Juan M. Floyd-Thomas, associate professor of Black Church Studies, spoke on religion and hip-hop at the Divinity School’s “Like a Prayer” series.
Floyd-Thomas received his B.A. from Rutgers University, his M.A. from Temple University, and his Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, all in the field of history. Before coming to Vanderbilt in fall 2008, he taught in the history departments at Virginia Tech and Texas Christian University.
His research interests include: religious pluralism within modern American society; race, ethnicity and religion in U.S. history; and interdisciplinary approaches to the academic study of religious thought, especially cultural, political, economic and social scientific theories and methods for analyzing the African American Christian experience. In his teaching and research, Floyd-Thomas emphasizes issues such as media interpretations and cultural images of African American religion, the varieties of African American religious experience, African Americans churches and sociopolitical reform, as well as the intersections of popular culture and American Christianity in the 20th century.
The “Like a Prayer” series, part of the Religion and the Arts and Contemporary Culture Program financed by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation, meets on select Tuesdays and Thursdays in the Art Room on the ground floor of Vanderbilt Divinity School. The talks are organized by a divinity school class, “Popular Music and Religious Identity.”
Contact: Jim Patterson (615) 322-NEWS
jim.patterson@vanderbilt.edu