Faculty & Staff

Nathan G. Webb is Interim Dean of the College of Theology and Christian Ministry and Associate Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. He is also an Associate Professor of Communication Studies.  He received a B.S. from College of the Ozarks, an M.A. from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D. in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas. Dr. Webb primarily teaches courses related to corporate communications, intercultural communication, and general education. He has also regularly taught in Belmont’s study abroad program in Scandinavia.

Dr. Webb’s research predominantly focuses on teaching and learning. He combines his knowledge and interests in interpersonal and organizational communication to examine how instructor communication behaviors affect student learning. He has presented his research at regional, national, and international conferences, and he has been published in venues such as The Journal of Communication Pedagogy, Teaching and Learning Inquiry, and the Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. He has also served on numerous editorial boards, including College Teaching, Journal of Family Communication, and Communication Teacher. Dr. Webb is also an active member of the National Communication Association.

In addition to his higher education experience, Dr. Webb worked for five years in the non-profit sector. He also has three years of experience as a legal research analyst, in which he focused on for-profit higher education institutions.

In his free time, Dr. Webb spends a lot of time traveling. He has visited all seven continents, over 30 countries, and all 50 states. He is also a die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fan and enjoys spending time in the outdoors.

Standing in our kitchen looking up at my mother when I was three-years-old, I announced to her that when I grew up I was going to be a preacher or I was going to sing on the Grand Ole Opry. I will let you figure out which one of those came true. During the time that I was a Belmont undergraduate, I discovered my natural gifts as a teacher and I was inspired by my professors. Put quite simply, I love being a professor. Parker Palmer, my favorite teacher of teaching says: “to teach is to create a space in which the community of truth is practiced,” and “truth is an eternal conversation about things that matter, conducted with passion and discipline.” I say amen to that. To use another idea from Palmer, I participate daily in “the grace of great things.” Thoughts are powerful. Thoughts give rise to emotions and emotions give rise to behaviors. Being a part of the intellectual and spiritual formation of humans is what I enjoy most in my work in the School of Religion. As a scholar in the field of the history of Christianity, historical theology, and, for several years now, spirituality in the world’s religions, I revel in making the connections of mind and heart and seeing those connections come alive for my students.  Being a teacher of the love of wisdom, the literal meaning of doctor of philosophy, is my true vocation!

Publications

• “Great Awakenings, USA,” in The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology
• “Carlyle Marney” in Against the Grain: Prophetic Voices in Baptist Life
• “James Robinson Graves” and “Landmark Movement” in Dictionary of Christianity in America

I love learning and I love ideas, knowledge, and thinking, and this is one of the main reasons I love teaching. It is a joy to see other people who are learning and rejoicing in the love of ideas and knowledge.

You might guess that I enjoy teaching in the College of Theology and Christian Ministry because the faculty also love learning and ideas and knowledge, and they do; but that is not why I enjoy teaching with them. I enjoy serving with them because they are kind and loving people, and their Christ-like character makes the work environment wonderful.

My Ph.D. is in historical theology, which, as it sounds, is a combination of church history and constructive theology. I am interested in how all kinds of theological views fit in their historical contexts.
 

Publications

• “Why Do We Love the Cotton Patch Versions So Much?” in the collection of papers given at the Clarence Jordan Symposium 2012, Wipf & Stock Publishers, 2014.
• Cotton Patch for the Kingdom: Clarence Jordan’s Demonstration Plot at Koinonia Farm, book version of dissertation published by Herald Press, Scottdale, PA, November 2001.
• "Sabbath," "Lord's Day," and "Palm Sunday" articles in the new Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible, Eerdmans Books, Grand Rapids, MI: 2000.
• "Cotton Patch Justice, Cotton Patch Peace: The Sermon on the Mount in the Teachings and Practices of Clarence Jordan” in Theology and the New Histories, College Theology Society Annual Volume 44 1998, edited by Gary Macy, Orbis Books, Marynoll, NY: 1999.

