A folk musician is pursuing her doctorate in religion with a focus on American religious culture. A multimedia artist builds creative partnerships in Nashville and beyond. A United Methodist pastor uses leadership and marketing skills to grow her congregation. And a Christian hip-hop artist and life coach has published an inspirational book.
These are some of the Vanderbilt Divinity School alumni/ae whose careers have been shaped by Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture—one of six co-curricular programs at VDS. Through these programs, faculty and staff bring speakers, host events and create impactful educational experiences for both students and the broader public.
“In the classroom, we encourage students to express their creative side while building connections between art and scholarship, preaching, advocacy or other interests,” says Stephanie Budwey, director of RACC and the assistant professor of the history and practice of Christian worship and the arts.
Courtney Ariel Bowden, MDIV’22
Courtney Ariel Bowden is a folk acoustic musician and writer. “I try to explore topics that are close to the heart and highlight them in ways that are relatable to the listener. That is my hope,” Bowden says. She grew up in Southern California, earning a bachelor of arts in English literature from the University of California at Santa Barbara.
Bowden lived in Los Angeles for 10 years before moving to Nashville for her music. “One of my dear friends who was affiliated with VDS invited me to the RACC end-of-year student showcase,” Bowden says. “The performances were stunning. That showcase made me aware of the theological connections in my own songs, so I took a chance and applied to VDS.”
One of her favorite classes, taught by Dave Perkins, looked at songwriting from a theological perspective. “I appreciate that there were no barriers between theology and what the students, as artists, could conceptualize and express about the divine,” she says.
At VDS she became a member of Poiesis, the student arts collective. During the height of the pandemic, several members of Poiesis produced a podcast together, which Bowden describes as a kind of port in the storm. Throughout her matriculation she wrote songs that she performed during the RACC showcase prior to graduation. “I composed a song about John the Baptist that is actually about Christianity more broadly, and the reality of Christian supremacy,” Bowden says. The song’s theme was influenced by her class on New Testament, taught by Amy-Jill Levine, now an emerita professor.
Bowden mentioned that the presence of students from various socioeconomic backgrounds within the Divinity School was impactful. “This made our learning and living alongside one another richer. As a working-class person, I appreciated this. I think that many of us contributed to a welcoming art-making space where we could create works with a lot of heart. I think we needed that for our own spiritual journeys,” she says.
Bowden is a doctoral student at Emory University, where she is researching Black women’s spirituality and their creative friendship-making practices. Her public-facing advocacy writing has been featured in Sojourners, CNN, The Tennessean and Harper’s Bazaar. Her music can be found on streaming platforms.
Dana Jo Cooley, MTS’22
Dana Jo Cooley is a multimedia artist experienced in large-scale project management, technical design, grant-writing and more. She grew up in rural Whitwell, Tennessee, earning a bachelor of fine arts from Savannah College of Art and Design.
Cooley was attracted to the music scene in Athens, Georgia, where she became a visual artist for the B52s and other bands. “I built sets, created costumes and did other art-related projects, but then I hit a threshold where I was done with it,” Cooley says. “I consider myself an experimental artist and needed to move on.” Cooley reexamined her upbringing in the Methodist Church and found her interest in theology was something on which she could center her art.
Cooley met with Dave Perkins, who described the program as “soul-shifting,” but not easy. “Having supportive professors like Dr. Perkins and Choon-Leong Seow, Distinguished Professor of Hebrew Bible, helped,” Cooley says. “Dr. Seow always held the arts as sacred and important. He made me feel relevant, even though I did not have a traditional academic background.”
Cooley joined Poiesis, a student organization strengthening relationships between arts-oriented divinity students and the Nashville arts community. “For many years Poiesis had studio space at Downtown Presbyterian Church, but no one was taking care of it,” Cooley says. “I spent significant time cleaning and organizing the space.”
As Downtown Presbyterian’s artist-in-residence, Cooley manages and curates the Browsing Room Gallery. She participates in the Nashville Art Crawl with fellow local artists, showcasing collaborative and individual works.
