Margarita Mooney Clayton

Margarita Mooney Clayton, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and a Research Fellow in Theology and the Arts at Blackfriars Hall, Oxford University. She earned a Bachelor’s in Psychology from Yale University and a Master’s and Ph.D. in Sociology from Princeton University. She taught in sociology programs at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Yale University, and Princeton University. Her book tentatively entitled Mary Comes to Me: Unexpected Encounters with the Mother of God will be published in 2026. Her other published books include Faith Makes Us Live: Surviving and Thriving in the Haitian Diaspora, The Love of Learning: Seven Dialogues on the Liberal Arts, and The Wounds of Beauty: Seven Dialogues on Art and Education. She has lectured on beauty, education, culture, and faith at Oxford University, the University of Notre Dame, Hillsdale College, The Consortium for Christian Studies Centers, The Acton Institute, and the Society for Catholic Liturgy. Her writing has appeared in Comment Magazine, America magazine, Real Clear Policy, Scientific American, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Hedgehog Review, Public Discourse, National Catholic Register and Church Life Journal. She has been cited by David Brooks in the New York Times about her work, and interviewed by Eric Metaxas, Ken Myers of Mars Hill Audio, and Tammy Peterson. In 2016, she founded the Scala Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to personal formation and the common good through creativity and beauty in education, the arts and liturgy.