Office of The Dean

About Dean Jennifer W. Davidson

Jennifer W. Davidson is the Dean, Vice President for Academic Affairs, and John Dillenberger Professor of Theology at the GTU. Dr. Davidson is also the Professor of Theology & Worship at Berkeley School of Theology (BST), where she has taught for the past 15 years, and a member of the Core Doctoral Faculty at the GTU. 

Dr. Davidson earned her PhD from the GTU in 2011 in Liturgical Studies with an expertise in Systematic and Philosophical Theology, an MDiv from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia (now United Lutheran Seminary), and a BA in English and Secondary Education from Eastern University. She is the author of River of Life, Feast of Grace: Baptism, Communion, and Discipleship (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2019). Her most recent work focuses on trauma-informed pedagogy and has been published in multiple academic journals.

"By keeping our mission (our “why”) front-and-center, I am confident that we will live into our vision at the GTU to become an ecosystem of creativity, connection, and community." 
–Dean Jennifer W. Davidson

Read the GTU Dean's Newsletter

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Select Publications

  • “Beyond Trigger Warnings: Toward a Trauma-Informed Andragogy for the Graduate Theological Classroom,” Teaching Theology & Religion, 24, no. 1 (March 2021): 243-256

  • River of Life, Feast of Grace: Baptism, Communion, and Discipleship (Valley Forge, PA: Judson Press, 2019)

  • “Contemporary Liturgical Resources,” in Sources of Light: Resources for Baptist Churches Practicing Theology, Perspectives on Baptist Identity Series, edited by Steven R. Harmon and Amy L. Chilton (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2019)

  • “I Hate, I Despise Your Festivals: A Praxis-Oriented Liturgical Spirituality,” in Trouble the Waters: A Christian Resource for the Work of Racial Justice, edited by Steven R. Harmon and Amy L. Chilton (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 2019)

  • “Solidarity of #BlackLivesMatter in Trump America: How a Constructive Theology Classroom Can Speak to Our World’s Need for Meaning and Connection,” Review & Expositor 114.3 (August 2017)

  • “Can Religious Ritual Play a Role in Protecting Society’s Sacrificial Victims? René Girard, Violence, and the Unprotected,” Tikkun, December 2015

  • “Creation’s Groans and Spirit’s Sighs: Cultivating Attentiveness to the Spirit through the Practice of Concerns and Celebrations,” American Baptist Quarterly, Summer 2014

Contact Dr. Jennifer W. Davidson:
Dean and Vice President for Academic Affairs
Graduate Theological Union
2400 Ridge Rd.
Berkeley, CA 94709
jdavidson@gtu.edu