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Dr. Keri L. Day, Elmer G. Homrighausen Professor of Constructive Theology and African American Religion has been appointed the Extraordinary Professor of Theology (in the Department of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology) at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Her three-year term, which is reserved for scholars whose academic expertise has been recognized internationally, started earlier this summer in June.
The appointment is a result of Dr. Day’s efforts throughout the years, which include delivering lectures on Afro-Pentecostalism, Black feminist/womanist theologies, and Black religion at numerous institutions worldwide.The Yale Divinity School graduate completed lectureships at both Heidelberg University in Germany and King’s College London in England and is slated to deliver another this Fall at the University of Bonn in Germany. But it was Dr. Day’s invitation to deliver the DeVilliers Lectureship, one of the most distinguished of its kind, that truly laid the foundation for this opportunity.
“In 2023, Dr. Day gave a lecture series at our university that was very well-received,” says Robert Vosloo Stellenbosch professor and chair of the Discipline Group of Systematic Theology and Ecclesiology. “Her commitment to this task, as well as her openness to engage with the students, the teaching faculty, our church partners, and lay persons interested in theology, signaled to us that for her theology matters.”
Following her lectures last summer, Dr. Day was nominated to a committee at Stellenbosch University and was recently notified of her appointment as an Extraordinary Professor. For Dr. Day, who came to Princeton Theological Seminary after serving at Brite Divinity School for nearly a decade, this opportunity to engage theology faculty and students at Stellenbosch University affirms her own commitment to African diasporic ways of thinking and doing theology and religion.
“It’s affirming because so much of the work that I’m doing is deeply committed to African diasporic questions of justice,” she says. “So, on a personal level, being able to intellectually engage a university on the African continent was really important to me.”
Another crucial aspect for Dr. Day is that Stellenbosch’s theology faculty is in the midst of cultivating greater diversity, she says. Her presence speaks to the African diasporic diversity and scholars alike who bring forth questions of structural racism and global capitalism that have contributed to the afterlife and legacy of systems like apartheid, which Stellenbosch shaped ideologically.
“It was also an affirmation of scholars like me who are committed to questions of justice that they’re being invited to Stellenbosch, which itself is actively starting to think more about questions of their own political and economic history,” she says.
Dr. Day’s appointment is honorary and Stellenbosch University invites those appointed to engage in the programs at their institution. Though it’s not a requirement, she plans to actively engage faculty and students in South Africa through virtual conversations and in-person visits. There’s also the possibility of Dr. Day delivering her own work through lectures.
Dr. Day is anticipating sharing her work but more importantly, caring about the work of others, the intellectual community, and hearing from students that are at the master’s, PhD, and post-graduate levels, especially Black students who, historically, were underrepresented at Stellenbosch University underneath the old apartheid regime, she says.
“I’m looking forward to hearing more about the Black communities in South Africa and what their work is at Stellenbosch,” Dr. Day notes. “They bring unique concerns and questions based on what many of them have lived through.”
Princeton Seminary has had a long-standing informal relationship with the theology faculty at Stellenbosch. For instance, Dirk Smit, Rimmer and Ruth de Vries, Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Seminary, taught at Stellenbosch for decades. Also, Dr. Afeosemime “Afe” Adogame, the Maxwell M. Upson Professor of Christianity and Society, previously served as Extraordinary Professor at Stellenbosch University.
“We are excited about the possibility that [Day’s] appointment will strengthen research networks and institutional partnerships and projects,” Vosloo says. Dr. Day agrees, hoping to leverage this opportunity to cultivate further exchanges between Stellenbosch and Princeton Seminary, so that “there can be greater conversation between both institutions, faculty and students.”
