K. Jason Coker
Jason Coker, a candidate for the Ph.D. in New
Testament and Early Christianity, received the B.A. from William Carey
University (Hattiesburg, Miss.), the M.A.R. from Yale University
Divinity School, and the M.Phil. from Drew University. His scholarly
interests center on postcolonial theory, race theory and the letter of
James. Coker has served as Teaching Assistant for the course,
"Introduction to Biblical Literature I," and is Pastor of Wilton
Baptist Church in Wilton, Conn.
Kathleen Gallagher Elkins
Kathleen Gallagher Elkins earned her Bachelor of Arts in Religion from Greensboro College (Greensboro, N.C.) and Master of Arts in Christian Education from Union-PSCE (Richmond, Va.). She is currently a Ph.D. student in New Testament and Early Christianity. Her research interests include feminist and ecological hermeneutics, as well as post-Shoah interpretations of the Bible. Kathleen has served as a teaching assistant for Introduction to Biblical Literature II (Christian Testament) and is currently the Submissions Editor for the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion.
Grant Gieske
Grant Gieseke received a B.A. from Southeastern College (Lakeland, FL) and an M.A. in Biblical Studies from Iliff School of Theology (Denver, CO) where his master's thesis was entitled, "The Climax of Acts: Paul Puts the Roman Empire on Trial (Acts 24-26)". He is a Ph.D. student at Drew University in the field of New Testament studies. His interests include postcolonialism and cultural studies. He served as a student convener for the Biblical Studies Area in 2007-2008.
Sharon Jacob
Sharon Jacob received her Bachelor of Commerce from Bangalore University in India and her Master of Divinity from Lancaster Theological Seminary in PA. She then went on to Yale Divinity School to earn her Master of Sacred Theology. Her current reaserach includes: gender and sexuality, postcolonialism and issues of race and ethnicity within contemporary India. Sharon served as the Administrative Officer for the GDR Student Association in 2007-2008, and is serving as Co-chairperson for the 2008-2009 academic year.
Donna J. Laird
A candidate for the Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible, Donna received her B.S. in Education from Penn State University, and the M.A. in Biblical Studies from Ashland Theological Seminary, defending the thesis, "Michal, Abigail, Bathsheba, and Abishag: A Study of Women and Their Voices in the Old Testament Text." She received the M. Phil. from Drew University in Hebrew Bible. Her research interests include narrative, feminist and social-scientific criticisms. Her current research focuses on community identity formation and the intersection of religious or symbolic language and social constructions. Her dissertation, "Community Identity, Orthodoxy, and Self-interest," will trace the social contours of symbolic language in Ezra-Nehemiah. As part of her research into the physical and social contexts of Ezra-Nehemiah, she participated in a four-week archaeological dig at Ramat Rahel in 2009. She served as student co-convener for the Biblical Studies area for 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, and as a student representative for the Society of Biblical Literature in 2008-2009. Donna has served as a teaching assistant for sections of Hebrew Bible and New Testament and taught as an adjunct for Ashland Theological Seminary and Drew University Theological School.
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Jennifer A. Barry-Lenger
Jennifer earned the B.A. in Liberal Arts from Colorado Christian
University, the M.T.S. from Duke Divinity School, and a Certificate in
Women's Studies from the Graduate School at Duke University. Her
research interests include feminist historiography; constructions of
power relations in late antiquity; and the rhetorical function of exile
in late ancient Christian identities. Jennifer is the student
co-convener for the Historical Studies Area and also serves as a
teaching assistant for both sections of Church History.
David F. Evans
David received the B.A. from Spring Arbor College (Spring Arbor, Mich.) and the M.T.S. from Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, D.C.). His interests include the history of Christianity in America and the roles that race, nation, and gender have played in constructing Christian identity. He is currently working with Drew's Center on Religion, Culture, & Conflict.
