The Team

Editors

Sara Schumacher (Editor-in-Chief): Prior to life in academia, Sara worked as a graphic designer in Oxford where her experience as an artist and a Christian raised many questions, ultimately leading her to pursue further study in theology and the arts at St Andrews. Sara holds a B.S. in Graphic Design and an A.A. in Cross-Cultural Services from John Brown University and completed an M.Litt in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at St Andrews in 2010. She is currently working on a PhD at St Andrews, researching contemporary church patronage of the arts. Click here to view a list of Sara’s posts.

Christopher R. Brewer (Book Reviews Editor): The son of Baptist missionaries, Chris has lived in four countries and five states. Before coming to St. Andrews, Chris, his wife Rachel and their two boys lived in Grand Rapids, MI where Chris completed his M.A. in Historical Theology as well as an M.Div. During this time he curated a growing art collection at Calvary Baptist Church and worked as a marketing manager for a Fortune 1000 company.  He is pursuing a PhD with David Brown and he is exploring the possibility of an imaginative natural theology.  Along these lines, he is the founder and director of  gospel through shared experience as well as the editor and publisher of Art that Tells the Story. Click here to view a list of Chris’ posts.

Cole Matson (Guest Contributions Editor): Born in Texas, Cole has lived in Virginia, New York, Maryland, and Oxford before beginning his PhD in Theology & Theatre at St Andrews. After graduating with a B.F.A. from NYU Tisch Drama, he worked as a professional actor and arts administrator before reading for a second BA in Theology at Oxford. His proposed dissertation is on the creation of a Eucharistic theatre, using liturgy as a model for building communion between artist and audience, and on the ethics of the artist-audience relationship. He enjoys geeking out about theatre, monasticism, and the Inklings at his blog, The Unicorn Triumphant. Click here to view a list of Cole’s posts.

Jim Watkins (Featured Artist Editor): Jim teaches humanities and bible at Veritas School in Richmond, VA.  He holds a PhD in theology from the University of St Andrews (supervised by David Brown), an MCS in Christianity and the Arts from Regent College, and a BA in Studio Art from Wheaton College.  He is currently working on a book titled Creativity as Sacrifice: Toward a Theological Model for Human Creativity in the Arts (Fortress Press).  Jim lives in Richmond, VA with his beautiful wife, Emily, and their three wonderful boys Jonah, Rowan and Isaac.  Click here to view a list of Jim’s posts.

Prof Trevor Hart (ITIA Director, ex officio Editor): Trevor Hart is Professor of Divinity and Director of the Institute for Theology, Imagination and the Arts in the University of St Andrews. Trevor studied Theology as an undergraduate at Durham and then completed a PhD in Historical Theology at Aberdeen, where he lectured in Systematic Theology for nine years before moving south to St Andrews in 1995. A passion for literature and a longstanding love of music and the arts generally fused happily with his concern for constructive Christian theology while supervising doctoral students on inter-disciplinary projects in the late 1990s, and the work of ITIA since its inception in 2000 has seen that fusion develop and flourish. Trevor has published widely and lectured on theology, imagination and the arts in North America, Australia, China, New Zealand and mainland Europe. Originally from south of the border, he has now been in Scotland so long that he considers it home, thinks of himself as a Scot by grace if not by birth, and admits to an irrational attachment to the Scotland rugby team, not least when they are playing against England!

Regular Contributors

Denny Kinlaw is currently studying for his MLitt in the Institute of Theology, Imagination and the Arts, St Mary’s College, University of St Andrews.  Before coming to St Andrews, Denny conducted research for Kirk Documentary Group in Boston, MA, producing documentary films for PBS FRONTLINE. He received his BA in English from Harvard University. His interests currently include American Literature and the intersection of literary theory and theology in the work of David Foster Wallace.

Dave Reinhardt: Before making his way to St Andrews, Dave played the part of a peasant and a street sweep at a Renaissance Festival and Walt Disney World respectively.  However, his interest in performance and communication were also put to use for over a decade as a corporate communications trainer in Charlotte, NC where he and his wife, Carrie, lived before moving overseas. Since then, they’ve welcomed their daughter Molly into the world and Dave completed his M.Litt in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at St Andrews. At the moment he’s busy researching the theological significance of embodied expression in pursuit of a PhD from St Andrews. Click here to view a list of Dave’s posts.

Somer Salomon: Somer currently teaches 11th grade English at a public charter school in Washington, DC, one of her favorite jobs in a varied career path that has included working for an economic development corporation, at a dot.com, and on a horse farm. Somer has an MLitt in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts from the University of St. Andrews, as well as an MA in English Literature from Middlebury College. She is interested in topics ranging from narrative and eschatology to aesthetics and identity. Originally from Virginia, Somer loves living in DC and being a part of her church and the city. She also hopes to return to the world of academia again one day!

Preston Yancey (Social Media): Preston earned his undergraduate degree in Great Texts of the Western Tradition with a focus in medieval monasticism, literature, and theology, as well as a minor in Political Science with a concentration in East Asian regime theory from Baylor University. He is studying for his Master of Letters in Theology, Imagination, and the Arts at the University of St. Andrews. He runs on a diet of caffeine and God’s grace, blogs at SeePrestonBlog, and his first book concerning a reverential approach to reading the art of Scripture, Tables in the Wilderness, is due out with Rhizome in Summer 2013. His second, A Common Faith: A Memoir of God Found, Lost, and Found Again is under representation and being written now. Click here to view a list of Preston’s posts.