Rev. Dr. Alison Gise Johnson

Biography

Prior to coming to Claflin, Rev. Dr. Gise Johnson served as Associate Professor of Historical and Theological Studies and Director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology (STVU). She served as Vice President of Programs and Resources for Samuel Dewitt Proctor Conference, Inc., where she was responsible for developing advocacy and educational programming related to ending mass incarceration and creating livable and sustainable communities. Dr. Gise Johnson also served as the Program Director for Science Outreach and Assistant Director of Aquaponics at Chicago State University. Prior to her positions in the academic world, she served as a project engineer at 3M Company in St. Paul, Minnesota. Dr. Gise Johnson’s research centers on marrying theological ethics, public health and social enterprise with specific interest in developing livable sustainable communities and values-centered leadership. As Womanist scholar, administrator, and activist, she has served as Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership Design Team member; Served as collaborative partner in the creation of The Womanist Leadership Hub; Co-founded Arks & Altars, LLC (a community of women collaborating to create sacred spaces for dreaming, strategizing, building, and becoming); and Co-Labors with her Claflin Humanities Colleagues to nurture the next generation of scholar-activists. Nurtured at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois, licensed at Pilgrim Baptist Church in St. Paul, Minnesota, ordained at Fifth Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia, Rev. Dr. Gise Johnson, has been blessed to develop in ministry and scholarship in such a way that there is no separation between intellectual development, spiritual maturation, and active love and compassion for communities.

As scholar, minister, and activist, many of her efforts center on issues related to food justice, developing ministry-mentoring materials, creating resources for the moral and intellectual development of youth, caring for students as they produce real, powerful, and relevant resources for communities and families, and defining the anatomy of faith-based justice. 

Education

B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

M.Div., Proctor School of Theology at Virginia Union University, Richmond, VA

Ph.D. in Religion with a concentration in Religion and Society, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA

Research Interests

Womanist Social Ethics; Social Enterprise and Environmental Sustainability; Sacred Memory and the Art of Collaboration; Rethinking Philosophy as Pedagogy and Activism 

Recent Presentations

Select Publications

• Walking through the Valley: Womanist Explorations in Justice, Leadership, Embodied Ethics, and Sacred Texts. Edited with Emilie M. Townes, Stacey Floyd-Thomas and Angela D. Sims. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022.
• “Redeeming Black Survival: A Womanist Reading of Poverty as a Means of ReMembering Black Sovereignty,” in Walking through the Valley: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon. Edited by Emilie M. Townes, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, and Alison P. Gise Johnson. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022. 
• “Excavating Darkness: Unearthing Memories as Spiritual Practice in the Service of Social Transformation,” in Walking through the Valley: Womanist Explorations in the Spirit of Katie Geneva Cannon. Edited by Emilie M. Townes, Stacey Floyd-Thomas, and Alison P. Gise Johnson. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2022.
• Exodus Women Volume One: Securing the Sacred- Usable Truths, Secret Pledges, and Clarion Calls in the Story of Shiphrah and Puah, the Midwives. Edited with Vanessa D. Moore and Katie Geneva Cannon. Richmond, VA: The Center for Womanist Leadership, 2019. 
• “Beyond Belonging: A Reflection on Vision, Values and Vulnerability of Women Called to Lead, Extraordinarily,” in Women in Leadership, 20th Anniversary Publication. The Association for Theological Education, 2018. 
• “Dancing Redemption’s Song, Across Generations: An Interview with Katie G. Cannon.” Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 34.2 (2018). 
• Young Prophets: An Effective Curricular Approach to Equipping Youth as Faith Practitioners. South Holland, IL: Covenant United Church of Christ, 2013. 
• Contributor to “Theological Reflections” in The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in The Age of Colorblindness Study Guide. Chicago, IL: Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, 2011. 
• “Womanist Words and Works.” The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 21.2 (2005).

• “Retexturization of a Tradition: A Womanist Hermeneutical Complex for Understanding Religio-Historical Value of the African American Sermonic Genre,” in Born to Preach. Edited by Samuel K. Roberts. Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2000.