معرفی
Dr. Mel Webb (they/them) is a Teaching Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Classics at the University of Texas at San Antonio's College of Liberal and Fine Arts, serving as Program Director for The Philosophy & Literature Circle and Texas Education Justice Alliance-South (TEJA-S). With fifteen years of teaching experience across universities, seminaries, churches, and prisons, they are a queer theological social ethicist dedicated to transformative education and circle-based justice initiatives.
Academic credentials:
- Ph.D. in Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary (2016)
- Th.M. in Theology/Philosophy, Princeton Theological Seminary (2009)
- M.Div., Reformed Theological Seminary-Orlando (2007)
- B.A. in Philosophy and Religion, Covenant College (2004)
Research integrates theological ethics with queer/trans studies, early Christian history, and transformative prison education. Their work examines restorative justice frameworks through collaborative interdisciplinary lenses including cognitive psychology and social work, emphasizing how humanities foster civic engagement and collective healing in marginalized communities.
Major recognitions:
- SA Lights Award (2024)
- Richard S. Howe Teaching Award (2024)
- Public Humanities Fellowship (2021-2022)
- UTSA Community Engagement Award (2020)
As founder of The Philosophy & Literature Circle, they pioneered university-prison partnerships at Dominguez State Jail (2019) and Torres Unit (2020), now scaling impact through TEJA-S. Their program design centers ethical community-building where truth-telling and mutual accountability enable transformative learning across societal divides.
Current initiatives bridge higher education institutions across South-Central Texas to deliver humanities-based curricula inside prisons and during reentry, cultivating liberatory futures through collaborative arts and philosophical practice.
