Alumni/ae Tuesday: VDS Alumni @ Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Divinity Alumni serve in churches, organizations, and institutions across the country and around the world. Some, however, choose after they graduate to make a transformative impact right here on campus. This series features VDS alumni who work at Vanderbilt, showing the range of work a theological education can prepare one to do. We hope you’ll enjoy getting to meet them!
Karasheila Jackson, MDiv ’16
Program Coordinator, Development and Alumni Relations
How is your work at Vanderbilt shaped by having pursued a theological education?
VDS was my first formal introduction to preferred gender pronouns and the need for inclusive language. I believe that I have become much more aware of language that can be perceived as derogatory and harmful to others on a broader scale than I was before I attended VDS.
Who was your favorite professor (or what was your favorite course) at VDS and why?
I think my favorite course was Exodus in America: Black Christians & White Jews in Interreligious Dialogue with Dr. Stacey M. Floyd-Thomas. This course made me take a hard look at my own racial prejudices and how my biases have aided in my self-isolation at times. I was introduced to people who helped to organize and finance the Civil Rights Movement that I was unaware of before.
What advice would you share with prospective students?
If at all possible, come and visit VDS before you make a final decision as to where you would like to dedicate the next few years of your life. By visiting you will not only get a feel for the school, you will be able to get a small glimpse of what Nashville has to offer you as well.