Graduate Profile: Love Karlsson, MTS '23

How I've Changed  

At HDS, I have met professors and peers who have inspired me tremendously. To constantly be surrounded by people passionate about their fields of study has been a blessing that has helped me grow both as a scholar and as a person. Though I have held onto the core beliefs I entered HDS with, I am now better equipped to examine my own arguments so that I can then more effectively participate in the never-ending project to create a new and more just world. My friends and fellow students have supported me, challenged me, and acted as a community that I have been able to lean on throughout my HDS journey. Thank you all for that! 

Memorable Moment

There are a lot of them, but I will never forget all the nights I spent studying in the Braun room with people who would become very dear to me. 

Favorite Class or Professor

''Borderlands'' with Michael Jackson and David Carrasco made me rethink what I thought I knew about time, space, and the duty of the academic towards the issue they are engaging with. ''German for Reading'' with Karin Grundler-Whitacre became the fun and welcoming safe space I needed as a newly arrived international student. ''Writing about Revelation'' with David Holland helped me think through fundamental questions that I believe all scholars of religion at some point should be made to wrestle with. My reading and research class with Dan McKanan has been a great journey that has helped me better understand my own research interests. 

Future Plans 

I want to continue to explore historical examples of religious and political radicalism, focusing specifically on American immigrant communities. Whether I will do this as an academic or in some other role is yet to be determined!