Cooley recently received a Metro Nashville Arts Thrive grant, which supports artist-led, community-based art projects that include collaboration between artists and local partners. “Vanderbilt’s rigorous academics, especially the writing, has made the grant-writing process much less intimidating,” she says.
In addition, Cooley is helping create an amphitheater and decorative retaining wall at the site of a landslide in Pound, Virginia, thanks to a grant from Virginia Tech’s Monuments Across Appalachian Virginia program and the Mellon Foundation. “This unique monument will pay tribute to the region’s rich labor history while fostering hope, creativity, inclusivity and gathering,” Cooley says.
Andre K. Davis II, MDIV’22
Andre K. Davis II is a spoken word/hip hop artist and Christian life coach who enjoyed the arts during high school but did not give it serious consideration. “I felt like rappers were those people over there, not me,” Davis says. He earned a bachelor of science from Tennessee State University, where he majored in psychology and sports science.
Davis was attending a friend’s graduation from VDS when he heard God say, “You will graduate from Vanderbilt.” However, Davis first moved to Atlanta for graduate school before returning to Nashville, where the Divinity School awarded him a full-ride scholarship.
Davis came to the realization that God had given him the gift of music to express his faith. “I loved that our professors gave us the freedom to be creative in the classroom,” Davis says. “Assignments in which I could create a song and a video and combine them for my presentation were special,” Davis says. “And the artist showcase at the conclusion of the academic year helped build my confidence with stage performances.”
Davis, known in his community as Pastor Dre, devotes a significant portion of his time to Living Word Memphis, where he is a church elder and Christian life coach. He continues to focus on his music, performing rap shows with his church brothers. In addition, Davis has written his first book, A Journey of Faith: The Birth of a Warrior, sharing lessons he’s learned about overcoming obstacles in life through faith and determination.
“I would tell prospective students that the arts are intertwined with the divine,” Davissays. “God is the creator, and we are made in his image. So the arts provide a way for us to express who God is within us.”
Shannon White, MDIV’22
Shannon White grew up in Bowling Green, Kentucky, and earned a bachelor of arts from Western Kentucky University, where she majored in corporate and organizational communication.
She was employed in financial marketing when her minister at State Street Baptist Church asked her to take the lead on establishing a youth ministry for their congregation. In three years the program grew dramatically from six to 80 children.
White credits The Gospel According to André, a documentary about fashion icon André Leon Talley, for helping spark her interest in theological education. Talley cited his upbringing in the Black church as a major influence on his career in high fashion. “For example, the whole ritual of dressing in your Sunday best for church is just one of many connections between fashion and religion,” White says. “In 2020, I leaned in fully to the call of ministry.” She chose VDS for its strength of scholarship.
One of White’s favorite memories is a course taught by Juan Floyd-Thomas, associate professor of African American religious history, where she researched Cyborg, a DC Comics’ Black superhero. Cyborg becomes part man, part machine, after being injured in an accident. White wrote on the comparisons of Cyborg to the disability of a Black man in today’s world.
For the practicum portion of her research project, she created “The Elegy,” a remix of the Stations of the Cross, a series of images depicting Jesus’ suffering and death. White’s version provides perspective from the Black experience. Each station features a liturgical response through visual art, poetry or song lyrics that invites spectators to engage and interact in the immersive experience. “I have enjoyed being invited back to campus to present ‘The Elegy’ during Holy Week,” White says.
She now serves as executive pastor for congregational growth at Arlington United Methodist Church in Nashville. White is grateful for the emphasis on self-discovery and creativity in her RACC courses. “I am a better liturgist, better preacher, and simply a better person and pastor because of the opportunities to connect my art to scholarship,” she says.
For more information on RACC, visit Religion in the Arts and Contemporary Culture or email Stephanie Budwey.
Art credit for featured image: Dana Jo Cooley M.T.S ’22 “The Lord Giveth (Sculpture & Print) | Paper, ink, glue, 18″ ”