Daniel Gunn
Fr. Daniel Gunn received the B.S. from Lee College, the M.Div. from Church of God Theological Seminary, the M.A. from West Chester University of Pennsylvania, and the S. T. M. Yale University Divinity School. He is a candidate for the M.Phil. and Ph.D. at Drew University, in the area of American religious history. The title of Daniel's intended dissertation is "Heffner's God: A Look at God in Playboy." Fr. Gunn serves as rector of St. Stephen's Episcopal Pro-cathedral, Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Myungsun Han
Myungsun Han earned the B.Th. and the Th.M. from Methodist Theological Seminary (Seoul, Korea), the M.Div. from Drew Theological School, and an Advanced Diploma from Fordham University's Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education. Myungsun's current area of interest is early Christianity, and serves as Pastor at Old Orchards United Methodist Church / First Korean UMC of Cherry Hill, NJ.
Peter Anthony Mena
Peter Mena earned the B.A. at the University of Texas at Austin (history), the M.A. from St. Edwards University (Austin, Tex.; liberal studies), and the M.A. from Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York (church history). Peter's research interests center on the history of Christianity in late antiquity; gender, sexuality, and the body in late antiquity; and constructions of orthodoxy and heresy. He has served as Adjunct Instructor of Religious Studies at Marymount Manhattan College (New York) and Manhattan College (New York).
Geoffrey N. Pollick
Geoff received the B.A. from the Department of Religion of the University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, Wash.), the M.A.R. from the Claremont School of Theology (Claremont, Calif.), and is a candidate for the Ph.D. in U.S./American Religion at Drew University. His research interests include the history of religion in the nineteenth- and twentieth-century United States; critical theories of religion; religion and modern/modernist culture; and the historiography of religion in America. He served as student convener for the Historical Studies Area, and as Co-chairperson of the GDR Student Association for the 2007-2008 academic year. Geoff teaches as an adjunct instructor in the Religious Studies Program of New York University.
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Suzanne Wenonah Duchesne
Suzanne Wenonah Duchesne is a Ph.D. candidate in Liturgical Studies and an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. Her work through Wesley Theological Seminary’s National Capital Semester Seminar in Washington, D.C. and experiences during her years as an appointed pastor have led her to study the relationship between homiletics and liturgy, particularly preaching for social transformation. Her areas of interest that inform her research are the historical and rhetorical basis of prophetic preaching, ethical models for transformation and expanding horizons, racism, postcolonialism, women’s studies/voices and indigenous voices. Suzanne is serving as Co-chairperson of the GDR Student Association for the 2009-2010 academic year and the Evening Student Coordinator of Drew Theological School from 2008 to 2010. She is part of the Dean’s Working Group on Race and active in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference’s initiative Healing the Wounds of Racism. She has a M.Div. degree from Palmer Theological Seminary (Wynnewood, Penn.) and a B.S. in Life Science from Rowan University (Glassboro, N.J.).
Nam Joong Kim
Nam Joong Kim graduated from Hanshin University in South Korea with the Th.B. degree and the Th.M. degree in the area of Hebrew Bible, where he researched the religious cultural, economic, and socio-political possibilities that the interreligious encounter and unity of El, one of the gods of Canaan, Yahweh, the one and only God of Israel, and God of the Ancient Fathers who had been in the midst of the settlement process into Canaan in the Book of Psalms of the Hebrew Bible. He was also ordained a pastor by The Presbyterian Church in the Republic of Korea in 2003. He received the S.T.M. degree in the area of Liturgical Studies from Drew Theological School, where he composed the thesis, “A Postmodern Ritual of Honoring Pre-birth Loss of Life.” In 2008, he began the first year of doctoral study in the Graduate Division of Religion at the Theological School of Drew University. Nam Joong is interested in the intersection between his previous studies in biblical literature and his current studies in preaching and liturgy. He is serving as a student representative of the Korean Caucus of Drew Theological School for the 2008-2009 academic year.
