Faculty/Staff Directory

David Evans

POSITION: Professor of History & Intercultural Studies; Associate Dean - Seminary

DEPARTMENT: Seminary

LOCATION: Main Campus, Harrisonburg | SB 228

PHONE: (540) 432-4265

David Evans is Associate Professor of history and intercultural studies and Associate Dean at Eastern Mennonite Seminary. Dr. Evans is the author of , an unflinching history of white-led efforts at interracial organizing gone astray. His teaching and research focus on the braided identity categories of race, religion, and nation.

In concert with his teaching and scholarship, David practices a local “eco-lutionary” lifestyle that promotes a sustainable future for the diverse people of the Shenandoah Valley Watershed. Dr. Evans has worked in a variety of social service environments: While living in Washington, DC, Dr. Evans was the Junior/Senior High Director of an out-of-school time program on Capitol Hill. Later he served as Community Development Resource coordinator with MCC East Coast.

Education

BA, Spring Arbor College (Christian Ministries)
MTS, Wesley Theological Seminary (History of Christianity)
MPHIL, Drew University (Historical Studies)
PHD, Drew University Graduate Division of Religion (Historical Studies)

Publications
Damned Whiteness: How White Christian Allies Failed the Black Freedom Movement. University of North Carolina Press, 2025. https://uncpress.org/9781469691473/damned-whiteness/

“Only the Right Questions Have Answers.” Christianity Today. August 28, 2020. https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2020/august-web-only/only-right-questions-have-answers.html
“Trading Manpower for the Power of Love,” Peaceful at Heart: Embracing Healthy Masculinity. ed. Don Neufeld and Steve Thomas. Eugene, Oregon : Resource Publications.
Between the World of Coates and Christianity. ed. David Evans and Peter Dula. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock
“The American Nightmare and the Gospel of Plunder.” in Between the World of Coates and Christianity ed. David Evans and Peter Dula. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock,
"A Principled Pedagogy for Religious Educators.” Religious Education 112, no. 1 (2017): 7-18.
“Let Them Listen: White Christians Need to Make an Investment in Learning about Racism.” Bearings Online. September 7, 2017
“Tearing Down Racism: Why Confederate History Should be Remembered but Never Revered.” Bearings Online. June 28, 2017
“Clap In or Clap Back? Solidarity as Spiritual Discipline for the New Civil Rights Movement.” Bearings Online. April 20, 2017
"To Rid the Italian Soul of One Dark Blot: Recognising Race in White Christian Religion.” Journal of Religious History 39, no. 3 (2015): 370-385.
“The Racial Context of Christian Churches in the United States.” Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil ed. James Ellis Macon, Georgia: Smith & Helwys, 2015.
“Precious Blackness and the Politics of Distraction.” Bearings Online. August 28, 2014,
“Who Are You?: A review of Searching for Zion: The Quest for Home in the African Diaspora,” The Revealer. Apr 30, 2013.
“Book Review: The Accidental Slave Owner” Methodist History, Methodist History, 51:1 & 2 (October 2012 & January 2013): 173-75.
“A Moratorium on Missions?” The Mennonite (Online). May 31, 2013 accessed September 22, 2013
“Regenerating the Italian Race: The Italian Mission and the Americanization of Italian History.” Methodist History 49, no. 3 (April 2011): 132-46.
Scholarly Presentations and Abstracts
"Damned Whiteness and the Diseased Imagination." Massanutten Presbyterian Church, Penn Laird, VA, June 7, 2025.

"Damned Whiteness: How White Christian Allies Failed the Black Freedom Movement." University of Mary Washington, February 19, 2025.

“Power to the People: The Power of Black Coalition Building.” Minority Ministries Council Conference. Goshen, IN. March 31, 2017.

“Rebirth of a White Nation.” School for Leadership Training. Eastern Mennonite Seminary, January 17-18, 2017.

“Cultural Mapping.” Campus Advisor Training. ��ݮ��, August, 2017.

“Reflections on Searching for Zion” ��ݮ��, January 26, 2016.

