Assistant Professor of Religion and Education, Full-time Core Faculty
M.Div., Starr King School for the Ministry
Ph. D., Graduate Theological Union
Curriculum Vitae of the Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme
Rev. Dr. Sheri Prud’homme holds a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary studies in history and theology from the Graduate Theological Union. Her dissertation focused on 19th century Unitarian minister Thomas Starr King’s use of Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada as sacred texts, asking what his ecotheology might contribute to contemporary ecotheologies as well as offering needed correctives to his imperialist project. She was ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister in 2001 and has served as a minister of religious education in the Unitarian Universalist churches of Oakland, Davis, and Berkeley as well as the Pacific Central District. She also served as the administrator of InterPlay and Bodywisdom, Inc, an arts-based nonprofit organization and for nine years was the owner and director of a preschool in Berkeley. She is the co-creator of Chalice Camp, a Unitarian Universalist summer day camp that has been running for over 18 years in the Bay Area and replicated in sites across the country.
As a professor, Dr. Prud’homme affirms the capacity of education to transform lives, communities, societies. She brings a commitment to fostering a connected, collaborative, enlivened learning community with an expectation that all participants will be teachers as well as learners. In her instruction, she values the lived experience of her students and aims to use multiple modalities to respect their diverse intelligences.
Dr. Prud’homme lives on unceded Ohlone land in South Berkeley with her two teens. She is of French, German, and English heritage. Her feminist awakening and coming out as a lesbian during college were followed by learning about white privilege and systemic racism from community activists when she moved to the Bay Area of California in 1993. She has worked to dismantle oppressions – internally and systemically – and educated to counter oppressions and create just and sustainable communities ever since. Her other efforts as an activist have focused on environmental justice and working to save the West Berkeley Shellmound from commercial development following the vision of local Ohlone leaders to restore it as a sacred site. She is very grateful to the taxpayers in Berkeley for supporting the public schools. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, kayaking, and gardening.
