Writer Bios

We couldn't offer The Well to our readers without the generous contributions of our writers. Read through their bios to learn from their stories and click through for links to the articles they have written. If you are interested in writing for The Well, explore our Writer's Guidelines.

 

Elizabeth Corey is an Associate Professor of Political Science in the Honors College at Baylor University. At Baylor she teaches courses in Constitutional law, Great books, and political philosophy. She is the mother of two children and is expecting a third in April of 2014.

Christy Moran Craft is an Associate Professor of Student Affairs in the College of Education at Kansas State University. Her research is focused on issues related to religion and spirituality in higher education, including the experiences of evangelical Christians in secular higher education.

 

Chandra Crane (BS Education, MA Ministry) is a Multiethnic Initiatives Resource Specialist with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and a member of the multiethnic Redeemer Church in Jackson, Mississippi. Growing up in a multiethnic/multicultural family in the Southwest and now happily transplanted to the Deep South, Chandra is passionate about diversity and family.

She is a Regular Contributor for Dordt University’s In All Things and has written for The Witness: A Black Christian Collective and InterVarsity’s The Well. Chandra is the author of Mixed Blessing: Embracing the Fullness of Your Multiethnic Identity from InterVarsity Press.

She is married to Kennan, a civil engineer, and they have two spunky daughters. Chandra is a fan of hot tea, crossword puzzles, Converse shoes, and science fiction. She thoroughly enjoys reading, napping, and defying stereotypes.

Emily serves as a campus minister to Grad students and faculty at Colorado University - Boulder through InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. She recently became an ordained pastor in ECO, continuing to serve students. She lives with her husband Jon and son Owen in Erie, Colorado.

Catherine Hirshfeld Crouch is Associate Professor of Physics at Swarthmore College, where she has taught since 2003 and was awarded tenure in 2009. Dr. Crouch has extensive expertise in both the optical properties of nanoscale materials and pedagogical best practices for college and university science. She earned her PhD. at Harvard University and continued at Harvard as a postdoctoral fellow with Eric Mazur until beginning her position at Swarthmore. She has published more than thirty peer-reviewed research articles and regularly involves Swarthmore undergraduate students in her work. She has also spoken and written about the intersection of faith and science in a number of settings including the Q conference and InterVarsity’s Following Christ conference for graduate and professional students. She is married to Andy Crouch and together they are raising their children Timothy and Amy. 

Andy Crouch (MDiv) is the award-winning author of Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing. He is the executive director of Christianity Today. Andy is married to Catherine Crouch, an associate professor in the Department of Physics at Swarthmore College and a contributor to The Biologus Forum. They have two children.

Miranda Zapor Cruz is professor of historical theology at Indiana Wesleyan University. She holds a PhD in religion, politics, and society from Baylor University's J. M. Dawson Institute of Church-State Studies and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary.

Dr. Cymbeline T. (Bem) Culiat is a scientist, teacher, and entrepreneur. Bem earned degrees in cell biology and genetics from the University of the Philippines at Los Baños and received a doctorate in biomedical sciences from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory–University of Tennessee. Her postdoctoral work involved identifying the functions of genes sequenced in the Human Genome Project, where she discovered the role of a novel signaling protein in tissue formation during early development and in the healing of tissues after severe injuries or disease. Bem has taught at the university level and cofounded two biotechnology start-up companies. She has a passion for bringing the world of science to people of faith. Dr. Culiat lives with her husband, Julio, and their son, Caleb, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Bem’s book, Designed to Heal, which was co-authored by Dr. Jennie A. McLaurin, released from Tyndale Momentum in August 2021.

Julie M. Dahl is a wife and mother of two wonderful boys. She directs the Spanish Language Program for the Division of Continuing Studies at University of Wisconsin-Madison and has a passion for all things related to Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking cultures.

Emily A. Dause received her B.S. in Elementary Education from Messiah College and her M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum from Penn State University.  She is a public school teacher and a freelance writer. Her writing appears in PRISM Magazine, Teaching Children Mathematics, and her blog, sliversofhope.com. You can also follow her at Facebook or on Twitter.

