Melanie Jones Quarles is a womanist ethicist, millennial preacher, and intellectual activist. Melanie is Assistant Professor of Ethics, Theology, and Culture and the Inaugural Director of The Katie Geneva Cannon Center for Womanist Leadership (KGCCWL). Formerly, Melanie served as the 2018-19 Crump Visiting Professor and Black Religious Scholar-in-Residence at Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX, and Lecturer at Brite Divinity School in Fort Worth, TX, American Baptist College in Nashville, TN, Chicago Theological Seminary, and The Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL.

Melanie’s research probes the scripting of the body in theology and philosophy, particularly as it relates to Black women’s body politics, womanist theological ethics, sacred texts, millennials and faith, Black aesthetics, and popular culture. Her first academic monograph, Up Against A Crooked Gospel: Black Women’s Bodies and the Politics of Redemption (Orbis Books, 2024), mines the prophetic imaginations of influential womanist thinkers, crafting a liberating vision that resists Black women serving as surrogate “saviors” in society and religion. For her distinguished research, Melanie has received notable fellowships and scholarships, including The Forum for Theological Exploration, The Louisville Institute, Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion, Villanova University Center for Church Management, The Henry Luce Foundation, Presbyterian Mission Agency, and the Technology, Innovation & Digital Engagement Lab.

Melanie, a thinking woman of faith, embodies radical love and revolutionary justice in the academy, Church, and global community. She is the Co-Founder of The Millennial Womanism Project (TMWP) and Co-Host of the transgenerational womanist public theology podcast, The Womanist Salon. Melanie’s influence extends to professional, international, and service boards and societies, including Alpha Kappa Alpha Educational Advancement Foundation, the American Academy of Religion, the Black Religious Scholars Group, the Society of Christian Ethics, the Society of Race, Ethnicity, and Religion, and the Society for the Study of Black Religion. In recognition of her exemplary leadership and scholarship, Melanie was inducted into the Martin Luther King, Jr. Collegium of Scholars at Morehouse College in Atlanta, GA.

A third-generation ordained Baptist preacher and sought-after lecturer, Melanie is a leading Black religious scholar with noted academic and popular publications and features on television, radio, and news outlets. Follow Melanie at revmelanie.com.

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