John T. Grayson

Professor of Religion on the Alumnae Foundation

Specialization
Philosophy of religion; Frederick Douglass; New Testament studies

John Grayson's current scholarly project is an intellectual biography on the women who shaped the mind of Frederick Douglass.

As a Senior Fulbright Fellow to Germany and an American Cultural Specialist for the United States Information Service, Grayson has lectured throughout western Europe and Africa. He has also been a Ford Fellow and a Danforth Associate.

Grayson has been faculty lecturer for two Mount Holyoke alumnae trips abroad. In 1990, he presented "On the Passion Play: Christian Theology and German Culture in the Seventeenth Century" as alumnae traveled through Germany, Switzerland, and Austria on their way to Oberammergau. He also lectured on "Comparative Religious Myths" for the Tapestry of Ancient Cultures Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea Alumnae Association cruise in 1997.

During the 1997–1998 academic year, Grayson, an ordained minister, served as Mount Holyoke's interim dean of religious life.

Grayson teaches Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion, On Human Freedom, Creation and Evolution, and Spirituals and the Blues. Before coming to Mount Holyoke, Grayson taught at Haverford, Marlboro, Smith, and Hampshire Colleges.

"Professor John Grayson Named Interim Dean of the Chapel," College Street Journal, April 11, 1997

"Interim Dean of Chapel Aims to Combine Tradition and Innovation," College Street Journal, April 11, 1997