“I am not interested in most conversations about equality. To whom would you like to be equal, given a broken and morally bankrupt system? Do you want to be equal to the persons, forces, and systems which generate the very terms of your oppression? I am, however, interested in the weightier matter of law, justice and freedom. How can we act justly with love, mercy and walk humbly?”
— DR. YOLANDA PIERCE
Scholar & Writer
Womanist Theologian
Professor & Dean
YOLANDA PIERCE, PhD, is a scholar, writer, womanist theologian, and accomplished administrator in higher education. She currently serves as Professor and Dean of the Vanderbilt Divinity School.
Pierce’s research specialties include Literature & Religion; Womanist Theology; and African American Religions. A widely-published author, she has written several books, essays, and articles for academic and trade journals including: Time Magazine; The Christian Century; Theology Today; and Christianity & Literature.
Pierce is the creator and curator of “Touching the Sacred,” an exhibit on material religion and the Black Church. She is a member of various professional organizations, including the Modern Language Association, the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and the American Historical Association. Pierce has also been the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including fellowships from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, the Pew Foundation, and the 2023 Martin E. Marty Award for the Public Understanding of Religion from the American Academy of Religion.
As a first-generation college student, Pierce earned degrees from Cornell University and Princeton University. She is a native New Yorker, mentor, community activist, daughter of the Black Church, and proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
Pierce’s newest book is The Wounds Are the Witness: Black Faith Weaving Memory into Justice and Healing (2025).