Lance Peeler
Lance Peeler received the B.M. in Music Theory and Composition from
Oklahoma Baptist University (Shawnee, Okla.), the M.M. in Music
Composition from the Westminster Choir College of Rider University
(Princeton, N.J.), and the M.Phil. in Liturgical Studies from Drew. His
research interests include hymnology in the United States; nineteenth
century Christianity; semiotics; musical signification in worship
music; and Baptist history and theology. His dissertation, titled "The Baptist Hymnal for Use in the Church and Home (1883):
Its Development, Content and Reception," considers how the theological
and musical diversity of the editorial board produced a diverse and
therefore popular hymnal. Lance currently teaches music theory at the
Westminster Choir College, as well as serves as the organist at
Woodside Presbyterian Church in Yardley, PA.
Neal D. Presa
Neal Presa earned the BA from the University of California, Davis (political science with highest honors; history with honors), the M.Div. from San Francisco Theological Seminary, the Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary (pastoral theology), and the M.Phil. from Drew University (liturgical studies). His dissertation is titled, "Here I Am Lord: Ritual Approach for a
Theology of Presbyteral Ordination in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)," and his research interests include liturgical theology, ecumenical theology and worship, and Reformed theology and worship. While at Drew, Neal held a Luce Graduate Fellowship in the Center for Christianities in Global Contexts. He serves as an adjunct member of the faculty at Somerset Christian College (Zarapeth, N.J.), and as pastor of Middlesex Presbyterian Church (Middlesex, N.J.). In addition, he serves as a member of the Board of Trustees of Princeton Theological Seminary and on the membership of the executive committee of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches. Neal's publications include the following: That They May All Be One: A Vision for the Reformed Ecumenical Witness, editor (Louisville, Ky.: Geneva Press, forthcoming); Insights from the Underside: An Intergenerational Conversation of Ministers, editor (Elizabeth, N.J.: Broadmind Press, 2008); and articles in Homily Service journal, Call to Worship journal, The Presbyterian Outlook, and The Present
Word. Neal's professional memberships include the North American Academy of Liturgy (visitor) and the North American Academy of Ecumenists.
Maureen Conroy Tauriello
Maureen holds a B.S. in Elementary and Early Childhood Education from Seton Hall University (South Orange, N.J.), and earned a Graduate Level Certificate in Liturgical Studies from Felician College (Lodi, N.J.). Her areas of interest are: music as related to liturgical theology as well as art, architecture and liturgical space. Maureen is employed by Drew University as Assistant Director of Advancement Services.Beyond Drew, she volunteers in the music ministry at St. Joseph Church in
Maplewood, NJ where she is a member of both the choir and also guitarist
for contemporary band called "Trinity." She also serves as a member of the
Liturgy Committee at St. Jospeh's.
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Kristeen L. Black
Kris earned a B.A. from the University of Montana,with a major in Philosophy and a minor in Women's Studies, and an M.A. from Drew Theological School, in Religion and Society. She is currently in the second year of the Ph.D. program here at Drew, continuing with Religion and Society. Her focus is looking at how religion informs peace and justice activists.
Jody Caldwell
Jody Caldwell holds a B.A. (history) and a Masters of Library Science
from SUNY Geneseo, and a M.A. (history) from SUNY Brockport, with a
thesis on the differences in episcopal responses to men's and women's
religious communities in the fifteenth century. She is currently
employed as a librarian at Drew. Her research interests include power
and women in religion, and American Catholicism. Her dissertation is a
study of an independent Catholic church in Rochester, NY, exploring its
formation and its current definition of its Catholic identity.
Christopher A. Haynes
Chris received the B.A. (mathematics and
computer science) and the M.Div. from Vanderbilt University. He studies
trends in demographic shifts among clergy and the role of religion in
public education. Rev. Haynes is an ordained elder in the Tennessee
Conference of the United Methodist Church, and serves as the GDRSA
Administrative Officer (2008-2009).
Tim Helton
Tim received the Bachelor of Ministerial Studies from L.I.F.E. Pacific University (San Dimas, Calif.), and the Master of Arts in Theological Studies from the Claremont School of Theology (Claremont, Calif.), defending the thesis, "An Uneasiness and its Solution: An Analysis of the Universal Need for Atonement, Its Psychological and Social Roots, and Its Religious Descriptions." His current research interests include comparative theology and the study of Jainism. Tim is a founding member of the Ventura County (Calif.) Interfaith Community.
