Graduate Profile: Gracie Mason-Brown, MTS '25

Favorite Class or Professor

My favorite class was David Lamberth's course on classical pragmatism. I'm a bit obsessed with William James, and I loved studying him with Lamberth, who is a brilliant, thoughtful, and generous pedagogue, as well as a meticulous James scholar. Dewey and Peirce were wonderful complements to James, and Lamberth's encyclopedic knowledge of the philosophers' life and work made them come alive, as if we were all in active conversation with one another. The community formed by the class was also so sweet. Everyone was so curious and engaged and down to earth, it felt like we were all truly working together to understand these thinkers, and we really bonded in the process. It was so fun and so fulfilling. That class was for sure the highlight of my education at HDS.

Message of Thanks  

I am very grateful to my family, my boyfriend Finn, my best friend Emily, and my dog Gillie for their unconditional love. I am incredibly grateful to my advisors in undergrad, Carol Zaleski and Andy Rotman, for being such good people and such amazing professors. I would not be here if it were not for all their encouragement and support. I am also grateful to my professors at HDS for the caring and human way they engage with their students, especially David Lamberth, Yehuda Mirsky, Regina Walton, Shaul Magid, Michael Puett, Jacob Olupona, Kimberley Patton, Swayam Bagaria, David Carrasco, Stephanie Paulsell, and Amy Hollywood.

Future Plans

Since finishing HDS in December (I was in the class of 2024 but took a semester off), I have been working as a wilderness therapy guide in Utah. In the fall I plan to start a job as a case manager, helping people who are getting out of prison secure employment. In the distant future I hope to start some kind of non-denominational community center that offers much of what a traditional religious institution offers—community and loving connection, meaning-making philosophy, ritual, music and dance, psychological relief and emotional support, charity, mysticism, and a sanctuary in which to share the burden of our suffering and in which to experience awe, gratitude, and joy.