Dr. Emily Askew
A.B., Smith College, 1983
M.A., University of Northern Iowa, 1991
Ph.D., Vanderbilt University, 2004
Dr. Askew is a native Midwesterner but has lived in the north, south, east and west of the US, as well as Germany. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Smith College in 1983, graduating cum laude. She received the Master of Arts degree from the University of Northern Iowa in 1991 with a specialty in Mental Health Counseling. After working as a mental health professional for several years, Dr. Askew was captivated by the theological dimensions of the human experience and returned to school, receiving her Ph.D. in theology from Vanderbilt University in 2004. As a Fulbright scholar, in the summer of 2006, she studied the challenges of Muslim immigration in France and Germany.
A member of the LGBTQI community, Dr. Askew has co-authored, with Dr. O. Wesley Allen, Beyond Heterosexism in the Pulpit (Wipf & Stock, 2014) a tool for preachers to learn to be more inclusive of LGBTQI people in preaching and teaching in the church. She also writes on issues of immigration: “Notes Toward a Theology of Cross/ing” (Interpretation, April 2018). Her courses include an immersion experience on the US/Mexico border in Tucson/Sonora, a course on theology and domestic violence, African American and Womanist Theologies and an upcoming course on Queer Theology. Dr. Askew was the founding member of the LTS Green Task Force, a group of seminary faculty, staff and students committed to creating more environmentally just practices in the seminary and the church (see https://www.lextheo.edu/lts-green-task-force/)
A theme that features prominently in Dr. Askew’s work is the ways in which theology informs and is informed by, other disciplines. Her dissertation, “Toward a Just Landscape: The Possibilities of Theology and Place Studies” takes seriously the ways cultural geography contributes to our notions about the nature of God. Her current research and writing projects put theology in conversation with such fields as economics, gender studies, environmental studies and politics. She routinely teaches courses that explore the theological warrants supporting positions on immigration, the environment and sexuality.
Dr. Askew taught at Lexington Theological Seminary for 16 years. Before Lexington she taught at Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin and served as an instructor at Vanderbilt Divinity School in Nashville, Tennessee. She has been a regular instructor in Adult Education at a variety of churches and faith groups around southeastern Wisconsin and has been an active member of Taize worship communities.
Emily Askew recently retired from 16 years of teaching theology at Lexington Theological Seminary. She has been interested in topics such as Queer theology, theology and domestic violence, theology and disabilities and issues around theology and immigration. She is in the first year of training with Wisdom Tree Collective to become a certified Spiritual Director. She lives with her spouse of 28 years, Viki Matson.
