NICHOLAS GRIER
Nicholas Grier is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and serves as Assistant Professor of Practical Theology, Spiritual Care, & Counseling at Claremont School of Theology.
His forthcoming book, Hope to Keep Going: Caring for the Mental Health of Black Men, is scheduled for release in 2019 and will be part of Lexington Press’ race and religion series edited by Anthony Pinn and Monica Miller.
Dr. Grier is the founder of Coloring Mental Health Collective (CMHC), LLC, a community organizing team advocating and organizing for the mental health of Black and Brown people. CMHC uses innovation and creativity to foster safe and transformative spaces for communities to dialogue, imagine and re-imagine, and create a new future for Black and Brown people to more fully embody healing, freedom, and life-giving relationships.
He holds a Bachelor of Music in music education from the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University. He also earned a Master of Divinity and Ph.D. in Pastoral Theology, Personality, and Culture (clinical track) from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary on the campus of Northwestern University. During his Ph.D. studies, he completed clinical training in psychotherapy at the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy of Chicago.
In his downtime, Dr. Grier enjoys sports, jazz & neo-soul music, spending time in nature, and connecting with friends & family.
DEREK HICKS
Derek Hicks serves as Associate Professor of Religion at Wake Forest University, School of Divinity, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Dr. Hicks teaches and researches African American religion, religion in North America, race, the body, religion and foodways, theory and method in the study of religion, Black and Womanist theologies, and cultural studies. Currently he is working on a book titled Feeding Flesh and Spirit: Religion, Food, and the Saga of Race in Black America, and serves as co-chair of the Religion and Food Group at the American Academy of Religion.
Other publications of Dr. Hicks include: Reclaiming Spirit in the Black Faith Tradition (Palgrave Macmillan, 2012); African American Religious Cultures (ABC-CLIO Press); Blacks and Whites in Christian America: How Racial Discrimination Shapes Religious Convictions (New York University Press, 2012) and Religion, Food, and Eating in North America (Columbia University Press, 2014).
In support of his scholarship, Dr. Hicks has been awarded fellowships and grants from the Ford Foundation, the Fund for Theological Education, the Louisville Institute, the Henry Luce Foundation, and the Wabash Center. In 2017, he was awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Building the Dream Award. This is a joint honor given by Wake Forest University and Winston Salem States University recognizing justice work done on campus and in the community. Most recently he was awarded the Louisville Institute Sabbatical Grant for Researchers (2018-19).
Dr. Hicks received his BA from Grambling State University; an MA from Dallas Theological Seminary; and, his PhD from Rice University.