I came to Belmont University after receiving my Ph.D. from the University of Chicago Divinity School, where I wrote on the significance of God in the philosophies of Immanuel Kant and Emmanuel Levinas (Dissertation: The Ethical Passing of God directed by Jean-Luc Marion).  I specialize in Continental philosophy and religious thought from Kant to the present, the history of metaphysics, and Christian thought from the Patristic and Medieval period.  My research interests traverse the fields of contemporary theology and philosophy with special focus on the the moral significance of God, Modern ideas of person, and the theo-political triad of forgiveness, hospitality, and reconciliation.  I teach First-year and Cornerstone seminars in theology and philosophy, as well as courses in Scripture and hermeneutics.

I want students to discover and interrogate the tensions and harmonies that reverberate throughout Scripture, the Christian tradition, and contemporary philosophical thought.   My hope is that each student will come away with meaningful knowledge, hospitality for other ways of thought, and questions that pierce to the heart of the matter at hand.  The only questions worth asking are the ones that never come to a close: the question of God, of love and the good, of meaning and knowledge, of suffering and healing.  Among my favorite courses to teach at Belmont is Life, Power, and the “Death of God,” where first-year students and I pour through modern classics in theology, philosophy, and literature, exploring the questions and experiences that define the human condition: love, suffering, power, and God.  When I am not in the classroom, you may find me lost in thought at the Leu Art Gallery, enjoying a cup of coffee at the library, or simply hanging on the rock wall.

Publications

• Review of Discovering Levinas by Michael Morgan in The Journal of Religion 89 (October 2009) 

Links

• On Being with Krita Tippett: Public Conversations on Religion, Meaning, & Ethics: onbeing.org

I am a native to Nashville.  I earned my B.A. from the University of Richmond, and immediately after college, I spent time in the Teton Mountains where I worked on a fly-fishing and horse ranch while I wondered what to do with my degree in the humanities besides enjoying the Great American Outdoors.  I returned to Nashville where I completed an M.A.T. in English from Vanderbilt, and after teaching secondary school English for about five years, I realized my interests and questions were increasingly in the area of religion. I earned a M.Div. from Vanderbilt, and in 2007, I moved to Durham, North Carolina where I earned a doctorate in practical theology from Duke University.

While in graduate school, I enjoyed working as a hospital chaplain and participating in religion classes at both men’s and women’s prisons.  Even as I was often consumed by rooting on Duke basketball, I managed to write my dissertation, an ethnography of the lived faith of homeless persons.  My favorite part was simply listening to the stories and perspectives of homeless persons, who I found, witnessed to the presence and wisdom of God; they were my guides to answering a few questions such as how does homelessness impact a person’s religious practices, what constitutes their sacred space, and how do they experience God in embodied and material ways even in their extreme poverty.  Thus far, I have presented my dissertation material at academic conferences, churches, and the pastoral care training program of a hospital.  My research interests include ethnography and theology, Christian spirituality, material religion, pedagogy, and student formation and vocation.

At Belmont I have taught General Education courses on the bible and World Spiritualities, First Year Seminars, and Junior Cornerstones.  I also teach a Vocation class for Religion majors where students explore questions of identity and calling in light of their faith.  In my bible classes, I try to get my students to feel comfortable asking questions of the text, to think about how it has been interpreted in different ways over time, and to see how it is relevant to and impacting their lives and world today.

I teach - or try to -because I'm drawn to the enlivening event of open-ended conversation. I have a deep, occasionally beleaguered but abiding faith in its possibilities, and my passion for intellectual exchange is, in some sense, derived from my memory of people creating or conjuring this kind of space for me inside and outside the classroom. These memories of direct communication, affectionate, conversational proddings, and kindly proffered reading recommendations, take me back to all the times I realized I was being invited into brave new worlds. I know myself to be the recipient of myriad acts of intellectual hospitality, and I hope to live up to them somehow. I'm especially pleased to attempt this work in the School of Religion, because the question of religion, the way we order our lives and imagine ourselves and the world we're in, is one of the biggest and most broad-ranging questions I can think of. It's a subject which, to my mind, contains all subjects.

Brad Daugherty earned a Ph.D. in Religion from Vanderbilt University with an emphasis in historical studies. He also holds an M.A. in Religion from Vanderbilt, an M.Div. from Boston University School of Theology, and a B.A. in religious studies from Olivet Nazarene University. After completing his Ph.D., he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Digital Humanities at Vanderbilt.

