Instructor in Theological Studies and MA Program Director
berryma@bethanyseminary.edu [1]
Office: 765-983-1807
Biographical Sketch:
I was born and raised in Goshen, Indiana where I attended Mennonite high school and college. The daughter of two educators, I easily found my own path into the work of community organizing, teaching, and working to advance the peace and justice witness of the church as I have known it.
From 2006 to 2009, I was at Goshen College on a doctoral fellowship where I did some teaching in the Bible, Religion and Philosophy department and the Peace Studies and Women's Studies programs. Since the Fall of 2009, I have been part of the teaching faculty at Bethany Theological Seminary in the dual capacity of instructor in theological studies and MA program director.
In addition to my academic work, I find lots of ways to enjoy life in my “spare time.” Ambivert. Activist. Tea drinker. Houseplant gardener. These are a few words I’d use to describe myself and how I like to spend my spare time. Cooking, knitting, a spot of yoga or massage, rubbing my cat’s belly, and sitting by the fire to read aloud the poetry of David Whyte, or the fiction of Stephen R. Donaldson, J.K. Rowling, or Alexander McCall Smith with my spouse all fit the bill at the moment!
Education:
- B.A. from Goshen College
- M.A. from Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary,
- Currently completing a PhD at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. (Her dissertation is a constructive study of theological anthropology using Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Luther King, Jr. to offer the Historic Peace Church tradition a theology of social responsibility.)
Courses Recently Taught:
- T309: Theology & the Arts
- T306: Feminist Theology & Thought
- T101: Introduction to Theological Reflection
- MA Thesis Seminar Sequence (I103: MA Research Seminar, I350: MA Thesis Seminar, I500: Thesis Completion)
Websites of Interest:
- American Academy of Religion: www.aarweb.org/ [2]
- National Women's Studies Association: www.nwsa.org/ [3]
- Society for the Arts in Religious and Theological Studies: www.societyarts.org/ [4]
For a complete listing of accomplishments, Curriculum Vitae: (coming soon)