About Erika

Whether writing poetry, sermons, or scholarly publications, my work centers Black narratives, bodies, and epistemologies through the fields of religion, technology, and ethnography in order to document, analyze, and engage sites of Black liberation. To this end I illuminate the impact and outcomes of religion and technology in Black life, especially at the intersection of social networks and religious life among Black young adults. Moreover, I provide innovative approaches to and apply digital tools to the documentation of Black religion. In sum, cultural criticism, Black imaginaries, and freedom animate my research and justice work. 

Speaker's Bio

Erika D. Gault is the Director of the Center for the Study of African American Religious Life and the Lilly Endowment Curator of African American Religious History at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. In this capacity, she provides a broad range of administrative, collections, and programmatic leadership to the Center. She also serves as an affiliated Associate Professor of Africana Studies at the University of Arizona. 

Dr. Gault is one of the foremost scholars of Digital Black Religion.  Dr. Gault holds a Ph.D. in American Studies from the State University of New York at Buffalo (2013), a Master of Religion from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School (2006), and Bachelor of Art (Poli/Sci and African American Studies) from New York University (2004). She also led programming and grants administration for the Library of Congress newly created Connecting Communities Digital Initiative. More recently she served as a 2022-2023 Research Fellow in the American Studies Department at George Washington University. 

Dr. Gault's research focuses on the intersection of religious history, technology, and Black life for which she has presented nationally and internationally and published several articles on hip hop, religion, and digital ethnography. Dr. Gault is the author of the digital publication Connected Faith Survey Report: How Digital Technology is Shaping Religious Beliefs and Practices (2024), the single author volume Networking the Black Church: Digital Black Christians and Hip Hop (NYU 2022), and the co-edited volume Beyond Christian Hip Hop: A Move Towards Christians and Hip Hop. Dr. Gault has written for and her work has been covered in several news outlets including ESSENCE Magazine, USA Today, Christianity Today, and Religion News. She is also an award-winning slam poet. She makes her home just outside of the nation's capitol with her husband and daughter.