How Knowledge of African Traditional Religions Created Pandemic Community
Monica Coleman is a professor of Africana Studies at the University of Delaware, an elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church, a renowned speaker on issues of religion and sexuality, and an initiate in traditional Yoruba faith. Her academic interests include black and womanist theologies, mental health and faith, and African traditional religions, amongst others. She teaches classes relating to these disciplines as well as courses on religious leadership and cross-cultural liberation theologies. Coleman’s research interests explore the intersection of religion, social justice, and human experience.
She has authored several works including Making a Way Out of No Way: A Womanist Theology and her memoir, Bipolar Faith: a Black Woman’s Journey with Depression and Faith. Further, Coleman received several distinctions including the Silver Illumination Award and induction into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars. She is a recipient of fellowships and funding from the Mellon Foundation, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation, the Association for Theological Schools, and the Forum for Theological Exploration.
Coleman is also a co-host of Octavia Tried to Tell Us: Parable for Today’s Pandemic, a popular webinar series in which she uses lessons from Afrofuturist literature, values, and theology to address important current events and community issues.
Professor Coleman's Athenaeum lecture is sponsored by the Kutten Lectureship in Religious Studies at CMC.