Dr. Katherine Burgett, affectionately known as “Kat,” graduated in December 2022 with the Doctor of Philosophy with a concentration in New Testament from Duke’s Graduate Program in Religion. Dr. J. Ross Wagner chaired the committee for her dissertation titled “In Slavery With God’s Children: The Law As Enslaved Agent in Galatians.”
Burgett’s academic strength was evident even prior to her entering the PhD program, as she graduated summa cum laude from both the Bachelor of Arts at Westmont College and the Master of Divinity at Duke, even having the highest GPA in her graduating class at Duke Divinity School. She continued to demonstrate her abilities during the doctoral program through being a three-time recipient of the Gurney Harriss Kearns Fellowship, as well as receiving a Preparing Future Faculty Fellowship and a Bass Digital Education Fellowship.
One of Burgett’s areas of interest has been pedagogy. She gained extensive teaching experience while at Duke and earned a Certificate in College Teaching as well. She published a brief commentary on Galatians with the Lexham Context Commentary, and presented three papers with the Society of Biblical Literature. Her knowledge of Koine Greek, Biblical Hebrew, German, French, and Spanish have all aided her scholarly research.
Burgett has contributed to a sense of community at Duke, serving on the Classroom Culture and Mentoring Working Group of the Divinity School’s Anti-Racism Task Force. Dr. Burgett has continued her community service at Duke recently by presenting on a panel with two other recent graduates, Dr. Cody David and Dr. Nathan Tilley. Their panel was part of a discussion for Teaching and Learning entitled “Alternate Vocational Paths: Testimonials from Recent Alumni.”
Since graduating from Duke, Dr. Burgett has accepted a position as the Director of Youth Ministries at Blacknall Memorial Presbyterian Church in Durham.
We celebrate Dr. Burgett’s achievements and watch her career with interest.
Graduate Program in Religion