The new assistant professor of the history of Christianities joins Drew in fall 2022
April 2022 – Drew Theological School is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Gladson Jathanna as assistant professor of the history of Christianities. Jathanna will join the Theological School community in fall 2022.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Jathanna to the Drew community,” said Theological School Interim Dean Melanie Johnson-DeBaufre. “His challenging and generative scholarship reimagines traditional church history—ecumenism, mission, and liturgy—from the lives and voices of the margins and subaltern. His teaching is justice-centered, and resonates deeply with Drew’s core values and vision. His presence among us will be a powerful catalyst as we continue to evolve pedagogically to better serve our ever more diverse and international student body.”
Jathanna brings a decade of research and teaching experience in a variety of global contexts. His academic works and social engagements reflect his interest in decolonial thinking, focusing on the intersectionality of race, caste, gender, and sexuality.
He currently serves as associate professor and head of the department of history of Christianity at Pacific Theological College in Suva, Fiji.
“I’m excited and thrilled to join Drew Theological School,” said Jathanna. “Drew’s passion and commitment to decolonial and justice-centered approaches to theological education are what bring me to this radically innovative community of scholars, ministers, and activists. I am very hopeful that Drew will provide me with a needed space to continue to be courageous and innovative in responding to the challenges of our time, being rooted in the Christian heritage of radical justice. I’m looking forward to meeting the diverse and vibrant community in The Forest and to our mutual journey towards celebrating diversity and differences.”
The author of two books, Decolonising Oikoumene and Mode of Mutuality in the Margins of Mission, Jathanna has also authored and edited countless chapters and articles.
Jathanna, who earned his Doctor of Theology at George August University in Goettingen, Germany, is a member of the Church of South India, a united and uniting church with a long heritage of Methodism, among other church traditions.
