Theology Underground is a series of guided conversations about how culture, identity, and race impact the way we live out our faith and beliefs.
Each month, the program engages with a different cultural community and learns about their unique and creative ways of imagining God and living out their faith. Campus partners across various identities serve as conversation partners. Light refreshments provided. Meetings are held on the Tuesdays listed below from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. in the Mary Lou Williams Center's "Lower Lou" Programming Space.
To learn more or to RSVP to have dinner provided at a meeting, contact the Rev. Racquel Gill, the Chapel's minister for intercultural engagement. Audio recordings will be added below as they become available.
Spring 2025 Dates and Topics
January 21 — "Their Eyes Were Watching God:” The Folk Wisdom of Zora Neale Hurston
with Dr. Scott Hicks, professor of English, theater, and world languages at UNC Pembroke
February 11 — “Black Boy:” Black Disbelief and Richard Wright
with Dr. Douglas Jones, associate professor of theater studies at Duke
March 18 — “In My Mother’s House There Is Still God:” The Theology of Lorraine Hansberry
with special guest Rev. Mia Mclain, pastor of Riverside Baptist Church Washington, DC
Thursday, April 10 — “The Piano Lesson:” African Spirituality and August Wilson
with Rev. Dr. Otis Moss III, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ Chicago, Illinois
Fall 2024 Dates and Topics
2024 is the centennial year of Duke University. It also marks the 100th birthday of literary giant James A Baldwin. To honor the birth of Baldwin, this year's Theology Underground series will engage the intersections of theology and black literature.
Special Guests: Dr. Sharieka Botex, assistant professor of the practice in writing studies
Special Guests: Dr. Joseph Richard Winters, associate professor of religious studies
Special Guests: Rev. Dr. Chelsea Brooke Yarborough, associate director for leadership and programming at the Association of Theological Schools
Spring 2024 Dates and Topics
Special Guests: Rev. Dr. Dumas Harshaw and Craig Hines from Duke Divinity's Office of Black Church Studies
Special Guests: Imam Abdul Waheed from the Center for Muslim Life and Rev. Leah Torrey, director of special initiatives at Duke Chapel
Special Guests: Rev. Jay Augustine from the Duke Center for Reconciliation and Rev. Regina Graham from The Fuller Foundation in conversation with Duke Chapel Intern Max Miller
Fall 2023 Topics
Special Guests: Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, chair of Duke's Department of African and African American Studies
Special Guests: Dr. AY Bryant, a psychologist with Duke CAPS
Special Guests: Juwan Jacobs, an assistant director with Duke Student Affairs Student Involvement & Leadership, and members of Duke's National Pan-Hellenic Council
2022–2023 Topics and Texts
In the 2022–2023 academic year, we held discussions with thirteen emerging and experienced theologians and practitioners around the intersections of faith, identity, and culture. Below are the texts that our guest facilitators lifted up as suggestions for further education and deeper engagement. We look forward to continuing these conversations and are grateful for all who contributed to our Theology Underground Booklist.
- Mujerista Theology Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz
- Reading the Bible from the Margins by Miguel De La Torre
- Trans-Forming Proclamation: A Transgender Theology of Daring Existence by Liam M Hooper
- Transforming: The Bible and the Lives of Transgender Christians by Austen Hartke
- As We Have Always Done by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
- Spirit and Resistance by George Tinker
- Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King Jr.
- Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Washington Thurman
- The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Hal Cone
- The Way of the Black Messiah by Theo Witvliet
- Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk by Delores S. Williams
- All About Love: New Visions by Bell Hooks
- From A Liminal Place: An Asian American Theology by Sang Hyun Lee
- Doing Asian American Theology: A Contextual Framework for Faith and Practice by Daniel D. Lee