He is also the Convenor of the Bayard Rustin Society and Co-Convenor of the PhD Student Association at Chicago Theological Seminary.

Courses

Course Instructor, African American Religious Thought from Harlem Renaissance to #BlackLivesMatter, Payne Theological Seminary
Teaching Assistant, Systematic Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary, with Professor Dr. JoAnne Marie Terrell
Teaching Assistant, Introduction to Christian Ethics, McCormick Theological Seminary, with Professor Dr. Reggie Williams
Teaching Assistant, Religion in North America, Chicago Theological Seminary, with Professor Dr. Julia Speller

Courses

Teaching Assistant, Trauma and Theology, Dr. Zachary Moon

Research Focus

Cornelius’ research focuses on Christian cosmology, scientific theory, biblical studies, and Christian adult education. He is concerned with the practical and theoretical relationship between theology and science in the study of the universe.

Background & Activities

Teaching, hosting and spoken word artist

Research Focus

My research focuses include African Cosmology, Indigenous African Religions, Life-cycle Development, Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, the Invisible Institution, and the Black Church.

Research Focus

Aisha' work focuses on mysticism, gender, and metaphysics within her own tradition of Islam and others. In exploring these avenues, her work highlights contemplation as a pathway towards action and the wisdom of women mystics and the divine feminine as sources for healing both within and into the world.

Research Focus

Marsha’s research focuses on the influence of white nationalism on the formation of non-intersectional white feminism.

Background & Activities

Marsha lives in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, and is currently serving as the Religious Education Coordinator for Unitarian Universalist Church West, in Brookfield, Wisconsin. She is active in Milwaukee Inner City Congregations Allied for Hope, or MICAH, serving on both it’s Milwaukee Public Schools Action committee, and its Prison Reform Steering committee. Marsha also serves as a trained public moderator with the Frank Zeidler Center for Public Discussion, where she has moderated “Police and Resident Circles,” several community talk backs in cooperation with the Milwaukee Repretory Theater, as well as Title IX training break-out sessions in conjunction with Milwaukee Area Technical College. Marsha is “mom” to two adult humans, two cats, and one obnoxious, yet endearing dog.

Courses

Teaching Assistant (online), Constructive Theology, with Dr. Christophe Ringer
Teaching Assistant, Christian Ethics, with Dr. Christophe Ringer
Teaching Assistant, Constructive Theology, with Dr. Scott Haldeman

Research Focus

Monte's research focuses on positive psychology's "authoritative community" builds strengths that mold young people into formidable leaders for the next. He is concerned with the human development aspect, neglected in ministry, but seen through a psychoanalytic lens is a key aspect to a 21st century pastoral psychology approach that an embodied existence is affected by context for any meaningful human development especially for leadership emergence.

Background & Activities

Monte is a youth pastor by profession and came back to school in order to gain the credentials to allow him to develop new ways of teaching seminarians how to build functional, compassionate, and holistic family and youth ministries. Having experienced the crises that arise when a minister leaves the seminary without the faintest idea of what to do with a young person in their church, Monte's focus now is to make sure that he capacitates ministers so that they are able to use pastoral psychology informed approaches in what he now terms "family and youth ministry" instead of the traditional "youth ministry" only. He is both in the church and in the academy as he believes that one has to teach what one has experienced as a solution that works as demanded by practical theology, the main branch of what he deals with both in the academy and in the church. His experience in many positions in various churches over the globe as Director of Children and Youth Ministry is his anchor as he goes about his current work, research and study.

Courses

Adjunct Instructor, Creating a Functional, Compassionate & Holistic Family & Youth Ministry
Teaching Assistant, Global Sensitivity in Ministry, with Karl Villarmea

Research Focus

Dissertation Topic: Theoretical and Theological Engagements With/In The African-American Tradition of Interpreting the Spirituals