# Harvard Divinity School Appoints Nikki Hoskins Assistant Professor of Religion and Ecology June 05, 2024 ![Nikki Hoskins](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/styles/hwp_16_9__480x270/public/hoskins-news-900_01_02.jpg?itok=DqpPgUng) Nikki Hoskins has been named Assistant Professor of Religion and Ecology at Harvard Divinity School, effective July 1, 2024. Since 2021, Hoskins, MDiv ’12, has served as Assistant Professor in the Theology and Religious Studies Department at The University of Scranton. Her work attends to Christian histories of colonial, racial, and environmental domination. “Hoskins’s scholarly expertise and passion for teaching promise to make a significant impact here at HDS,” said [HDS Dean Marla F. Frederick](https://hds.harvard.edu/people/marla-f-frederick) in announcing Hoskins’s appointment. “She will no doubt enrich our academic community and inspire our students.” With the support of the Louisville Institute’s First Book Grant for Scholars of Color, Hoskins is completing a book manuscript, “Blackness Weathered: Decolonial Ethics for the Earth,” where she researches the religious and ecological practices of Black women in Chicago’s Altgeld Gardens, an area sociologists identify as one of the most egregious cases of environmental racism in the U.S. “I am thrilled to return to HDS and work alongside such distinguished faculty, students, and staff,” says Hoskins. “My commitment to justice, religion and public moral leadership, and a life of critical study were nurtured at HDS as a graduate student. I hope not only to continue cultivating those commitments but to deepen and expand them to address our most pressing social and environmental concerns. “HDS is uniquely positioned to study ecology from a diversity of religious perspectives and practices, everyday communities struggling for environmental justice, as well as from global histories. My vision is to continue building and strengthening this curriculum for the next generation of scholars, teachers, and religious and civic leaders.” Hoskins is a member of the Society for the Study of Black Religion, the Society of Christian Ethics, and on the editorial board of Black Women and Religious Cultures. She earned a PhD in religion and society from Drew University, a master of divinity degree from HDS, and a bachelor of arts degree in religious studies from Spelman College. She has earned several fellowships for her graduate research, including the Charlotte W. Newcombe Fellowship, the Louisville Institute Fellowship, and the Forum for Theological Education Fellowship. “Professor Hoskins’s innovative and important research will expand and strengthen HDS’s growing offerings in religion and ecology in its relationship to Black studies and ethnographic methods,” says [Mayra Rivera](https://hds.harvard.edu/people/mayra-rivera-rivera), Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Religion and Latinx Studies at HDS and search committee chair. “I am excited that HDS will count on such a remarkable scholar as we envision the direction of the area of religion and ecology into the future.” —*HDS Office of Communications* --- Attachments- [ image hoskins-news-900\_01\_01.jpg ](/sites/g/files/omnuum5526/files/hoskins-news-900_01_01.jpg) --- See also:- [ Alumni News and Profiles ](/discover-stories-about/alumni-news-and-profiles) - [ Faculty and Research ](/discover-stories-about/faculty-and-research) - [ New Faculty Appointment ](/topic-tags/new-faculty-appointment)