When former President Jimmy Carter presides over the Human Rights Defenders Forum this summer, MTSO Interim Academic Dean Valerie Bridgeman will be at the table.
Bridgeman has accepted the Carter Center’s invitation to participate in the forum, titled “Restoring Faith in Freedom,” which takes place July 21-24 in Atlanta. She was selected to join fellow human rights activists from more than 30 countries – women peacemakers working to prevent and recover from violent conflict, representatives of international NGOs that support human rights activists, religious leaders resisting repressive policies, influential analysts and authors, and selected government and U.N. policymakers and representatives.
Bridgeman is widely recognized for her work around social justice, from writing to preaching to on-site activism. She was appointed associate professor of homiletics and Hebrew Bible at MTSO in 2015 and has served as interim academic dean since July 2017.