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During class time and beyond, our faculty feel called to be in ongoing conversation with those they teach, together unpacking the past, examining the present, and imagining new possibilities for the church and the world.
But don’t just take our word for it, hear what students have to say about a few of their esteemed professors…
On Khalia Williams
Associate Dean of Worship and Spiritual Formation; Associate Professor in the Practice of Worship; Co-Director of the Baptist Studies Program
“Dean Williams’ Womanist Worship class completely changed my life, and then she became the best advisor I could’ve ever asked for. Her style of teaching and advising allows you to deeply explore your unique expression of God without limiting God in the process. As she would say, ‘Are you putting God in a box?’ Her ability to walk me through the spiritual and theological tension is the reason why I was able to finish seminary strong.”
—Krysta Underwood 24T
On Ellen Ott Marshall
Professor of Christian Ethics and Conflict Transformation; Director of the Graduate Division of Religion
“Working with Dr. Marshall has been one of the highlights of my time at Emory. As my MDiv thesis advisor, she encouraged me to explore my academic interests and find my theological voice. Under her mentorship, I learned how to ask honest questions about the complexities of my faith tradition, which eventually led me back to Emory for doctoral education in Christian ethics. Every step of the way, Dr. Marshall has supported me—as a student, a minister, a scholar, and a whole person.”
—Kevin Lazarus 20T 27G 27PhD
On Joel B. Kemp
Assistant Professor of Hebrew Bible
“Dr. Kemp has framed my time here at Candler. He has helped me grow and discern, and has been a large part of my learning, teaching the most impactful classes that I have taken. He has changed the way that I think about the Bible, my country, my religion, and the world. I am honored to have been able to learn from him.”
—Student nominator, 2025 On Eagles Wings Faculty Award
On Elizabeth Corrie
Professor in the Practice of Youth Education and Peacebuilding
“Dr. Corrie is a true advocate for her students, not only in their academic pursuits but also in their spiritual and wellness pursuits. She goes above and beyond to be accessible, and it is so appreciated. …She is trustworthy and helps me feel safe at Candler, and she leads me towards where I hope to go as a minister of Christ.”
—Student nominators, 2025 Faculty Person of the Year Award
On Alison Greene
Associate Professor of American Religious History; Director of the Master of Theological Studies Program
“Dr. Greene’s guidance was invaluable to my experience at Candler. Her understanding of my interests led to appropriate guidance in my course selections. She was instrumental in helping me engage faculty and access academic and other support services. Like most Candler faculty I encountered, Dr. Greene was welcoming even as she challenged me with hard, introspective questions. She demonstrated a healthy respect for my individuality and experiences, and encouraged me to bring my whole self to the Candler experience and beyond.”
—Taniecia McFarlane 23T
Teachers on Teaching: Insights on their Calling
“Teaching is exciting because it’s dynamic. We can discuss the same primary source from the 17th or 18th century, but every cohort will bring their own unique questions—and, in that dance between past and present, we have lively discussions and imagine new futures. Those encounters sharpen our critical thinking skills, they help us to make meaning, and they are most sacred.”
—Helen Jin Kim, Associate Professor of American Religious History
“I believe that my role as an educator is to facilitate learning. The most impactful learning often occurs through interaction, so I approach the students in my classes as a community of learners who can best gain knowledge, insight, and practical skills while working together. They not only learn content but also how to dialogue with each other and, in my courses on interfaith relations, how to dialogue with members of other faiths whose places of worship we visit.”
—Deanna F. Womack, Associate Professor of History of Religions and Interfaith Studies
“I teach to learn. In a world where critical thinking and assessment are attacked as political agenda, where educators are too often underfunded, and where resources remain inequitably distributed, teaching is one way I practice my commitment to community and collaboration, to think and build a world where all can have voice and thrive. I teach to dream. As bell hooks described, I believe that ‘the classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy,’ a space of challenge, of hope, and of creation. And I teach for joy. It is the brilliance of our students that keeps me laughing and inspired. They help me refuse to be hopeless, and it is my goal to do the same for them.”
—Amey Victoria Adkins-Jones, Assistant Professor of Theology and Africana Studies
“My teaching is rooted in attentiveness to lived theology and openness to working across boundaries. I am especially committed to creating space for robust, collegial, and deep conversations around theological issues through the prism of our diverse experiences. This flows out of a conviction that we learn as much from one another as we do from any single text or professor. Fostering a sense of belonging for all students is at the heart of my work in the classroom, whether their vocation lies in the church, the academy, or in the wider world.”
—Antonio Alonso, Aquinas Associate Professor of Theology and Culture
“I teach at Candler because I am passionate about equipping the next generation of religious leaders to make a difference in the world. I think formation through ecumenical and interreligious encounter is essential to contemporary religious leadership preparation, and I am excited to be at an institution committed to that work. As a United Methodist elder, I am also delighted to journey with current and future colleagues across the connection.”
—Soren Hessler, Assistant Professor in the Practice of Leadership and Administration
“I love to teach with material things: artwork, statues, old postcards, dusty hymnals, devotional objects. Students once nicknamed my class ‘Show and Tell with Dr. Reynolds.’ When students encounter traditions on a sensory level, they come to appreciate how these traditions have taken and continue to take shape in the lives of real people and concrete communities. And they recognize their own agency as interpreters of these traditions.”
—Susan Reynolds, Associate Professor of Catholic Studies
“For me, teaching has come to mean trying to create and maintain a space of learning. At the best moments, all of us in that space, teachers and students, are learning more about the subject, the world, each other, and ourselves. Of course nothing is always at its best, so we all are also bringing in our ongoing challenges, misunderstandings, and stress. My hope is that we finish the class holding on to something that matters to us and supports us to live out our vision of what mujerista Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz calls the kin-dom of God.”
—Elizabeth Bounds, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics
“There’s something almost electric or chemical, an ignition, a reaction, that occurs when truths that have been disparate and disconnected come together, come to be aligned for people, and it energizes them in this powerful way. I think that’s one of the joys for me as a teacher. I love to see when that new discovery, that new alignment and connecting of the dots leads to a deeper sense of their own calling and sense of purpose. That purpose fuels vocation that leads to change in the world.”
—Robert M. Franklin, Jr., James T. and Berta R. Laney Professor in Moral Leadership
