a
M

Congratulations to the Class of 2026!

Check out this year’s list of doctoral graduates and dissertations below. Awards, honors societies, and more will be added soon!

Doctor of Letters Graduates
Name Dissertation Title
Carron Ankiel A Hero’s Journey: A Map for Parents and Educators to Empower Dysgraphic Students with Agency
Maribeth Cassels The Story Goes On: Using Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men to Finish the Unfinished Works of the Literary Canon
Kristen Coughlin The Business of Dying
Kevin Duffy Social Movements Matter: An Analysis of Three Critical Social Movements in America
Jennifer Grehan Recognizing The Value Of Adjunct Faculty in the Two-Year College: A Comprehensive Framework For Leadership, Pedagogy, And Institutional Change
Keturah Haferkamp This Perfect Sympathy of Movement: a theory of literary and readerly resonance
Kenol Lamour Black Apparel Designers of the 20th Century and their Influence on America
Lance Lee The Historical Connection between African Americans and Irish Catholics:  An Analysis of Cross-Cultural Grief through Negro Spirituals, Irish Ballads and Narratives Produced during Subjugation
Rebecca Mir Political Parody Songs and the 2020 Presidential Election
Heather Monen Artifactual Literacies, Legacies, and Lessons: Journeys through the Lost and Found
Sara O’Brien Gardens of the Saints: ‘Viriditas’ in the Life and Work of Hildegard of Bingen
Maria Pisacane DINO FRESCOBALDI IN TRANSLATION LOVE, LIGHT AND L’INTELLETTO
Jennifer Toriello The Magic Hour:  A Memoir of Weight, Work, and Release
Doctor of Medical Humanities Graduates
Name Dissertation Title
Sophia Aburmeileh Medical Gaslighting
Laura Mccullough-Thoms The Coordinates of Being: Compassionate Curiosity, Apophatic Storytelling, Relationality, & the Healing Imagination
Ian Brown From Struggle to Belonging: A Journey of Resilience, Forgiveness, and Love with Deep Insights into the Power of Authentic Leadership in Healthcare
Denise Couch-Gawley Dignity in Relational Death Care:  Confronting Nurse Moral Distress Through Apophatic Inquiry
Lydie Kadibwa Ngoie IMMIGRANTS  AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC : ETHICAL DILEMMAS
Mary Clare Smith BACCALUAREATE NURSING STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES WITH CLINICAL HUMILITY  AMID SIMULATION-BASED LEARNING: A QUALITATIVE THEMATIC ANALYSIS
Yvette Vieira Holding Space for Death: Interdisciplinary Voices in Medical Aid in Dying
Master of Arts History & Culture Graduates
Name Dissertation Title
Jhestarri DePasquale REIMAGINING HISTORY: HOLLYWOOD, REVISIONISM, AND THE  VIETNAM WAR
Alexandra Thelin Cultural Identity Through Fashion in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland
Doctor of Ministry Graduates
Name Dissertation Title
Natisha Matthews The Pentecostal Church’s role in African-American urban communities to establish and promote economic empowerment through entrepreneurship and real estate in North America.
Crystal James A THEOLOGY OF PLACE FAITH-BASED COMMUNITY HUBS AND THEIR ROLE IN FOSTERING LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AMONG BLACK YOUTH
Devon Reynolds Between Wound and Resurrection: Whiteness, Sin, and Trauma in the Life and Leadership of the Church
Donna Bollinger THE CRITICAL IMPACT OF STORYTELLING IN HEALING AND PILGRIMAGE: FORCED JOURNEYS OF KIDNAPPING SURVIVORS IN NIGERIA
Clare Ettensohn LIBERATIVE PEDAGOGY: THEORY & PRAXIS
Carla Gittens Beyond the Eulogy: Bridging Spiritual, Cultural, and Therapeutic Care with Sacred  Healing Spaces for Black Women in Grief
Heather Williams THE HARMFUL EFFECTS OF THEOLOGICAL MANSPLAINING ON WOMEN IN RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP: MAGDALENE ROOTS AND RE-MEMBERING IN COMMUNITY
Janet Antico Reclaiming Our Tradition: A Feminist Hermeneutic for Faith, Justice, and Ecclesial Renewal
Marie Mike Educational Series on Church Hurt
Marshall Keith Shelly A Pastoral Theology of Trust: Forging Deep-Shift Changes in Culture and Practice  in Parish, Regional, and Judicatory Communities of Faith