Dr. Daugherty primarily teaches in the Honors program, teaching the first-year Honors Interdisciplinary Seminar, Engaging the Bible & Culture, and Engaging Religion & Culture. Prior to coming to Belmont, Dr. Daugherty taught at Vanderbilt and Sewanee, among other places, and also spent time as a writing instructor and consultant, working with writers ranging from first-year undergrads to doctoral students.

As a scholar, Dr. Daugherty is interested in the diversity of Christian practices across time, place, and cultures, and in how different Christian communities have understood the life of holiness and sought to live it out. His research focuses on the practice of Christianity in Roman North Africa, a time and place where ancient Christians were especially concerned with and often fought about just such issues. Those fights led to questions about the nature of Christian community, about how to live faithfully in world dominated by a violent empire, about how to forgive one another, about the meaning of religious ritual, and about the role of the clergy in all of this. Those are all questions that remain near and dear to Dr. Daugherty, both as a historian and as a Christian.

Dr. Daugherty is active member of Christ Church Cathedral, Nashville, where he has served as a member of the vestry and as part of the Isaac Project, an ongoing re-evaluation of Christ Church’s past involvement with slavery and white supremacy and of its current practice. He is currently in the process of, hopefully and by God’s grace, being ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church.

Dr. Daugherty lives in Nashville with his wife Heather, who is Belmont’s University Minister, and their two children. A native Midwesterner and Hoosier, he keeps telling himself that his brief sojourn here in SEC country is almost over, but well into his second decade he keeps believing it less and less.

I joined the Belmont College of Theology and Christian Ministry in August of 2005, after teaching for five years at the University of St Andrews in St Andrews, Scotland. During my time in Scotland, I was on the faculty of the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts, and then came to Belmont to help launch a new program in Religion and the Arts.

I earned an undergraduate degree in Music Theory from the University of Michigan, and worked for several years as a musician before becoming disoriented on the way to a gig and stumbling into the world of academic theology. In my spare time, I enjoy playing my Fender Rhodes, eating pizza, or simply quietly meditating on the goodness of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

I am married to Julie and have four extraordinarily clever and impossibly good looking children.

Select Presentations and Publications

• General Editor, Oxford Handbook of Music and Christian Theology. (5 volumes.) Oxford University Press. In Production.
•  “Alexander Schmemann and The Sacramental Imagination” in We Give Our Thanks Unto Thee: Essays in Memory of Fr. Alexander Schmemann, ed. Porter C. Taylor. Pickwick, 2019.  
• “The Spirit who Gives Life.” Sapientia: A Periodical of the Henry Center. August 2018.  
• “Music And Loneliness, or Listening to the Voices on Glenn Gould’s Contrapuntal Radio.” Keynote Address, Society for Christian Scholarship in Music Annual Meeting, February 2017.
• “Music, Beauty and the Testimony of the Spirit,” in Testimonies of the Spirit, ed. Doug Geivett and Paul Moser. Oxford University Press. 2016.
• “‘Wonderful thing – A children’s song!’ Faith and SMiLE,” in God Only Knows: Faith, Hope and Love in the Music of the Beach Boys, ed. Jeff Sellars. Wipf and Stock. 2016.
• “Created for Creativity.” Keynote Address. Lilly Network National Conference 2015. Nashville, TN. October 9, 2015
• Creator Spirit: The Holy Spirit and the Art of Becoming Human. Baker Academic, March 2011.
• Resonant Witness: Conversations between Music and Theology, ed. with Jeremy Begbie, Eerdmans, 2011.
• "Silence, Song and the Sounding-Together of Creation," in To Mend the World: A Confluence of Theology and the Arts. ed. Jason Goroncy. Eugene: Pickwick Publications, 2014.
• "Harmony," in It Was Good: Making Music to the Glory of God. ed. Ned Bustard. Square Halo Books, 2013.
• "Love the Lord your God with all Your Voice," in Christianity Today, June 2013.
• "The Logic of Wonder," in IMAGE Journal, Issue 73, Summer 2012.
• "United we Sing," in The Christian Century, January 7, 2011.
• "The Wisdom of Song" in Resonant Witness, Guthrie and Begbie, eds., Eerdmans, 2011.
• "Music and the Arts," (one of several extended "Integrative Perspective Essays") in The Dictionary of Christian Spirituality, gen. ed. Glen Scorgie. Zondervan Academic, 2011.
• "The Song-Shaped Soul" Cover story in CASE: The Quarterly Magazine of the Centre for Apologetic Scholarship and Education at New College, University of South Wales, 2010.
• "Music and Lyrics." Cover article, Worship Leader Magazine, January/February 2009.
• "Theology and Music" (3500 words) in the Eerdmans-Brill Encyclopedia of Christianity, Vol. 5. Eerdmans, 2007.
• Faithful Performances: Artistry, embodiment and the enactment of Christian Identity, (ed., with Trevor Hart). Ashgate, 2007.
• "Temples of the Spirit: embodiment, worship and formation." in Faithful Performances: Artistry, embodiment and the enactment of Christian Identity, Guthrie and Hart eds., Ashgate, 2007.
• "Singing, in the Body and in the Spirit", in Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society 46/4 (December 2003), 633-46.

