HDS - Program in Religious Studies and Education

Program in Religious Studies and Education

Faculty and Staff

Diane L. Moore

Diane L. Moore is the director of the Program in Religious Studies and Education and Professor of the Practice in Religious Studies and Education at Harvard Divinity School. She teaches the course "Religion, Democracy, and Education" and the Colloquium in Religion and Secondary Education, and the PRSE Research Seminar. Professor Moore's research interests are in the areas of religion and public education, educational theory, and multicultural literacy. She is a member of the editorial board of the journal Religion and Education, and her book Overcoming Religious Illiteracy: A Cultural Studies Approach to the Study of Religion in Secondary Education appeared in 2007. Diane Moore also taught at Phillips Andover Academy, in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies, until 2007. She holds a PhD and an MPhil from Union Theological Seminary, a DMin from Episcopal Divinity School, and an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School. She is also an ordained minister in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Mary Frazier-Davis

Mary Frazier-Davis is the associate director of the Program in Religious Studies and Education and has been affiliated with the PRSE since 1991. She is the PRSE liaison with local schools and coordinates internship sites for the program's student interns. She also works closely with the director of PRSE, assisting with liaison activities with the Massachusetts Department of Education. Dr. Frazier-Davis brings to PRSE her experience as a teacher and administrator in public education and governance experience through involvement with a k-8 independent school. She also brings her background in teacher education from work at Pennsylvania State University, where she received her PhD and MEd. In addition to her responsibilities with the PRSE, Frazier-Davis is associate director of the Career Services Office of the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Cheryl Giles

Cheryl Giles is Francis Greenwood Peabody Professor of the Practice in Pastoral Care and Counseling at Harvard Divinity School and teaches the adolescent psychology course that many students in the PRSE take to fulfill their adolescent psychology requirement. She is a senior psychologist and a member of the Core Faculty Post-doctoral Fellowship Program in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center, where she teaches and supervises psychology fellows. In addition, she is in private practice as a consultant to schools, churches, and nonprofit organizations specializing in working with traumatized children and their families. Her research interests focus on exploring the spirituality of GLBT youth. Currently, she serves as an appointed member to the Governor's Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth and the Department of Youth Service Special Task Force on Suicide Prevention. Professor Giles holds an MDiv from Harvard Divinity School and a PsyD from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology.

Nancy Richardson

Nancy Richardson is Lecturer on Religion and Education at Harvard Divinity School and former director of the PRSE. She teaches "Education for Liberation" and "Racializing Whiteness: Refocusing the Lens of Antiracist Leadership in the United States." Professor Richardson has a background in campus ministry, community organizing, urban ministry, and theological education. Her doctoral work was in social ethics, with an emphasis on race and gender justice. Her publications are in the areas of anti-racism education and organizing and feminist perspectives on theological education. She holds a PhD from Boston University and an MDiv from Duke Divinity School.

Tom Rooney

Tom Rooney recently retired after a distinguished 35-year teaching career at Needham High School, where he taught English and helped to construct the school's interdisciplinary program in the humanities. In addition to his work with the PRSE, he teaches in the Education Department at Simmons College. His courses at Simmons have included "Cultural Foundations of Education," "Integrating the Arts, English Methods," and "Culture Matters" (examining the arts with regard to race, class, and gender). He holds a PhD from Boston University and received the Goldin Foundation Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2004.

Faculty Affiliates

These faculty members regularly teach some courses that are highly relevant for secondary school teachers. Depending on the class, they will often grant PRSE students and mentor teachers permission to frame final projects and/or other coursework in relation to their role as educators.

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