Joseph Kramp
Joe received the B.A. in History from Millikin University, graduating magna cum laude. He subsequently received the M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary, where he composed the thesis: "The Lives of Thomas Merton: A Study in Psychoanalysis, History, and Identity." Now a Ph.D. candidate at Drew in the Psychology and Religion concentration, Joe's principal research interests include religious autobiography, gender and sexuality, and religion and mental illness.
Jill M. Krebs
Jill received the B.A. (women's studies and German) from Western Maryland College (now McDaniel College, Westminster, Md.) and the M.S. (women's studies) from Towson University (Towson, Md.). Her interests include: the Sociology of Religion; Dorothy Smith; philosophies of sexual
difference; Marian devotion in North America; the
intersection of gendered subjectivities and religious images, symbols,
and narratives; sexual difference and identity; and religion and femininity.
Jane Ellen Nickell
Jane Ellen Nickel is currently Chaplain at Allegheny College in Meadville, Pa., where she also teaches in the Religious Studies Department. An ordained United Methodist minister, she holds a BA in English from WV Wesleyan College, and an M.Div. from Vanderbilt Divinity School. Her dissertation is an interdisciplinary project that uses the theory of Bourdieu to examine racism, sexism, and heterosexism in historic records of Methodist leadership debates. She also teaches, writes, and works with congregations in the areas of religion and ecology and US religious pluralism. Her graduate work has been generously supported by the United Methodist Church through two Dempster Fellowships and a James C. Baker Award.
Matthew Riley
Matt earned his B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of
Indiana (Bloomington) with minors in German and Biology. He then became
a 2003 Teach for America Corps member where he taught middle school
biology in the South Bronx for two years while earning a M.S. in
Secondary Education with a focus in Science Education. After graduating
with a M.A.R. in Ethics from Yale Divinity School, Matt and his wife
Christy (Riley) began their first year of PhD work at Drew University.
Matt is interested in the intersection of Religion and Ecology.
Matt Westbrook
Matt received the B.S. in Business Administration from Humboldt State University in Northern California in 1997. He received an M.A.T. in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California in 2002. He is a candidate for the M.Phil. and Ph.D. in Religion and Society at Drew University, specializing in sociology of religion. In 2007 he served as the Drew GDR student representative on a national study of congregations and social justice leadership, funded by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund. His research interests include religion, globalization and collective memory, and American Christian Zionism. His teaching interests include making sociology of religion accessible to theological students.
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Jacob Erickson
Jacob Erickson received his BA in Religion, English and a Historical Perspectives Concentration in Religion and Violence from St. Olaf College, and his M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. He is particularly interested in the function of the concept of power in constructive and systematic theology, as it directly bears on the experience of violence in human communities, individuals and against the earth itself. Current research interests include divine immanence, postcolonial and liberation theology, theological anthropology, queer and liberal theologies, Lutheran theological tradition, and ever-emerging discourses on theopoetics. Erickson is also a candidate for ordination in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
Samuel J. Laurent
Sam received a B.A. in English and Philosophy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in Systematic and Philosophical Theology from the Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, Calif.). Current research interests include utopias and teleological constructions within theology, philosophies and theologies of art, and process theology. Sam is a member of Drew's Sustainability Committee and currently serves as co-chair of the GDR Student Association.
Dhawn B. Martin
Dhawn earned the B.A. in Political Science from Wellesley College (Wellesley, Mass.), the M.A. in Government from Durham University (U.K.), and the M.Div. from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary (Austin, Tex.). Her research interests include constructive and political theologies; cosmopolitanism; and American philosophical pragmatism. Dhawn served as Co-chairperson of the GDR Student Association in the 2007-2008 academic year.
Asher Walden
Asher earned his B.A. in Philosophy from the University if Chicago
and his M.A. in Theology at Andover Newton Theological School. More
recently he has been reading a lot of Dewey, Foucault and Confucian
philosophy. In his current studies he is laying the groundwork for an
eco-localist political economy. Possible dissertation title:
"Everybody Eats: an Interpretation of Nature, Culture and Capital."
He also enjoys chocolate.
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