Dr. James W. McCarty
Director of the Tom Porter Religion & Conflict Transformation Program
James W. McCarty, PhD, is Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of the Religion and Conflict Transformation Program at Boston University’s School of Theology. He has been in this role since 2022. Prior to that he worked in university-community partnerships, university chaplaincy, and diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at Oxford College of Emory University, Seattle University, and the University of Washington. Dr. McCarty also has professional experience in congregational ministry in the United States and peacebuilding in East Africa. At Boston U he is also a Faculty Affiliate with the Institute on Culture, Religion, and World Affairs at the Pardee School of Global Studies.
He is the author of multiple peer-reviewed journal articles and the editor of two books, the most recent of which is The Business of Incarceration: Theological and Ethical Reflections on the Prison-Industrial Complex (2025).
RCT Faculty Advisory Team
The Tom Porter Religion & Conflict Transformation Program at the Boston University School of Theology is advised by a team of highly accomplished faculty members with experience and expertise in the transformation of conflict in various contexts.
Dr. G. Sujin Pak, Dean of the School of Theology, is an expert in the history of Christianity with a focus on the early modern period, the Protestant Reformation, and the history of biblical interpretation.
Dr. Shelly Rambo, Associate Professor of Theology at STH. Prof. Rambo’s research and teaching interests focus on religious responses to suffering, trauma, and violence.
Dr. Filipe Maia, Assistant Professor of Theology. Prof. Maia’s research and teaching focus on liberation theologies and philosophies, theology and economics, and the Christian eschatological imagination.
Community Advisory Board
Heather M. DuBois is the Assistant Professor of Peace Studies, Trauma, and Spirituality at the Boston College Clough School of Theology and Ministry. She is writing Moving Through Impasse, a book that uses the spirituality of John of the Cross and the critical theory of Judith Butler to theorize transformation at the nexus of self and society
Stephanie C. Edwards, MSW, PhD, is Executive Director of the Boston Theological Interreligious Consortium (BTI). She is a Catholic ethicist and a social worker, practicing diverse service delivery and nonprofit management for over a decade. She is an alumna of the RCT certificate (2011) and integrates conflict transformation practices into all her work.
Keith Nunes is an individual with a deep sense of being called to pastoral work and is consequently working on a MDiv in BU’s School of Theology. Keith, in large measure due to his lived experience within the justice impacted community, also feels an obligation to engage in peace building work through the Church. He joined the RCT Advisory board because of his belief in the work that the Tom Porter Religion and Conflict Transformation Program aims to do, and in an effort to contribute to centering the voices of those most impacted in the process of peace building.
Valentina San Juan Villamizar (Ella/She/Her) is a Colombian peacebuilding practitioner and second-year master’s student in Theological Studies at Boston University. Her work focuses on reconciliation and community transformation along the Colombian Caribbean Coast, particularly in the Montes de María region, where she integrates arts, faith, and memory pedagogy to heal historical wounds.
Rumni Saha (she/her/hers) considers herself to be a proud Hindu and a fierce Unitarian Universalist. She serves as a College Chaplain and the Hindu as well as the Unitarian Universalist Chaplain Community Coordinator at Wellesley College. Rumni also cherishes her time as the Interfaith Chaplain for a small but mighty non-profit organization, doing community ministry, hospital chaplaincy and extensive interfaith work.
The Rev. Edwin Johnson, Episcopal City Mission
Erin Freeborn, Communities for Restorative Justice