Ellen F. Davis is Amos Ragan Kearns Distinguished Professor of Bible and Practical Theology at Duke Divinity School. The author of eleven books and many articles, her research interests focus on how biblical interpretation bears on the life of faith communities and their response to urgent public issues, particularly the ecological crisis and interfaith relations. A lay Episcopalian, she has long been active as a theological consultant within the Anglican Communion. Her current work explores the arts as modes of scriptural interpretation. 

 

Dr. Lisa Deam writes and speaks on spiritual formation through the lens of history. She has a PhD in late medieval art history from the University of Chicago and is the author of A World Transformed: Exploring the Spirituality of Medieval Maps.

Vicki Dearing graduated from Auburn University in 1987, and from Cumberland School of Law of Samford University in 1991. Presently, she is a part-time professor at Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida. She has been married for 17 years and has two children. She is active in her church in various ministries, sits on the board of directors of Quigley House (a domestic violence shelter), and enjoys other community-related activities.

Joyce del Rosario previously served as Assistant Professor, Practice of Ministry at Pacific School of Religion. She now serves in an administrative role as the director of Multi Ethnic Programs at Seattle Pacific University, serving BIPOC and first generation college students. She also teaches at Northwest Nazarene University and Fuller Theological Seminary. On the days she's not grading something, she enjoys spending time with family and friends all along the West Coast.

 

Rachael Denhollander is an attorney, advocate, and educator who became known internationally as the first woman to file a police report and speak publicly against USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar, one of the most prolific sexual abusers in recorded history. As a result of her activism, over 250 women came forward as survivors of Nassar’s abuse, leading to his life imprisonment. Additionally, her courageous tenacity and ongoing advocacy helped trigger a complete upheaval at both USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University where former executives and high-ranking officials face numerous criminal charges for their complicity in covering up Nassar’s abuse and lying about what they knew.

For her work as an advocate and educator on sexual assault, Rachael was named one of TIME Magazine’s “100 Most Influential People in the World” and one of Glamour Magazine’s “Women of the Year” in 2018. Additionally, she received the “Inspiration of the Year” award from Sports Illustrated, was a joint recipient of ESPN’s “Arthur Ashe Courage Award,” and was named a “Michiganian of the Year” by the Detroit News . She is the recipient of numerous other awards and recommendations, including the “CHILD Protector Award” from CHILD USA, the “Integrity and Impact Award” from Dow Jones Sports Intelligence, and HeartAmbassador’s “Lifetime Achievement Award for Contributing to Social Justice.”

Rachael holds a Juris Doctorate from Oak Brook College of Law and possesses an honorary doctorate from the American University of Paris. She, along with her husband Jacob, lives in Louisville, Kentucky with their four young children.

Kate Denson is a proud DC transplant married to a native Washingtonian. She's lived in Washington DC and been on staff with InterVarsity since 2007 serving primarily as the DC Urban Programs Director with some time as campus staff at both Georgetown and George Washington Universities. Kate graduated from the College of William and Mary with a BA in sociology in 2007 and received her MA in theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in 2016.

Kate has developed a robust "side hustle" as a tour guide, now focusing mostly on justice oriented tours through her small organization called DC Justice Tours. She's been married to JR Denson since 2013 and they have one son Alexander Douglass Denson named for a few DC greats — Alexander Crummell and Frederick Douglass.

 

Bette Dickinson is a prophetic artist, writer, and speaker who invites audiences to connect with God through visual parables of the spiritual journey. Through creative communication, she helps her audience awaken to the beauty of God and His Kingdom and see more clearly the eternal realm in the heart and in the world. Through her work, Dickinson helps her audience connect the inner life of spiritual formation with the outer life of mission.

Bette earned her Masters of Divinity with an emphasis in Pastoral Studies, is ordained in the Reformed Church in America, and serves with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship in Spiritual Formation.

 

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