Biography

Reverend Dr. Heesung Hwang is an ordained deacon in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church. She is a Louisville Institute Postdoctoral Fellow and currently teaching at Chicago Theological Seminary as Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Education.

She received her B.Th and Th.M at Methodist Theological University, Seoul, Korea; M.Div degree at Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, DC; and Ph.D at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, Evanston, IL.

 “A primary learning goal for me as a teacher is to assist students in practicing collaborative experiments embracing each other’s different sociopolitical or theological viewpoints. In my class, they can experience what it means to be inclusive, tolerant, creative, and transformative as ministers, educators, and activists. Creating such an educational place is holy work. By helping students to experience constructive and inclusive approaches in theological education, a teacher empowers them to engage the various social and cultural settings students will encounter in ministry.” 

Rev. Hwang’s research focuses on the multicultural and interdependent world and the role of arts as an educational approach. She has spent a significant amount of her ministry engaging in Korean American congregations as pastor, consultant, and curriculum developer.