Carpenter Cohort: 2026 fall semester
In 2026-2027, Sacred Writes has received a third round of funding from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation to hold public scholarship trainings for scholars focused on religion, gender, and sexuality. Please welcome the scholars accepted to the Fall Semester cohort!
Maria carolina alderete
drew university school of theology
María Carolina Alderete is pursuing her PhD at Drew Theological School in the Religion and Society program, where she obtained an MA in Religion and Ecology. Her scholarly interests are in women’s health, focusing on endocrine disruption as a form of slow violence and necropolitics to challenge dualistic theological frameworks from a decolonial and ecofeminist perspective.
As a Social Communicologist from the University of Buenos Aires, she has seven years of experience in social justice in Argentina. Currently, she serves as a Managing Editor at the Association of Public Religion and Intellectual Life (APRIL) and is an HTI Scholar at the Hispanic Theological Initiative. Through her scholarship and art, she aims to develop creative and interdisciplinary responses to the current ecological crises.
david byrne
durham university, uk
David Byrne is an Irish lay theologian and member of Durham University’s Centre for Catholic Studies. He recently completed an MA in Theology and Religion at Durham, following a first-class MTheol from the University of St Andrews. His research explores the critical-constructive reception of twentieth-century Catholic theology, particularly the ressourcement tradition and Vatican II, in relation to anthropology, identity, and ecclesiology. He is especially interested in vocation and belonging among those traditionally marginalised within and beyond the Church, and in the prophetic possibilities of marginality, doubt, distance, and dissent as sources of renewal. Working in the Catholic charitable sector, David is also deeply interested in Catholic Social Thought and Practice as a means of engaging the socio-political realm and contributing to its health and healing.
Nicole Correri
Boston university
Nicole Correri has earned her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies at Boston University under the direction of Professor Kecia Ali. Her dissertation is entitled, "The Advent of the English-Language Majlis: Shī‘a Gendered Authority in the Digital Age." Her research is at the intersection of Islamic Studies, Digital Religion, and Gender Studies. Her other academic areas of interest include Feminist Theory, Affect Theory, and Ritual Studies. Her particular focus area is on contemporary Shī‘a authority and gender construction in online English-language Twelver Shi‘a religious discourse.
hend eltaher
erasmus mundus
Hend Eltaher is a media and religion researcher based in the Netherlands. She holds dual master’s degrees in journalism and religious studies and has 14 years of multidisciplinary research and professional experience. Her work focuses on media framing, identity, culture, and development. Throughout her career, Hend has combined academic research with practical experience in university-level teaching, journalism, academic publishing, and communications. She has also worked as a consultant with international NGOs and contributed to policy-oriented research, intercultural projects, and grant applications. Her current academic interests include war news and media framing, the cultural and digital divide, and migration and displacement.
Alexandria frisch
george mason university
Alexandria Frisch is an Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies at George Mason University. She wrote The Danielic Discourse on Empire in Second Temple Literature (Brill, 2017), which examines empire in Second Temple literature through a postcolonial lens. She has also long held an interest in the literary deployment of representations of the body in early Judaism and is currently working on a book on purity as an embodied response to trauma. She has published articles in journals such as Biblical Interpretation, Dine Israel, and Dead Sea Scroll Discoveries and has been a fellow at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, The Tikvah Center for Jewish Law and Civilization at NYU, and The Yeshiva University Center for Jewish Law and Contemporary Civilization at Cardozo Law School.
sohini ganguly
University of Ottawa, canada
Dr. Sohini Ganguly is an interdisciplinary gender studies scholar and qualitative research specialist based in Toronto. She holds a PhD in Feminist and Gender Studies from the University of Ottawa. Her research expertise spans feminist oral history, lived religion, intersectionality, nation and nationalism, peace and conflict studies, and feminist qualitative methodologies. Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals and public media outlets, including OMEGA - Journal of Death and Dying and The Wire. She has published a book chapter on the popular memory of the 15th-century female religious figure Mirabai and her reception among women from Rajasthan, India. She has also worked as a research assistant in the Nonreligion in a Complex Future Project, University of Ottawa, exploring areas of Death and Dying. She is currently working on her monograph on Hindu women, Hindu goddesses, and Hindu nationalism in contemporary India.
