Author

The Rev. Dr. Shonda Nicole Gladden

The Rev. Dr. Shonda Nicole Gladden is Director of Programs and Initiatives in the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. A mother of an adult son, she is committed to helping students see themselves as co-creators of knowledge, capable of shaping both the classroom and the wider world through inquiry and imagination. An interdisciplinary scholar, pastor, and public theologian, Dr. Gladden examines the intersections of Womanism, digital faith practices, and African diasporic cultural expression. Her research, featured in podcast interviews with CNN and NPR and in national and international print media, centers Black women’s knowledge traditions, ritual innovation, and the impact of technology on religious education and community life. Dr. Gladden earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from Indiana University, graduate degrees in theology from Wesley Theological Seminary, and a B.A. in Philosophy from Morgan State University. She currently serves as pastor of La Plata AME Church and occasionally teaches in Indiana University’s School of Liberal Arts.