Theology Underground meeting

Theology Underground

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 (get directions).

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.

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. 

September 10 — "Go Tell It on the Mountain:” The Theology of James Baldwin
with special guest Dr. Sharieka Botex, assistant professor of the practice in writing studies

October 8 — "This Here Flesh:” The Sacred Memory of Toni Morrison 
with special guest Dr. Joseph Richard Winters, associate professor of religious studies

November 5 — "God is Change:” The Political Theology of Octavia Butler
with special guest Rev. Dr. Chelsea Brooke Yarborough, associate director for leadership and programming at the Association of Theological Schools

Spring 2025 Dates and Topics

January 21 — "Their Eyes Were Watching God:” The Folk Wisdom of Zora Neale Hurston

February 11 — “Black Boy:” Black Disbelief and Richard Wright
with special guest Dr. Douglas Jones, associate professor of theater studies

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

April 8 — “The Piano Lesson:” African Spirituality and August Wilson 

Spring 2024 Dates and Topics

January 23 — I Talk To God In Church and Outside Too: Howard Thurman & Black Mysticism
with special guests Rev. Dr. Dumas Harshaw and Craig Hines from Duke Divinity's Office of Black Church Studies

February 13 — I Talk To God and I Read Malcolm X Too: The Theology of Malcolm X
with special guests Imam Abdul Waheed from the Center for Muslim Life and Rev. Leah Torrey, director of special initiatives at Duke Chapel

 

March 19 — I Talk to God and My Coach Too: Theology and Sports Culture
with Duke Chapel Intern Max Miller in conversation with Rev. Jay Augustine from the Duke Center for Reconciliation and Rev. Regina Graham from The Fuller Foundation

 

April 9 — I Talk to God and I Meditate Too: A Conversation with a Baptist and Buddhist
with special guest Rev. Prasert Ammartek, Buddhist Chaplain at Duke

 

Fall 2023 Topics

I Talk to God in Public: The Holy in Hip Hop
with special guest Dr. Mark Anthony Neal, chair of Duke's Department of African and African American Studies

I Talk to God and My Therapist Too: Theology and Mental Health
with special guest Dr. AY Bryant, a psychologist with Duke CAPS

I Talk to God and I Love My Frat Too: Being Christian in a Greek Lettered Organization
with special guest 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.

Latinx and Murejista Theologies

  • Mujerista Theology Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz
  • Reading the Bible from the Margins by Miguel De La Torre

Queer Theologies and Spiritualities

  • 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

Native and Indigenous Theologies and Spiritualities

  • As We Have Always Done by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
  • Spirit and Resistance by George Tinker

The Theology of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

  • Why We Can’t Wait by Martin Luther King Jr.
  • Jesus and the Disinherited by Howard Washington Thurman

Black Liberation Theology

  • The Cross and the Lynching Tree by James Hal Cone
  • The Way of the Black Messiah by Theo Witvliet

Womanist Theological Ethics and Black Feminism

  • Sisters in the Wilderness: The Challenge of Womanist God-Talk by Delores S. Williams
  • All About Love: New Visions by bell hooks

Asian American and Pacific Islander Theologies and Spiritualities

  • 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