EDUCATION
DMin Howard University School of Divinity, Washington, DC (in progress)
MA Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY (2025)
Thesis: “Oracles from a Seleucia Cave: The Asceticism of Thecla as Contemplative Eco Poetics”
MTS Brite Divinity School at Texas Christian University, Ft Worth, TX (2020)
Resident Student, Borderlands Institute, El Paso, TX (2019)
Thesis: “Black Women’s Suffering and Art: Womanist Explorations of Religion and Theater”
BS in Communications, Paul Quinn College, Dallas, TX (2016)
Study Abroad Student, Research Institute of Swahili Studies, Mombasa, Kenya (2011)
ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS
2026
Artist Talk, “Contemplative Land Histories” (selected for the Program for the Evolution of Spirituality Belonging Conference at Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA, September 2026)
2025
Presenter, “Imitatio Mary: The Ascetic Resistance of Jesus’ Mama” (selected for the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, Boston, MA)
Presenter, “Performing Ase’: 20th c Black Women Playwrights and Ancestor Spirit Veneration” (selected for the International Society for Contemplative Research Conference, Durham, NC)
Presenter, “Life We Do: Ntozake Shange and Black Aesthetic Interiority,” (selected for the American Society of Aesthetics, Eastern Division Conference in Philadelphia, PA)
Presenter, “The Nature of Asceticism: An Ecological Reading of the Acts of Paul and Thecla,” (selected for “Religion on the Plate: Critical Perspectives on Food and Religion” Graduate Conference at Columbia University in New York, NY)
2024
Presenter, “Conjuring Interiority: Womanist Reflections on Ancestor Veneration, Social Media, and a Philosophy of Aesthetics,” (selected for the American Academy of Religion Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA)
PUBLICATIONS
2027
Apophatic Art (forthcoming)
2026
RESIDENCIES/FELLOWSHIPS/GRANTS
2025 Zen Mountain Monastery Resident in Training, Mt Tremper, NY
2024 American Academy of Religion, Luce-AAR Advancing Public Scholarship Grant
2021 Forum for Theological Exploration, Ministry Exploration and Mentor Grant
2021 Marion J and Marie N Brooks Education Grant Fund
2020 Forum for Theological Exploration, DISCERN Initiative, Atlanta GA (remote setting due to COVID)
2015 Young People For, Youth Leadership Development Fellowship, Washington DC (national)/San Francisco, CA (regional)