In the summer before my junior year of high school, one of my closest friends was killed in an auto crash, while on a church outing, along with 4 other youth, an adult counselor and the counselor’s 5-year-old daughter.  The crash occurred when a drunken driver hit the church car from behind, causing it to spin off the highway and into a pine tree.  Everyone was killed instantly.  This tragedy caused me to seriously question my faith to the point where I became flooded with doubt – questioning God’s love and even His existence.  I pondered how a loving God could allow this tragedy to happen, especially to a group of His faithful followers!  I immersed myself in scripture, seeking an answer to my all-consuming doubt. Did God, if he existed, really care about individuals? Did Jesus tell the truth about God’s love?  Was God able to lift me from the pit of my uncertainty and faltering faith?

During 6 months of wandering in the wilderness, I read the Bible voraciously, coming across many passages of scripture that were very helpful, including Jeremiah 29:13 – And you will seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart. (KJV) This verse, along with many others like it, started me on the most important quest of which any person can embark – the search for God.  Along with reading the Bible, I read many books by people who had struggled to find their faith, and, most importantly, had found God in abundance.  Their lives changed forever, and they went on to serve God in wondrous ways.  Books that I found especially helpful and uplifting were Martin Luther’s Here I Stand and John Wesley’s Knight of the Burning Heart.

About 6 months into my all-encompassing search, one Sunday morning after finishing my paper route I went out to the local park in my neighborhood and set my course to pray to God until I received a word of assurance from Him. After about 2 hours of praying, a deep sense of God’s presence and peace engulfed me. I did not hear an audible voice, but I definitely heard God’s still, small voice in the inner depths of my being. He assured me that my friend and the others were with him, and that the whole of humanity resided in the palm of His hand. God had lifted the veil of darkness from me! It was the most wonderful, glorious sense that I had ever experienced – and it has never left me! About a year later, I committed my life to Christian ministry. After high school, I went to a Christian college and majored in religion, then on to graduate school for advanced studies in the history and literature of the Bible.  God has directed me into many paths of ministry – pastoring, youth ministry, foreign missionary service, teaching, etc.  Eventually, God opened the door to teaching Bible classes at Belmont, which I dearly love doing.

Each time I enter the classroom I try to remind myself why I am teaching at Belmont.  As best I can, I seek to keep the following priorities uppermost in my mind and heart – to create a loving and safe environment within the classroom where students know that they are loved and can feel safe in expressing their ideas and opinions, in assurance that they will be heard, respected and appreciated.  My second priority is to present subject content according to the course description, and to strive to do so in an exciting and challenging manner that will cause students to think, ponder, question, and articulate what they are learning.  Thirdly, through tests, written assignments, and speaking opportunities I strive to empower students to take ownership of their learning.