“The Future of Christianity in America: Fresh Voices.” January 13-15, 2015. Virginia Conference of the UMC, Convocation. Blackstone, VA.

“Crisis in White Leadership” Honors History, ��ݮ��, November 11, 2015.

“Empathy and the White Mind.” Trauma Healing Course, EMU Center for Justice and Peacebuilding, September 24, 2015.

“Finding Christ in a ‘Colorblind Society.’” Ethics in the way of Jesus Course, ��ݮ��, October 22, 2014.

Session Chair/Commentator, “An Individuals Impact: Ideas, Inventions, Identities” Eastern American Studies Association, ��ݮ�� March 23, 2013
Church, Community and Professional Service
“Spiritual Responses to Racial Justice.” ARISE Campus Ministry. January 26, 2021

“Real Talk.” Rise Facebook Live. February 4, 2021

“Farming for Fellowship.” Wingate University: Liceum. October 26, 2020.

“Modeling Minorities.” School for Leadership Training. Eastern Mennonite Seminary. January 16, 2019.

“Whose Agriculture is it, Anyway?” Doing Religion and Ecology in the Bible Belt: How the Cross Pollination of Religion and Ecology in a Socioeconomically Disadvantaged, Rural Town in North Carolina is Bearing Much Fruit, American Academy of Religion. Denver, CO. November 25, 2018.

“Power to the People: The Power of Black Coalition Building.” Minority Ministries Council Conference. Goshen, IN. March 31, 2017.

“Rebirth of a White Nation.” School for Leadership Training. Eastern Mennonite Seminary, January 17-18, 2017.

“Cultural Mapping.” Campus Advisor Training. ��ݮ��, August, 2017.

“Reflections on Searching for Zion” ��ݮ��, January 26, 2016.

“The Future of Christianity in America: Fresh Voices.” January 13-15, 2015. Virginia Conference of the UMC, Convocation. Blackstone, VA.

“University Sunday: A License to Live.” April 27, 2014. John Wesley United Methodist Church, Harrisonburg, VA.

“A Domesticated King.” January 20, 2014. ��ݮ�� Chapel.

“Suspicions of a Black Man.” November 22, 2013. ��ݮ�� Chapel.

“A Neighborhood Watch for Trayvon.” October 8, 2013. Eastern Mennonite Seminary Chapel.

“An Immigrant Mission.” July 7, 2013. Parkview Mennonite Church. Harrisonburg, VA

“A Certain Sound: Spiritual Songs and the Civil Rights Movement.” February 17, 2012. Virginia Mennonite Retirement Center, Harrisonburg, VA.

“The People in Your Neighborhood” February 10, 2012, Manor Memorial UMC, New Market, VA.

“Generation Fusion” September 30, 2012, Culpeper UMC, Culpeper, VA.

“Dealing with Diversity” October 28, 2012, Immanuel Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, VA.
New Courses Taught
Power, Systems, and Justice

African American Literature

Faith-Based Social Transformations

Critical Questions in Antiracism
EMU Service
Faculty Scholarship Committee, 2020-21

Seminary Admissions Committee, 2019-2021

Seminary Community Concerns, 2017-19

Creation Care Committee, 2017-19

Seminary Admissions Committee, 2016-17

Seminary Cares Committee, 2016-17

Strategic Planning Task Force, 2015-16

President’s Cabinet Faculty Rep, 2015-16

Faculty Senate Vice President, 2015-16

Faculty Senate, 2014-16

Intellectual Life Committee, 2014-16

EMU Strategic Plan Task Force, 2014

Climate Action Plan Committee, 2014

2014 C. Henry Smith Oratorical Contest judge.

Christian Formation Faculty Search Committee, 2013-14

Martin Luther King Planning Committee, 2013-14

Seminary Admissions Committee, 2013-14

Seminary Academic Committee, 2013-14

Master of Arts in Counseling 3-year Faculty Review Committee Fall 2013

Old Testament/Hebrew Faculty Search Committee, Spring 2012-Fall 2013

Seminary Community Council, Faculty Representative, Spring 2013

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