I am a cultural and historical anthropologist of religion, and I am especially interested in the many histories, cultural practices, and social effects of Christianity in the world. My work uses lenses from feminist theory and material religion to trace the interplay of gendered bodies, spaces, and words in particular social situations.

My first book, Mission Station Christianity: Norwegian Missionaries in Colonial Natal and Zululand, Southern Africa 1850-1890 (Brill, 2013), examines how place-making practices on and around new "mission stations" shaped understandings of Protestant Christianity, gender, and race in colonial Southern Africa. 

My second book, Life in Language: Mission Feminists and the Emergence of a New Protestant Subject is part of the series "Class 200: New Studies in Religion" (Chicago, 2025). It explores the often problematic connection between "women" and "words" in Christianity. I focus on a case study of the so-called "mission feminists" in early-twentieth-century Norway - a group of women who used new language practices (new ways of speaking, listening, reading, and writing) to advocate for women's greater status in Protestant organizations. Their linguistic experiments combined their words and their bodies in different material-discursive configurations. While scholars often argue that Protestantism drives toward dematerialization, aiming to separate language from materiality, the mission feminists show us the opposite: they give us a glimpse into the material-discursive multiplicity of Protestant modern subjects.

My current book project is a theoretical introduction to concepts from feminist new materialism and related conversations that can help us better understand the unusual, complicated relations that have developed between subjects and objects in Protestant Christianity, with the working title New Keywords for the Study of Protestantism.  

My publications are available at: ingiehovland.net/publications 

Dr. Jason Roberts joined the Department of Religion at the University of Georgia in 2014. He earned a B.A. in Religion from Ashland University (Ohio) in 2004, an M.A. in Systematic Theology from Marquette University (Wisconsin) in 2008, and his Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Marquette in 2013 with an emphasis in Theological Ethics.

With graduate degrees from a renowned Jesuit university, Dr. Roberts’s teaching and research interests focus broadly on Roman Catholic understandings of theology and ethics. Among Catholic thinkers the work of theologian Karl Rahner continues to be a main source of influence and inspiration. Beyond these more general topics, Dr. Roberts draws from thinkers in a number of Christian traditions to investigate the relationship between theology and the natural sciences, especially where this interaction concerns what it means to be human (Christian Anthropology) and the ethical implications thereof. Much of his research, including his doctoral dissertation, seeks to reformulate perennial Christian symbols of human self-identity (like the image of God and knowledge of good and bad/evil) in light of findings and theories in the evolutionary and cognitive sciences, as well as the works of biblical scholars and thinkers in the philosophy of science and the ongoing dialogues among the fields of science, theology, and ethics. With these interdisciplinary interests, Dr. Roberts also serves as affiliate faculty to the University of Georgia's Sustainability Certificate Program.

Dr. Jodie Lyon joined the Department of Religion at the University of Georgia in 2011. She earned an M.A. in Theological Studies in 2002 from Asbury Theological Seminary and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Southern Methodist University in 2010 with an emphasis in the field of Systematic Theology. Before coming to UGA, Dr. Lyon taught as an adjunct at Southern Methodist University and Methodist Theological School in Ohio. 

Recent publications of Dr. Lyon's include entries on "sin" and "work" in the Common English Bible: Women's Study Bible, a chapter entitled, "The Humble Place of Humility in Reinhold Niebuhr's Ethics" in Paradoxical Virtue: Reinhold Niebuhr and the Virtue Tradition, and a chapter on "eschatology" in The Oxford Handbook on Reinhold Niebuhr.

In addition to her work on Reinhold Niebuhr, Dr. Lyon’s teaching and research interests include understandings of sin in the Christian tradition, sexual ethics, feminist theology, the problem of evil in religion, and the relationship between human freedom and divine grace in Christian thought.

J. Derrick Lemons is Professor and Department Head of religion, the Religion Fellow for the Willson Center for Humanities and Arts, and the director of the Center for Theologically Engaged Anthropology. He represents the University of Georgia on the University System of Georgia's faculty council. He is Chair of the University of Georgia's University Council Executive Committee and the Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics. Also, he serves as an elected member to the University of Georgia Athletic Association Board. A recipient of three major John Templeton Foundation grants. He has received over $1 million dollars in research funding. Lemons was awarded the Albert Christ-Janer Creative Research Award and the University of Georgia Student Government Association Outstanding Professor Award. Dr. Lemons was the regionally elected coordinator (2019-2023) and president (2019-2020) for the AAR’s Southeast Region.

His research and teaching are guided by his interest in the intentional innovations of Christian pastors and the influence of theology in religion across time and space. Currently, he is writing a book about the theology that motivates President Trump’s Faith Advisory Board. His recent publications include Book Forum on Joel Robbins' Theology and the Anthropology of Christian Life (History and Anthropology 2022); The Room Where It Happened: How Evangelical Leaders Used a Closed-Door Meeting to Change Sentiment for Donald J. Trump (The Australian Journal of Anthropology 2022); Introduction: From Rupture to Repair (The Australian Journal of Anthropology 2022);  An Introduction to Theologically Engaged Anthropology (Ethnos 2021); and Theologically Engaged Anthropology (Oxford University Press 2018). 

He is currently accepting PhD and MA graduate students in the following areas: Anthropology of Christianity, Theologically Engaged Anthropology, and Evangelical Politics.

Email: dlemons@uga.edu

Phone: 706-206-1927