When I was a college student, I decided that I could never learn enough about religion, but it wasn’t until I was in graduate school that I discovered my passion for the vocation of teaching.  Teaching allows me to share information with students that I think is extremely significant to the building of a meaningful life, and it provides me with a context where I can be a life-long learner.  I think learning about religion is a crucial piece of a liberal arts education.  Most people in the world are religious, and as our own religious landscape becomes more pluralistic here in the United States, knowing about religion becomes more and more of a necessity for individuals interested in dialogue and understanding.   

For me, having a place in academia is the ideal situation, and being a part of the College of Theology and Christian Ministry at Belmont is a privilege. I am grateful for my place here among colleagues who teach me and support me every day and among students who challenge me with their energy and ideas.  Serving in the College of Theology and Christian Ministry provides me with an opportunity to be with wonderful people and to share ideas about a discipline I love. 

My academic training is in religion and ethics and I find myself very interested in philosophical and theological ethics and related issues of justice.  I also trained in the area of sociology of religion, and I believe this work has sparked my current interest in interreligious dialogue and world religions.  In addition, I continue to research and work on issues of sustainability and to research and travel in Spain.  Some of my past projects have included research into women’s groups and their involvement in religious systems and research exploring cross-cultural perceptions of violence.  

Publications

• Why We Kill-co-editor and contributing author
• Feasting on the Gospels-contributing author
• Convivencia:  Abrahamic Religions and Study Abroad in Frontiers:  The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad-co-author with Dr. Mitchell McCoy
• Connections Lectionary-contributing author

I have been teaching for over three decades now, in subjects as diverse as biology, physical education, and Biblical Hebrew.  When I began studying the Old Testament and its language in graduate school I knew I had found the academic discipline that could energize me for the rest of my life.  I have taught in many places, including Illinois, Zambia, Kentucky, Ethiopia, and North Carolina.  When I came to Belmont University in the year 2000, I knew I had found a place where I could settle in for a long time and enjoy a productive career of teaching and scholarship.  The best thing that Belmont and its students over the years have added to my work is an interest in the intersection of the arts and biblical studies.  My teaching colleagues in the College of Theology and Christian Ministry are attuned to this intersection and many other areas of vitality in our field and they bring life to our work together.  In this way, Belmont continues to be what I hoped and expected when I came.  The field of biblical studies has followed an interesting path during my career.  The historical framework that dominated much of my education gave way to a few decades of focus on literary approaches to the text.  What I see happening now is a new convergence of methods that allows them to work together and complement each other.  This convergence allows for new possibilities in biblical scholarship, like the project I am working on about how the Bible emerged from and addresses urban contexts. That academic work connects with my engagement with my own city through the organization called Nashville Organized for Action and Hope.

Books

Portraits of a Mature God:  Choices in Old Testament Theology

The Old Testament Story, 9^th edition

Struggling with God:  An Introduction to the Pentateuch

A Chorus of Prophetic Voices:  An Introduction to the Prophetic Literature

An Apocryphal God:  Beyond Divine Maturity

Raising Cain, Fleeing Egypt, and Fighting Philistines: The Old Testament in Popular Music

Dangerous Worlds: Living and Dying in Biblical Texts

The Blood of Abel: The Violent Plot in the Hebrew Bible

Upcoming Publications

Not Scattered or Confused:  The Bible in an Urban World

The Internal Conversation of the Old Testament: Reading a Composite Text

The Old Testament Story, 10^th edition

Links

Website:  https://belmont.academia.edu/MarkMcEntire

Blog:  http://observingpointsofconvergence.wordpress.com/

Community Engagement: http://www.noahtn.org/

I joined the Belmont faculty in 2011, and regularly teach a wide range of course, such as first-year general education, Koine Greek (the original language of the New Testament), and upper-level biblical studies courses with religion majors and minors. In all of them, I am grateful for the opportunity to journey alongside students, exploring the biblical text and wrestling with what it teaches us about God, people, creation, and how we are to be in relationship with one another. Teaching is, at its heart, a ministry of equipping, and a sacred conversation between myself, the students, the Bible, God, creation, human culture, and our diverse experiences and wisdom.

