Biography

​Monica A. Coleman is professor of Africana studies and the John and Patricia Cochran Scholar for Inclusive Excellence at the University of Delaware. She is also an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and an initiate in traditional Yoruba religion. She works at the intersection of faith, culture and social justice.

Coleman is the author or editor of six books and several articles that focus on the role of faith in addressing critical social and philosophical issues. Her award-winning memoir Bipolar Faith shares her lifelong dance with trauma and depression, and how she discovers a new and liberating vision of God. Her book Making a Way Out of No Way is required reading at leading theological schools around the country. As the co-host of the webinar series “Octavia Tried to Tell Us: Parable for Today’s Pandemic” along with Afrofuturist writer Tananarive Due, they addressed today’s pressing issues with insights from Afrofuturist literature, process theology and community values. Coleman currently hosts the “Diverse Devotions,” a podcast on Black belief across boundaries.

Coleman is active in academic guilds including the American Academy of Religion and Society for Senior Ford Fellows. She serves on the board of the Institute for American Religious and Philosophical Thought (IARPT) and is currently the president of the Society for the Study of Black Religion (SSBR). Coleman has received funding from the Ford Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Citizen and Scholars (formerly, the Woodrow Wilson Fellowship Foundation), the Henry Luce Foundation, the Forum for Theological Exploration (formerly, the Fund for Theological Education) and the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion.

Coleman brings her experiences in evangelical Christianity, black church traditions, global ecumenical work and indigenous spirituality to her discussions of theology and religion. She speaks widely on mental wellness, navigating change, Black religions and religious diversity.

Research Interests

Professor Coleman’s research interests include African American religions, African traditional religions, black and womanist theologies, process theology, theories of religious pluralism, and the intersection of mental health and faith.  Currently, she is working on a book project tentatively titled, “Black Religious Pluralism: Straddling and Merging Religious Difference.”

Teaching Interests

African American religious history, African diasporic religions, black and womanist theologies, cross-cultural liberation theologies, black women’s religious leadership​.

Degrees

• ​A.B. – Harvard-Radcliffe Colleges
• M.Div. – Vanderbilt University Divinity School
• Cert. Religion, Gender and Sexuality – Vanderbilt University Divinity School
• M.A. – Claremont Graduate University
• Ph.D. – Claremont Graduate University