why these texts?

the well-churched girl thinks she can out-smart her fear and despair. she picks texts that she thinks will give her a way up and out of the racial-neoliberal strictures of American Christianity. she thinks that climbing to the summit and looking down at the land will help her see how to make a jigsaw puzzle of thick fissures, stretched along fault-lines of grief, trauma, conflict, (in)justice, privilege, and difference.

instead, the well-churched girl finds that an intellect that ventures into sites of terror may come back and steal her God; or, at least, it may try.

texts found printed on pages are necessary, but insufficient. the archive must breathe.

it breathes

FAQs

  • historians and sociologists, my kisses to you. these are the people who can tell us with clarity how we got to where we are now. each sees in part and knows in part, but each sees with sharpness; at least the ones in our syllabus do.

  • to answer this question, we need to talk to theologians, ethicists, and artists. these are creative and constructive disciplines. and for all my frustration with the ethereality of theory, it is sometimes the only way to access new forms of imagination.

  • over the course of the fall of 2025, i produced three (3) public-facing reflection pieces as i moved through our syllabus myself. you can find the pieces here, here (#2), and here (#3).

  • you do, maybe. or, more accurately, we do, probably. we see in part; we know in part; we create in part and in so doing, we partake in that ongoing divine act of creation. or, at least we try.

what is your answer?

or maybe you still only have questions. share them.