Dean Emilie Townes
Emilie is the new Divinity School Dean. She comes from Yale.
(Vanderbilt Photo / Daniel Dubois)
Imagine taking a walk through five notes on why justice and peace are profound values to hold if we choose to live our lives with passion, commitment, integrity, justice, hope, and love. You’ll have that opportunity at Wild Goose Festival 2016, as Emilie Townes presents, “Justice Notes.”
The Wild Goose is thrilled to welcome Emilie Townes, Dean and Carpenter Professor of Womanist Ethics and Society at Vanderbilt University Divinity School, to the festival this year! Dean Townes is a widely recognized leader, a creative innovator, a clear and certain voice in the pursuit of justice and she will be an important contributor to our community. Dean Townes is the first African American to serve as Dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School and the first Black woman elected to the presidency of the American Academy of Religion (AAR). The Durham, NC native is an American Baptist clergywoman. She holds a Ph.D. in Religion in Society and Personality from Northwestern University and a Doctor of Ministry degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School. She has taught at Yale Divinity School, Union Theological Seminary, and Saint Paul School of Theology. Townes is the author of four books, including the groundbreaking Womanist Ethics and the Cultural Production of Evil and editor or co-editor of four books.
“We must choose righteous anger that does not excuse inequities, does not tolerate poverty, does not sanction false hopes. Righteous anger takes to the ballot box, encourages us to claim the responsibility of citizenship and educate ourselves about the issues of the day and also the ways we can address them, works as communities united with a vision that refuses to accept a weary status quo that allows a few to flourish and the rest struggle to survive.”
Read Emilie’s blog.
Professor Emilie Townes speaks of Jesus’ righteous indignation and our need to be angry in the face of injustice.