Anthonia ishabiyi
university of cincinnati
Anthonia Omotola Ishabiyi is a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at the University of Cincinnati. Her research explores the intersection of race and religion, and how these social forces shape the experiences of African international students. She holds a master’s degree in Sociology from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, where she examined the religious lives of college students, focusing on how religion shapes students’ academic aspirations and belonging. She has worked and volunteered extensively in religious and educational institutions, facilitating engagement and promoting cultural diversity among minoritized communities. Anthonia is passionate about building communities of support for African international students and becoming an effective public voice for cross-racial dialogue and religious tolerance.
alexa mamoulides
religions for peace
Alexa Mamoulides (she/her) is a communications professional at Religions for Peace, a multireligious organization dedicated to peacebuilding. There, she writes content and creates campaigns to amplify interfaith efforts around the world promoting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). She holds a Master's in Religion from Harvard University Extension School. Her personal and academic research interests include American Evangelicalism’s impact on U.S. culture and politics, particularly focusing on LGBTQ rights and media. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with roots in the American South.
nikhil mandalaparthy
emory university
Nikhil Mandalaparthy is a researcher, organizer, and curator based in Atlanta. He is a PhD student in religious studies at Emory University, where his research explores the religious lives of queer Hindus, particularly in diasporic settings. Nikhil is a board member of Sadhana: Coalition of Progressive Hindus, and he also curates Voices of Bhakti, a digital archive of South Asian devotional poetry. As a journalist, he has reported on religion and politics in India, South Africa, and the United States. His writing has been published in Religion News Service, Foreign Policy, and Religion Unplugged, and he has been interviewed by the BBC World Service, Al Jazeera, and HuffPost. He received undergraduate and master’s degrees in public policy from the University of Chicago.
yaz mendez nunez
carolina federation
Yaz Mendez Nuñez (she/they) is a theologian, organizer, and narrative expert based in Durham, North Carolina. She is passionate about communicating ideas that inspire participation in democracy. They hold a Masters in Theological Studies from Duke Divinity School, and have spent over a decade honing and distributing the theological ideas of women and queer people of color in the U.S. South and Global South. Her research interests center on how communities think and act on eschatological ideas. Yaz is currently building fundraising infrastructure for the Carolina Federation, an independent political organization in North Carolina. They love animation, solarpunk art, and lounging with their wife and two cats.
faithful oluokun
Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies
Faithful Oluokun holds a BA and MA in History and Strategic Studies from the University of Lagos. She is currently a DAAD GSSP-funded doctoral researcher at the Bayreuth International Graduate School of African Studies (BIGSAS). Her research interests lie at the intersection of religion with gender, politics, mobilities, and development, with a particular interest in Christianity in and from Africa. Beyond academia, she is a trained brand and communications professional with experience working with global brands in Africa. She is passionate about African history and storytelling and is committed to finding creative ways to bring African stories and histories to wider audiences. Her work seeks to bridge academia and society by making research accessible, engaging, and relevant beyond the library and academic spaces.
pamela ayo yetunde
buddhist justice reporter
Pamela Ayo Yetunde, J.D., M.A., Th.D. is a law-educated pastoral counseling and spiritual care independent scholar. Ayo is a Community Dharma Leader and the chief editor and co-founder of Buddhist Justice Reporter. She is the author of Casting Indra's Net: Fostering Spiritual Kinship and Community (Shambhala Publications, 2023) and co-editor of Black and Buddhist: What Buddhism Can Teach Us About Race, Resilience, Transformation and Freedom (Shambhala Publications, 2020). Her most recent book is Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, & This Thing Called Life (Broadleaf Book, 2025). Ayo's website is www.pamelaayoyetunde.com.
PRESS RELEASE: Fall Semester 2026 Sacred Writes Public Scholarship Training Cohort Selected