Emilie Maureen Townes (born August 1, 1955, Durham, North Carolina) is an American Christian social ethicist and theologian, currently Dean and E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of
Womanist Ethics and Society at the
Vanderbilt University Divinity School. She was the first
African-American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensla ...
woman to be elected president of the
American Academy of Religion
The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholars in the field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association,
serving as a professional and learned society for scholars involv ...
in 2008 and served as president of the
Society for the Study of Black Religion from 2013–2016.
Education and career
Townes holds degrees from the
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the ...
(AB in Religion in the Humanities, AM in Religion, DMin) and from the joint
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary/
Northwestern University
Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world.
Chart ...
program (PhD). She taught at
Saint Paul School of Theology,
Union Theological Seminary in New York, and
Yale Divinity School
Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
Congregationalist theological education was the motivation at the founding of Yale, and the professional school has ...
, holding named chairs at both Union and Yale.
In 2013 she became Dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School. She has been an ordained
American Baptist American Baptist may refer to:
* American Baptist Churches USA (ABCUSA), formed (as the Northern Baptist Convention) in 1907
* American Baptist Association, formed 1924
* American Baptist College, Nashville, Tennessee, formed 1924 by the National ...
minister since 1980.
Honors
* Elected to
American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...
, 2009.
* Pacesetter Award from the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education, 2015.
Major works
Books
* ''Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil'' (Palgrave Macmillan Press, 2006).
* ''Breaking the Fine Rain of Death: African American Health Care and a'' ''Womanist Ethic of Care'' (Continuum, 1998).
* ''In a Blaze of Glory: Womanist Spirituality as Social Witness'' (Abingdon Press, 1995).
* ''Womanist Justice, Womanist Hope'' (Scholars Press, 1993).
Co-edited books
* With
Katie Geneva Cannon and
Angela D. Simms: ''Womanist Theological Ethics: A Reader'' (Westminster John Knox Press, 2011)
* With
Stephanie Y. Mitchem: ''Religion, Health, and Healing in African American Life'' (Praeger, 2008)
References
Vanderbilt University faculty
American theologians
University of Chicago Divinity School alumni
1955 births
Living people
{{US-theologian-stub