Nichole R. Phillips

Rev. Dr. Nichole R. Phillips is an Associate Professor in the Practice of Religion and Society at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology, and Director of the Black Church Studies Program. She concurrently serves as associate faculty in Emory College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Sociology and as a senior faculty fellow at the Emory Center for Ethics. Her interdisciplinary work bridges sociology, theology, and critical race studies, focusing on religion’s role in American public life, community moral frameworks, and cultural memory. Phillips holds a PhD (2012), MA (2009) from Vanderbilt University, an MDiv (1999) from Harvard University, and a BA (1993) from Wellesley College.

Her research explores intersections of race, religion, and national identity, as seen in her award-winning monograph *Patriotism Black and White: The Color of American Exceptionalism* (Baylor, 2018). She investigates how Black and white evangelicals reinterpret U.S. exceptionalism in post-Obama America and the sociological dimensions of science-religion interactions. Phillips is also a public theologian engaging ethics, politics, and media, contributing to platforms like *The Atlantic* and *The Washington Post*.

Her accolades include Emory’s Provost’s Distinguished Teaching Award (2019) and leadership roles in organizations such as the American Sociological Association and the Council on Foreign Relations’ Religion and Foreign Policy Initiative. Phillips is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and has ministerial experience in New England and the American South.