The Department of Religion welcomes Nicole Myers Turner to the faculty (as of July 1, 2022) as Assistant Professor of Religion. Professor Turner’s research is situated in nineteenth century developments and transformations in African American religion, which she explores through the prisms of race, space, place and gender. Her first book, Soul Liberty: The Evolution of Black Religious Politics in Postemancipation Virginia was published in 2022 by the University of North Carolina Press. She is also interested in issues of public history and memory in African American religious communities. She is especially excited to continue working with graduate and undergraduate students in conducting research.

“The addition of Professor Turner to the department’s faculty expands and deepens our work in African American religious history and religion in 19^th Century America,” noted Professor Judith Weisenfeld, Agate Brown and George L. Collord Professor of Religion and Chair of the Department of Religion. “Her work at the intersection of race, religion, and politics and Black Digital Humanities brings exciting new perspectives to the field, and we are thrilled to have her at Princeton,” Weisenfeld said.

Professor Turner will be on leave for the Fall 2022 term. Starting in the Spring 2023 term she looks forward to teaching courses in African American Religious History at the intersections of Black Digital Humanities and 19^th Century Political History.