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Through research, teaching, and arts programming, DITA promotes and supports the vibrant interplay between Christian theology and the arts by encouraging transformative leadership and enriching theological discussion in the church, academy, and society.

Our Vision

DITA was established in 2009 at Duke Divinity School by its current director, Dr. Jeremy Begbie, a leading voice in the conversation between faith and the arts. Since then, DITA has established itself in three main areas: research, teaching, and art in action. Through these avenues, DITA exemplifies how the arts can be a powerful and necessary medium of theological truth.

Research

DITA engages in cutting-edge research in the field of theology and the arts in three key ways: by cultivating several major multi-disciplinary research initiatives in collaboration with institutions such as the University of Cambridge and Yale University; by developing working partnerships with top faculty around the world; and by supporting the next generation of scholarship through doctoral research grants, post-doctoral fellowships, and the theology and the arts research initiative. 

Teaching

DITA believes in forming future scholars and academics, and teaching the new generation of scholars is core to our mission. We provide graduate-level courses in theology and the arts for both masters and doctoral students as well as the co-curricular Certificate in Theology and the Arts and a theology and the arts concentration in Duke Divinity’s Doctor of Theology program.

Art in Action

DITA hosts numerous events throughout the year, including a bi-annual distinguished lecture series, an artist-in-residence program, and a public performance series. Most recently, DITA hosted a landmark concert comprised of a world-class orchestra. See more upcoming events.

Faculty

Jeremy Begbie
McDonald Agape Director of DITA; Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Research Professor of Theology

Jeremy Begbie is the inaugural Thomas A. Langford Distinguished Research Professor of Theology. He teaches systematic theology, and he specializes in the interface between theology and the arts. His particular research interests are in the interplay between music and theology. Professor Begbie spends the spring semester at Duke Divinity School and the fall at Cambridge. He is also a senior member at Wolfson College, Cambridge, and an affiliated lecturer in the faculty of music at the University of Cambridge.

See full biography and speaking engagements.

Daniel Train
Associate Director of DITA; Consulting Faculty

Daniel Train directs the Certificate in Theology and the Arts program at Duke Divinity, and teaches a range of courses at the intersection of theology and the arts, including “The Theological Imagination of Flannery O’Connor,” “Christianity and Literature,” and “Theology and Film.” He co-edited The Saint John’s Bible and Its Tradition: Illuminating Beauty in the Twenty-First Century and has published on figures as varied as the Venerable Bede, Ernest Hemingway, and Irish poet Eavan Boland. He is currently completing a manuscript entitled Naming Beauty: Flannery O’Connor and the Hermeneutics of Peace. He received his Ph.D. in English from Baylor University with a concentration in Religion and Literature.

Staff

Mary Lynn Myers
Program Coordinator

Mary Lynn Myers joined the DITA team in August 2022. She previously worked at Elite Editing, an Inc. 5000 company, for seven years. During her time at Elite, she served as a senior editor, project manager, and content specialist for a variety of corporate and publishing clients. She holds an M.F.A. from Seattle Pacific University in creative writing and a B.A. in English literature from Covenant College. She lives with her husband and three daughters in Durham.

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Sujatha Balasundaram
Media Assistant

Sujatha Balasundaram is a visual artist and creative consultant. She is the founder of artresponses.com, a platform that offers a wide variety of creative services to the public, the church, and schools. A native of India, she moved to the United States to attend Duke Divinity, where she found a home at DITA, the Asian House of Studies, and the New Creation Arts student body group. She received her M.T.S. from Duke Divinity School in 2023. Learn more about Balasundaram.

Fellows

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Rachel Yonan
McDonald Agape Fellow in Theology and Music

Rachel Yonan is the inaugural McDonald Agape Fellow in Theology and Music at DITA. She enjoys a diverse career as a chamber performer, artistic director, and educator. She has appeared as a viola soloist and chamber musician in concert halls across the United States, Europe, and Asia. Rachel founded and directs the Marinus Ensemble, a chamber music collective, and has also taught in the music department at Duke University. As a part of her fellowship, she is currently in residence as a Visiting Scholar at Jesus College, University of Cambridge, where she is researching and writing on the role of music in personal formation and flourishing. Rachel graduated from Rice University with a degree in viola performance and received her artist diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music where she held the H. F. and Marguerite Lenfest Fellowship.

Funding for this fellowship was generously provided by the McDonald Agape Foundation.