The Rev. Joseph Thompson, Ph.D. ’18

The Rev. Joseph Thompson, Ph.D. serves as Seminary Librarian at Virginia Theological Seminary and The General Theological Seminary and teaches Practical Theology at VTS. His areas of expertise include the roles of race, justice, and intercultural competency in Christian formation as well as in the administration of theological libraries and archives. Additionally, he studies the theological foundations of reparations.

Dr. Thompson holds an H.B.A. from the University of Delaware and an M.A. from Virginia Theological Seminary. He earned Doctor of Philosophy, Master of Philosophy, and Master of Arts degrees in African American Studies and English at Yale University. [No changes to this paragraph]

Dr. Thompson was formerly archivist for the African American Episcopal Historical Collection at VTS. Later, he was the head of Multicultural Ministries and led the design of VTS’s reparations program, which he directed for several years. He has served higher education institutions in various roles throughout the past 25 years.

“I am drawn to African American Studies because I love African American history and literature.  This field has allowed me to study society, past and present, through a lens that values African American perspectives, as well as the perspectives of other BIPOC communities. At the same time, I am deeply motivated to understand racial formation in the United States of America. Just how was it that this country came to have such hardened systems of racialized and racist thought, policy, and behavior?

My interdisciplinary field has allowed me to wrestle with this and similar questions by exploring the stories of the African American ancestors in particular. I now have the privilege to examine how Christian theology and spirituality are interwoven with race and ethnicity.”

The Rev. Joseph Thompson, Ph.D. ’18