Kishundra D. King, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Psychology and Religion
CONTACT
EDUCATION
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
M.Div., Yale Divinity School
M.S., Creighton University
BIOgraphy
Kishundra D. King, PhD is a womanist, pastoral, and practical theologian committed to the intersections of religion, psychology, and culture. Her interests in contextual theological reflection and social action invite critical methodological interpretations of lived experiences as they explore various relational aspects and intrapsychic responses to the world. Dr. King’s commitments stem from her experiences as a clinical psychotherapist focused on youth and families, as well as her work as a registered yoga instructor.
Dr. King’s research focuses on Womanist pastoral theology grounded in Black girlhood experiences. She asserts the value of Black girl voices and regards their unique ways of knowing as a valuable and necessary source for epistemology in research, writing, and practice. Toward that end, Dr. King’s research project, Black and Womanish (funded by the Louisville Institute’s Project Grant for Researchers), centered on Black girlhood experiences as sources for pastoral theological reflection and utilized a womanist mixed-methods approach to qualitative research towards a Womanish pastoral theology.
Dr. King has been on the faculty at Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School, where she served as the Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Director of Black Religious Thought & Life. She has also served on the faculty of Iliff School of Theology as Assistant Professor of Pastoral & Spiritual Care and Director of the Master of Arts in Pastoral and Spiritual Care.
Currently, Dr. King serves on the Pastoral Psychology journal editorial board, the Association of Practical Theology’s executive committee, and the American Academy of Religion as Co-Chair of the Childhood & Religion Studies Unit and a Steering Committee Member of the Psychology, Culture, & Religion Unit’s Steering Committee.
Her forthcoming book, Black Girls and their Childhoods: Toward a Womanish Pastoral Theology, is expected to be released later this year by Lexington Press.