Some of my areas of research include the Roman imperial setting of the New Testament; poverty, wealth, and justice in the Bible; gender studies and the Bible; the theme of status reversals in ancient and modern religious traditions; community practices of the early church; and music and songs in the biblical text. I am an ordained minister and actively preach and teach and share my scholarship with local faith communities via workshops, classes, and the occasional podcast guest spot.

At home, I am grateful to do life with my spouse, the Rev. Alec Miller, and our children Wren and Junia. I love to relax with just about anything related to the water: kayaking, swimming, hiking at the lake, going to the beach, snorkeling, whatever! I also like reading novels, porch hangouts, theater, parks, local festivals, iced mochas, and singing.

Gideon W. Park holds a doctor of philosophy from Vanderbilt University, a master of sacred theology from Yale Divinity School, a master of divinity from Westminster Seminary California, and a bachelor of science from Missouri Baptist University. He started teaching at Belmont University in 2015, having completed a certificate in college teaching at the Vanderbilt University Center for Teaching. His pedagogy foregrounds critical thinking, reading, and writing in the academic study of religion.

His first book, The Politics of Race and Ethnicity in Matthew’s Passion Narrative (Palgrave Macmillan), presents an alternative reading of Jesus’s crucifixion as “King of the Judeans” as an ethnic slur. He is the editor of Stories of Minjung Theology (SBL Press) and a contributor to The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Korea (Oxford University Press). His peer-reviewed articles appear in Biblical Interpretation, Journal for the Study of the Old Testament, and Journal of Biblical Literature.

Dr. Park has been awarded grants by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities, Wabash Center for Teaching & Learning in Theology and Religion, and Calvin Institute of Christian Worship. He is a recipient of the SBL Regional Scholar award from the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion, the Dwight-Hooker fellowship at Yale Divinity School, the Provost graduate fellowship at Vanderbilt University, and a postdoctoral fellowship from the Belmont Fellows Program. He serves as faculty adviser for Bruins CrossFit Club, is CF-L1 certified, and trains at CrossFit Music City. He lives in Nashville, TN with his wife and two kids.

Steven Reed is a native of Nashville, Tennessee, attending Vanderbilt University and completing collegiate studies at Western Kentucky University, earning a B.A. in Religious Studies. Drawn to a life of Christian service he entered Lexington Theological Seminary and while in seminary served as pastor in one of the oldest and historical Disciples of Christ (DOC) churches in Kentucky. At the same time he also began working on an area of great interest in hospital chaplaincy (C.P.E.) in a major medical center and teaching hospital. This interest in hospital chaplaincy shaped further interest in pursuing course work and training in pastoral counseling as part of his journey in ministry.

Upon graduation from seminary with a Masters of Divinity (M. Div.) he was ordained with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In following career interests in ministry he elected to continue post-graduate study in residency training in hospital chaplaincy and later a pastoral counseling program in an accredited pastoral counseling center (AAPC) in Virginia. After completing a couple of years in that training and mentoring program, he returned to the pastorate, serving churches in Virginia and North Carolina. It was during this period of pastoring a rural church in North Carolina that an opportunity was extended to teach a course in “Religion and Culture.” The teaching opportunity became a significant point of change by igniting a passion for teaching religion. This brought together all the training and experiences of academics, church, hospital and pastoral counseling in grappling within an academic setting the many facets of life and culture through a religious and biblical lens.

This new emerging direction brought many of the “ministry” pieces together. This lead him to return to Nashville and initially accept a temporary position in church administration with oversight in religious education, while actively teaching religious studies with area colleges / universities. These opportunities move him to earn a Master of Education (M.Ed.) from Belmont University, followed closely by a Doctorate of Ministry (D. Min.) from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.  Dr. Reed joined Belmont as an administrator in 2001 and became a regular adjunct in Belmont’s College of Theology and Christian Ministry. In 2021, Dr. Reed retired from the administration side at Belmont to be full-time lecturer in College of Theology and Christian Ministry.  He continues to be very passionate about teaching and sharing with new students insights and “understandings” in studying the Bible, and with seasoned students, bringing into the classroom focused biblical studies, with the addition of practical experiences in the church, chaplaincy and pastoral counseling.

