Scholarship

Megan’s work makes a valuable contribution 
to the literature on 19th century American Unitarianism…
-Gary Dorrien, Union Theological Seminary. 

PictureDorcas Hiller Cleveland
In the summer of 2008 I was working in the library at Union Theological Seminary and discovered a box of uncatalogued tracts published by the fledgling American Unitarian Association beginning in 1825. Among them were five pamphlets of captivating prose, sophisticated theological exposition, and no author listed. Intrigued by the mystery, I found the author, a woman, Dorcas Hiller Cleveland, and wrote my masters thesis about her life and her writing. In 2010, my essay on Cleveland won the Unitarian Universalist Historical Society's Seminarian Prize and was subsequently published in the Society's journal. 

I have been asked to write the introduction to Cleveland's work in a forthcoming book of primary sources from Unitarian Universalist history.

I am delighted that one of her tracts will be published again - this time with her name on it!

“Liberal Theology in Dialogue: Discovering the Life and Theology of Dorcas Hiller Cleveland”
Journal of Unitarian Universalist History
Vol. 36 (2012-13)
PictureSt. Sofia Statue, Sofia, Bulgaria
In 2007, I traveled to Bulgaria to attend a conference of the International Federation for Research in Women's History where I presented a paper combining my new-found love for biblical scholarship 
with an exploration of the women-centered education I received at my all-girls Catholic high school, 
Ursuline Academy in Cincinnati. 

“Raising Her Voice: Archetypal Images of Women in Education from Biblical Curricula to Ursuline Women”
Women, Gender and the Cultural Production of Knowledge, 
International Federation for Research in Women’s History Conference
Sofia, Bulgaria, August 2007