#  Graduate Profile: Nathalie Folkerts, MDiv '24 

 





May 13, 2024

 

 

     ![Nathalie Folkerts, MDiv '24](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hds2/files/nathaliefolkerts-900x600.jpg?itok=Jz4Tn0bL) 

Nathalie Folkerts, MDiv '24 / Courtesy photo

 



 

## Memorable Moment 

For the "Walking the Inland Sea" class, we went on a spring break pilgrimage to Great Salt Lake in Utah. On one of the days, we took a bus several hours into the desert to go to the sun tunnels, a land art piece created by Nancy Holt. The sun tunnels are four concrete tubes in the desert, with various holes cut into them that help frame the surrounding landscapes and sky in different ways. One friend described them as four chaplains in the desert, which felt so apt. We spent hours in these tunnels – lying down in them, playing on top of them, singing in them. The vibration within the tunnels when the whole group was singing was unforgettable and is a memory I’ll cherish for a long time.

## Favorite Class or Professor 

There are too many to list just one, but some of my favorites included "Walking the Inland Sea" with Terry Tempest Williams and Stephanie Paulsell, "When the Orishas Trouble Gender" with Xhercis Méndez, "Leading Music in Ritual" with Chris Hossfeld, creative writing workshops, and TDM classes (especially "Intersections" with Dayron Miles and "Contemporary Global Performances" with Debra Levine). I am also so grateful to the professors who supervised reading and research courses for me, which were such a beautiful way to be able to lean more into subjects I wanted to explore.

## Message of Thanks 

So many people have accompanied, inspired, taught, befriended, and mentored me along the way. Here are just a few of them:

To the student organizers, for teaching me about the liberatory magic of love in community and the importance of saying free Palestine.

To Vinay, for always supporting, encouraging, pushing, holding, and loving me, for teaching me the meaning of the word “partnership,” and for putting up with 3 years of long distance so that I could be here.

To my ever-growing family, for providing soft and loving landing spaces, your love and generosity, and for nurturing my questions.

To my friends – the intimate witnesses who magnify my being each and every day – for everything.

To the incredible professors, TFs, and mentors I’ve had here, for opening the door to new worlds and possibilities.

To the books who chaplained me through my thesis and this last year, for reminding me that new worlds are at our fingertips if we can just learn to be present to them.

To the places who have grounded me and that I have been lucky to call home – Iowa, LA, Seattle, Reading, Mont Brison, Boston, and Baltimore.

To Great Salt Lake, Terry Tempest Williams, Stephanie Paulsell, Akhil Thomas, and the entire pilgrimage cohort who journeyed to Utah together over spring break, for teaching me about the power of presence, courage, naming the truth, and singing in tunnels in the desert.

## Future Plans 

I’m committed to continuing the work and themes of my thesis related to deepening embodied skills and practices of accountability in community, especially with the help of literature. I will be moving to Baltimore and working as a Chaplain Resident at Johns Hopkins Hospital, as well as continuing to do work with Not Sorry Productions. I hope to be writing, reading, hosting dinner parties, experimenting with movement chaplaincy, and finding ways to stay in community with new and old friends alike.



 

 

 



 

 See also:- [ Student Activities and Interviews ](/discover-stories-about/student-activities-and-interviews)
- [ Commencement ](/topic-tags/commencement)
- [ Commencement 2024 ](/topic-tags/commencement-2024)