Jawanza Eric Clark

About

PHD  Emory University

THM  Candler School of Theology (Emory University)

MDIV Yale Divinity School

BA     Morehouse College

Research

My primary training is in Christian theology, with specialization in Black liberation and womanist thought, but I am also interested in comparative theology as it pertains to African religions and African and African-American Christianity.  My research investigates the doctrine of the human being to determine whether the indigenous African concept, ancestor, offers a construal of theological anthropology that can address and correct oppressive features of established Protestant approaches to theological anthropology for Black and Womanist theology and the theology of African and African American Christians generally.  My research raises questions about theological method and epistemology in a liberationist agenda if indigenous African religions are included as theological sources for Black theology.  It also explores historical questions regarding black Christian formation in America during the antebellum and early post-bellum periods.  I conducted research in Accra, Ghana in 2006 where I studied indigenous African religions and African Christianity among the Akan and Ga peoples. 

Professional Experience

Assistant Professor of Global Christianity, Manhattan College, Riverdale, NY  (Fall 2012- present)

Lecturer, Spelman College, Atlanta, GA. (Fall 2008-Spring 2012)

Adjunct Professor, Emory University, Atlanta, GA. (Spring 2007-Fall 2007)

Publications & Professional Activities

Books

Indigenous Black Theology: Toward An African-Centered Theology of the African-American Religious Experience, Jawanza Eric Clark, Palgrave-Macmillan 2012.

Articles

"Jonathan Edwards," in Beyond the Pale: Reading Theology from the Margins, eds. Miguel de la Torre and Stacey Floyd Thomas, Westminster John Knox, 2011.

"Reconceiving the Doctrine of Jesus As Savior in Terms of the African Understanding of Ancestor: A Model for the Black Church," in Black Theology: An International Journal Vol 8 (2) 2010.

Professional Memberships

Dr. Clark is a member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion and the American Academy of Religion.

Courses Taught/Teaching

RELS 110 The Nature and Experience of Religion
RELS 338 Theologies of Liberation