Brief Biography

A native of Washington, DC, Kimberly Rae Connor attended Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania where she received a B.A. in English in 1979. In 1981 she earned an M.A. in Literature and Theology at the University of Bristol, England, and completed her graduate studies at the University of Virginia, receiving a Ph.D. in Religion and Literature in 1991. Connor has taught various courses in religion and literature in a variety of settings, including an independent high school, a community college, a state university, and a liberal arts college.

Connor's academic interests focus on African American religious life and cultural production. She has published two books on African American culture, Conversion and Visions in the Writings of African American Women and Imagining Grace: Liberating Theologies in the Slave Narrative Tradition that was selected by Choice as an outstanding academic title for 2000. Connor has received grants for her work from The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, The National Endowment for the Humanities, and The Lilly and Luce Foundations. In addition to her books she has published over two dozen articles, reviews, and encyclopedia entries on topics related to African American religion and literature and multicultural pedagogy. Connor is also editor for the Academy Series, a joint publishing venture of the American Academy of Religion and Oxford University Press.