Julie Haspel Mental Health in the Church: From the Gurney in the Hall to the Relational Kingdom of God
Michelleslie Maltese-Nehrbass INTERFAITH VISITS AS A PATH TO PERSONAL AND COMMUNITY ENLIGHTENMENT AND TRANSFORMATION
Donna Maree Alpha&Omega OuTreach – Ministry Under the Purple Tent: Exploring the Impact of Women-Led Alternative Ministries in Local Communities through Family, Faith, and Financial Literacy
Jeffrey Bryan Leadership That’s Able to Pivot in a Changing World
Nnabugwu Gogoh The Silent Struggle: Masculinity, Grief, and the Journey towards Healing
Desire Tiriwepi The Introduction of Intercultural Worship and Theology at St. Pauls United Church to Foster Growth by Enhancing the Involvement of Youth and Children, Promoting Diversity, Inclusion and Justice and Increasing Numerical Growth
Will Sullivan Back to the Black Church: Strategies for Reclaiming Disaffected Millennials and Gen Z
Yonghoon Cho A STUDY OF EVANGELISM STRATEGIES AT BUKWANG CHURCH: FOCUSING ON THE EVANGELISTIC MINISTRY OF PASTOR SANG-HYUN KIM
Shinho Choi RENEWING MINISTRY IN RESPONSE TO YOUNG ADULT DISENGAGEMENT: A CASE STUDY OF Y CHURCH
Hankwi Chun A RE-WITNESS OF THE CHURCH THROUGH TONG BIBLE EVANGELISM: A CASE STUDY OF GWANGJIN CHURCH’S EVANGELISM
Ingi Kim A STUDY ON HOME-CENTERED CHRISTIAN EDUCATION IN THE POST-COVID-19 ERA: FOCUSING ON AN INTEGRATIVE OF STORYTELLING AND HAVRUTAPEDAGOGICAL MODEL
Ji-young Kim RECONSTRUCTING YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY THROUGH AN EXPERIENCE-CENTERED EPIC MODEL: A CASE STUDY OF YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY AND TEST OF FAITH DISCIPLESHIPHANAVISION CHURCH
Ju Min Kim A STUDY OF PASTORAL STRATEGIES FOR THE RESTORATION OF THE KOREAN CHURCH IN THE ENDEMIC ERA: FOCUSING ON THE APPLICATION OF THE EPIC MISSIONAL PARADIGM AND TEE SMALL-GROUP MINISTRY AT YUSEONG CHURCH
Soonwon Kwon BALANCING WORD AND SACRAMENT FOR THE RENEWAL OF WORSHIP IN KOREAN CHURCHES: A PASTORAL MODEL OF MONTHLY COMMUNION STRUCTURED BY BIBLICAL THEMES
Gyu Seob Lee A STUDY ON THE MINISTRY OF JESUS IN THE FOUR GOSPELS THROUGH THE TONG BIBLE: FOCUSING ON THE MINISTRY OF CHANGWON SAESUN CHURCH (2011–2023)
Jong Jin Lee RESTORING WORSHIP AND RENEWING FAITH TRADITION: A STUDY BASED ON THE PSALMS AND THE DAVIDIC MODEL
Eun Kyu Park LEADERSHIP FOR ENGAGING THE MZ GENERATION: A CASE STUDY OF THE MZ YOUNG ADULT MINISTRY AT SOONGEUI CHURCH
Minkyu Park THE MISSIONAL REDESIGN OF THE POSTMODERN JAPANESE CHURCH: A CASE STUDY OF AISHIN INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CHURCH (AICC)
Dongwon Seo AN ANALYSIS OF THE K-EPIC MINISTRY PARADIGM FOR SUSTAINABLE GROWTH OF THE KOREAN CHURCH: FOCUSING ON THE MINISTRY PHILOSOPHY AND PRACTICES OF REV. HAK-JUNG KIM
Seungjae Shin A STUDY ON RELATIONAL EVANGELISM AND CHURCH GROWTH THROUGH HOUSE CHURCH AND HAPPY DAY MINISTRY
Kyu Sang Song ENHANCING AFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIPS IN SMALL GROUPS: A CASE STUDY ON A NEW FAITH PARADIGM THROUGH EPIC
Min Geun Song EXPLORING THE DIRECTION OF FAMILY MINISTRY FOR THE 30–40 GENERATION: A CASE STUDY OF EUNGAM CHURCH
Master of Arts in Religion Graduates
Name Dissertation Title
Gonzalo Alers Delinking from Babylon’s Epistemologies: Reading Revelation for a Puerto Rican Decolonial Biblical Hermeneutic
Patrick Kelly Composting Tradition: Reconstructing Catholic Sacramental Pedagogies for this Era of Eco-Catastrophe
Jung Ae Kim Whom Shalt Thou Not Kill? Animality, Animalization, and Noncriminal Violence in the Bible
Shin-young Kim Political Theology of Waste: Toward a Theo-garbological ethics in the Anthropocene
Matthew Tsz Him Lai Political Mourning as Resistance: A Christian Social Ethics of Remembrance
Kenia Vanessa Mendoza CONSTRUCTING ETHICS FROM LATINA IDENTITIES: DECOLONIZING THE IMPACT OF LATE NINETEENTH TO EARLY TWENTIETH-CENTURY US PROTESTANT MISSIONS
Elizabeth Quick The Eco-Justice Movement Meets Animal Rights in The United Methodist Church
Amiel Wayne The Pleasure in the Work: An Affective Modality for Philosophy of Religion