Monica A. Coleman
Research, writing, teaching – that’s what scholars do. And I love all of it equally. I’m a big nerd. I’ve always had my head in a book, and I’ve had some of the most extraordinary teachers out there. Technically, I’m a religious scholar, but I have a lot of different interests, and I’m constantly trying to find a way to feed all of them. My ultimate goal is to write the kind of books that moved me and be the kind of teacher that inspired me.
I received my elementary and secondary education in Ann Arbor, MI. I went to St. Francis of Assisi School for grades one through six. I then attendedGreenhills School for grades seven through twelve. I entered Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges with the intention of majoring in math and economics. I never took a math course, but I met Dr. Henry Louis Gates in the dining hall my first semester and took an elective class in African American literature. That was all I needed. I declared a concentration inAfro-American Studies , and decided that I wanted to pursue a career in academia. I was blessed to receive an Andrew W. Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship to support my undergraduate research. I focused my thesis research on 19th century African American slave narratives, but I had secondary interests in anthropology and creative writing.
I enrolled at Vanderbilt Divinity School to earn my M. Div. At Vanderbilt, I realized that religious studies includes far more than church history and biblical studies. I focused on Christian education and theological studies. Many thanks to the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation for my fellowship and for development of the Program in the Study of Religion, Gender and Sexuality .
I was able to combine my own healing from rape with solid scholarship and focus my work on theological issues surrounding the crisis ofsexual violence . At Vanderbilt, I had amazing inspirational faculty who encouraged me in ministry and academics. When I graduated from Vanderbilt, I remained in Nashville working with ministry, social justice work and teaching adjunct in the Africana Studies Department atTennessee State University . The wonderful students at TSU re-ignited my desire to teach. After 2 years, I decided to begin doctoral studies.