Dr. Beth Ritter-Conn earned her Ph.D. in Systematic and Philosophical Theology along with her certificate in women’s studies in religion from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, California.

She holds a B.A. in English and a M.A. in Theological Studies, both from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee. She has taught courses at Lee University, Pacific School of Religion (Berkeley), The University of the South (Sewanee) and Belmont. She teaches BELL Core and Honors religion courses, and she has led study abroad trips to India and Spain.

As a theologian, Dr. Ritter-Conn has the nearly impossible task of trying to put words to a mystery. She believes this work must be approached cautiously and humbly. She rarely finds answers but is constantly learning to ask better questions, and she is passionate about inviting students into this messy, wondrous work with her. Her research addresses theological dimensions of hospitality, embodiment, difference, and identity.

Dr. Ritter-Conn lives in Nashville with her husband Jordan and their cat Georgia. She enjoys running, yoga, knitting, and anything that gathers friends and strangers around a table.

Select Publications:

• “Eve’s Holy Curiosity: On Being Saved from Certainty.” In Taking on the Cross, edited by John Ballenger, Amy Mears, F. Timothy Moore, Ben Sanders, and Graham Walker, 37-45. Norman, OK: Nurturing Faith, 2022.
• “Guests at Our Own Tables: Privilege, Paradox, and Southern Hospitality,” Review and Expositor, 116(3): 275-291.
• “Stress Eating: Anxiety, Hunger, and Courageous Love.” In The Body and Ultimate Concern: Reflections on an Embodied Theology of Paul Tillich, edited by Adam Pryor and Devan Stahl, 59-93. Mercer Tillich Studies Series. Macon: Mercer University Press, 2018.

I’ve been teaching at Belmont for 20 years and every class is a new experience.  I enjoy the challenge of classrooms where students come from different backgrounds and with different expectations.  My hope is that we all learn how to live more fully, from wisdom that is both ancient and at our fingertips.  I have wonderful colleagues in the School of Religion and they challenge me and are a community of scholars who honor the life of the mind and the life of the soul.  I teach a variety of classes from biblical studies to environmental issues with a large dose of spiritual formation and contemplative practice in the mix.

Dr. Skeen’s most recent publications are chapters and articles about the connection between working with horses and human learning.  She also had articles and curriculum published from her work in New Testament studies.

Andy Watts is a Professor of Religion and teaches undergraduate courses in religion and social ethics, also serving as the Field Education advisor for the college. He has 13 years experience teaching college-level courses in Tennessee prisons. He is a member of the SALT (Schools for Alternative Learning and Transformation) program in Nashville which collaborates with incarcerated students to bring transformative justice and conflict transformation skills inside the prison walls while transforming the practice of punishment in US society. He teaches in two units in the maximum-security prison in Nashville, including death row. Andy engages Belmont students in experiential learning through his work with SALT as well as on study away programs through relationships with tribal members on reservations. He is published in academic and popular resources on these activities. He was ordained at Highland Baptist Church in Louisville and has served as a board member and moderator for the Tennessee Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. He is married to Rev. Amy Dodson-Watts who has served as the Executive Director of Luke 14:12, a ministry to the unhoused and hungry in Nashville. They have two sons who as of this moment do not intend to follow their parents vocational paths. We shall see.

Education

• B.A. Baylor University, 1990
• M.Div. Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond
• Th.M. Duke University
• Ph.D. Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Book Chapters

• “Challenged by Respect: Rethinking Service Learning on American Indian Reservations" for Culturally Engaging Service-Learning in Diverse Communities (IGI Global, 2017), ISBN-13: 9781522529002
• “Commentary on the Gospel of John”, Feasting on the Gospels (Westminster John Knox Press, 2015), ISBN-13: 9780664235543

Works in Progress

A Christian People’s Guide to Mass Incarceration

Social Justice Partners

• Nashville Organizing for Action and Hope
• Conexión Americas
• Tennessee Higher Education Initiative
• Inside-Out Prison Exchange Program
• Pine Ridge Retreat Center
• Wind River Native Advocacy Center

Tom is a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School with both the Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees. He is licensed as a Clinical Pastoral Therapist in Tennessee and is an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). In addition, Tom is certified as a Diplomate in the American Association of Pastoral Counselors and is a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist through the International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals.

