Emma DeVries
About Emma
Emma DeVries is a PhD student in Geography at the University of Minnesota. She is interested in the way theology and religious institutions have shaped modern configurations of race, colonialism, and human-environment relationships. Drawing on political theology, black feminist thought, and political ecology, Emma’s work explores the way these processes play out in contemporary climate politics, attending to religion as a space of contestation and intervention into these systems. She collaborates on this work with with Soil & Souls, an interfaith initiative which draws on Afro-diasporic and indigenous land-based spirituality to anchor climate activism in faith communities of color in the U.S. south. They work to build climate resiliency, food sovereignty, and economic security through permaculture sensibilities.
Prior to returning to graduate school, Emma worked as a community organizer for immigration justice in Brooklyn, NY, as well as for varied faith-based climate campaigns. She holds a Masters in Theological Studies from Duke University Divinity School and a BA in Geography, Environmental Studies, and Spanish from Calvin College.