Stephanie Milton (she/her) is a PhD candidate specializing in American Religious Cultures with an emphasis on medical humanities within the Study of Religion at the University of California, Davis. She holds a graduate academic unit certificate in Family Caregiving from the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis Health. Her research interests include the confluence between religion, ethnicity, and bioethics, the impact of spiritual and moral harm, and grassroots organizations focusing on health equity. Using critical ethnographic methods, her dissertation research looks into the role that spirituality is said to play for African Diasporic Americans during medical consultations and how that affects both patients and caregivers.

Education and Degrees

• M.Div. Emory University, Candler School of Theology, Religion and Health
• M.A. Washington University in St. Louis, Political Science
• B.A. Spelman College, Political Science

Honors and Awards

• Catherine Coudert Gottesman Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, Winter 2025
• Dean’s Distinguished Graduate Fellowship, 2020-2022

Courses Taught

• RST 12: “Judaism, Islam and Christianity” University of California, Davis, Summer 2024
• RST 153: “Religion and Medicine,” Spring 2024
• AAS 165: “Afro-Christianity and the Black Church in America,” Fall 2022

Research Interests and Expertise

• Black Religions in the Americas
• Bioethics and Religion
• Public Health, Race and Religion
• Africana Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory
• Gender, Sexuality and Religion

Publications

• Howe, Rebecca; Kumar, Shreya; Slattery, Laura; Milton, Stephanie; Ogugu, Everlyne; Tonkykh, Orly; Bidwell, Julie; Bell, Janice; Amadi, Grace; Agnoli, Alicia. "Advance care planning readiness, barriers, and facilitators among seriously ill Black older adults and their surrogates: A mixed methods study." Palliative and Supportive Care 22 July 2024.
• Milton, Stephanie. Review of The Coming Race Wars, Expanded Edition: A Cry for Justice, from Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter, by William Pannell. Reading Religion. American Academy of Religion. February 2024. https://readingreligion.org/9780830831753/the-coming-race-wars-expanded-edition/

Membership and Service

• Graduate Student Representative, University of California Davis Study of Religion Program Committee, 2024-present
• Member, University of California Davis Black Graduate and Professional Student Association, 2020-present
• American Academy of Religion