Dean Elaine Heath has announced the appointment of Jan Holton as associate professor of the practice of pastoral theology and care at Duke Divinity School effective July 1, 2018.

Holton is an ordained elder in the Virginia Conference of the United Methodist Church. She holds a B.A. from Randolph Macon College, as well as an M.Div. from Union Presbyterian Seminary. She earned her Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in 2006. After serving on the faculty at Yale Divinity School from 2006 to 2015, Holton was appointed to extension ministry with Integrated Refugee and Immigrant Services (IRIS) in New Haven, Conn., in 2016, where she currently serves. Her particular interests include the psychodynamic implications of trauma and forced displacement, the intercultural dynamics within traditional pastoral care, and pastoral care to marginalized populations. Her latest book, Longing for Home, was published by Yale University Press in 2016.

"We are delighted to welcome Dr. Holton to Duke Divinity School," said Heath. "Dr. Holton’s years of experience in clinical and ministerial contexts combined with her research interests in healing from trauma will be enormously beneficial to our students who are preparing for pastoral ministry."