Tom has served as pastor of two congregations, supervisor of a shelter for the homeless and psychiatric hospital chaplain. He was the founding Director of the Carolina Institute for Clinical Pastoral Training. Tom has been engaged in clinical practice for over 29 years. He is experienced in working with individuals, couples, families and groups with ages ranging from adolescent to senior adult. Tom has served on the adjunct faculty of the College of Theology & Christian Ministry since 1998. He has taught both general education courses such as Understanding the Bible and Spirituality in World Religions as well as upper level courses in pastoral care and psychology of religion for students majoring in ministry studies. His research and teaching interests are in pastoral theological method (or how to interpret human life situations through a theological lens), as well as understanding the nature of psychopathology and human suffering.

Layla J. Bonner, Ph.D, LMFT, NCC is an Assistant Professor in the Master of Arts degree program in Mental Health Counseling at Belmont University. She earned her doctorate in Clinical Counseling, Teaching, & Supervision from Trevecca Nazarene University in 2018.  She is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Tennessee and a Nationally Certified Counselor.  In her private practice, Dr. Bonner works primarily with individuals and couples and supervises post-master’s counselors toward full licensure in the state of Tennessee.  She is a Clinical Fellow and an Approved Supervisor with the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy.  

Dr. Bonner is currently serving as the Human Rights Chairperson with the Tennessee Counseling Association.  She has presented at multiple conferences hosted by professional organizations such as the Southern Association for Counselor Educators and Supervisors through the American Counseling Association, The International Association of Marriage and Family Counselors, and the Black Mental Health Symposium.  She has authored publications for journals, a textbook, and a teaching and learning blog in the area of group work with African American students, career counseling with ethnically diverse groups, and strategies for faculty of color who teach at predominantly White institutions.  Dr. Bonner has engaged in public speaking, provided live interviews, and served on various panels to discuss the topics of Race Based Trauma, African American mental health, and Microaggressions.

Dr. Amanda Grieme Bradley earned both her Masters in Marriage & Family Therapy and her PhD in Clinical Counseling, Teaching, & Supervision from Trevecca University in Nashville, TN. A licensed marriage and family therapist and approved marriage and family therapy supervisor, Dr. Grieme Bradley is passionate about healing and enhancing human relationships. This passion stems from her lived experiences with the power of intimacy, connection, and healing.

At Belmont, Dr. Grieme Bradley teaches in the Mental Health Counseling Program. Fostering and witnessing the growth of counselors is one of the central gifts in her life. To become a competent counselor, one must become familiar with one’s own self and healing. Promoting a classroom environment to nurture this comfort with both self and other is core to her teaching philosophy.

Dr. Grieme Bradley lives in Nashville, TN with her husband and two kids. Her two favorite activities, which started as a young child, include reading and being outside.

Janet Hicks is a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified School counselor who received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education from Texas A & M University-Corpus Christi. She has researched and written extensively on child and adolescent counseling including such topics as cyber-bullying, social aggression, self-injury, substance use and abuse, and academic achievement in the school setting. Dr. Hicks’s previous experience working in the school system inspires her to conduct research that makes a positive impact on the mental health and academic success of youth while also offering practical programs for school and community counselors.

Her work has appeared in journals such as "Professional School Counseling", "Journal of Creativity in Mental Health", "Middle School Journal", "Journal of School Counseling", and "VISTAS", among others. In addition, her work has been found published on the American School Counselors Association website as Best Practices, has been demonstrated in invited presentations at the American Counseling Association Conference & Expo as well as in "Counseling Today" articles. Her work has been republished into book format numerous times and has helped various institutions all over the world after they adopted her programs for practical use.

She serves as an expert media spokesperson for the American Counseling Association on issues related to bullying and aggression. Her specialties include child and adolescent counseling, stress management for teachers and administrators, as well as the integration of solution focused brief therapy into both the counseling and teaching setting. Prior to attaining a professorship, Dr. Hicks worked for many years as a school counselor, teacher, and clinical mental health counselor.