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.
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.
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.
Hannah Johnson
Media Specialist
Hannah Johnson is a Master of Divinity student at Duke Divinity School from Frisco, TX. Her academic focus lies at the intersection of theology and the arts, with a keen interest in contemporary arts and culture. Hannah holds an undergraduate degree in interdisciplinary studies from Abilene Christian University, where she concentrated on literature, art history, theology, and graphic design. Professionally, Hannah has worked as an art director specializing in branding, campaign design, and photography.
Fellows
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.
Cordelia Williams
McDonald Agape Fellow in Theology and Music
Williams is a London-based concert pianist who is particularly known for her remarkable understanding of the music of Schubert and Schumann. She has performed all over the world, including concertos with the English Chamber Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as recitals at Wigmore Hall, Royal Festival Hall, and Beijing Concert Hall. She also broadcasts regularly for BBC Radio 3. Alongside her performing career, she gained a First in Theology from Clare College, Cambridge, and in collaboration with poet Michael Symmons Roberts, former archbishop Rowan Williams, and artist Sophie Hacker, she created the year-long project Between Heaven and the Clouds: Messiaen 2015, a series of events and performances exploring the music and context of Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus. She has released five studio albums, including Nightlight in 2021 and Cascade in 2023. She is a former Piano Winner of BBC Young Musician of the Year, and her first book, The Happy Music Play Book, received Book of the Year 2021 at the Presto Music Awards.
Funding for this fellowship was generously provided by the McDonald Agape Foundation.