Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

We are pleased to announce that the Keynote Speaker for the 2010 Student Theological Conference is Monica Coleman.

Dr. Coleman will be delivering her keynote address, "Sexperts Needed:  The Relevance of Religious Scholarship on Sex, Sexuality, and Gender in Today's World," in the Chapel of the Unnamed Faithful on Friday, April 30, 2010 from 1:30-2:30 p.m.

A scholar and activist, Monica A. Coleman is committed to connecting faith and social justice.   An ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, Coleman has earned degrees at Harvard University, Vanderbilt University and Claremont Graduate University.   Coleman is currently Associate Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religions and Co-Director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremont School of Theology in southern California. 

As a survivor of rape, Coleman became committed to speaking out against sexual violence in 1996. In 1997, she founded and coordinated "The Dinah Project," an organized church response to sexual violence, at Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in Nashville, TN.    Her expertise in religion and sexual violence has taken her around the country to speak at churches, colleges, seminaries, universities, and regional and national conferences. 

Coleman's writings focus on the importance of belief in addressing critical social issues.   Coleman wrote about church responses to sexual violence in The Dinah Project: a Handbook for Congregational Response to Sexual Violence.   In Making a Way Out of No Way: a Womanist Theology, Coleman discusses inter-religious responses to the joys and pains of black women's lives.  She is the co-editor of the forthcoming Creating Women's Theologies: A Movement Engaging Process Thought and editor of the forthcoming Ain't I a Womanist Too?: Third Wave Womanist Religious Thought.

Because of her work with religion and justice, the interdenominational preaching magazine The African American Pulpit named Coleman one of the "Top 20 to Watch" - The New Generation of Leading Clergy: Preachers under 40.  Coleman's articles have been published in a variety of publications including ESSENCE , The A. M. E. Review and The Women of Color Study Bible.  Her academic writings can be found in journals such as Wesleyan Theological Journal , Soundings: an Interdisciplinary Journal and Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion.

To learn more about Monica Coleman, click here to visit her website:  www.MonicaAColeman.com