Dr. Aundrea L. Matthews is a graduate of the Religious Studies Department of Rice University. She received a BS and MA from Texas Christian University; and an MTS with a Certificate in Black Church Studies from Brite Divinity School. She also earned an MA in religious studies from Rice University Her area of interest is in African American cultural memory and its role in the development of faith expressions as portrayed in cultural production. Aundrea is currently the Assistant Program Coordinator for the Center for Engaged Research and Collaborative Learning (CERCL) at Rice University. She is also a CERCL Graduate teaching assistant for the Religion and Hip Hop Culture on-line course.  She is co-author of the Breaking Bread and Breaking Beats: Churches and Hip Hop: A Basic Guide to Key Issues, and co-authored a chapter with Dr. Margarita S. Guillory in Esotericism in African American Religious Experience: There is a Mystery. Since 2013, Aundrea has served as an adjunct professor in the Humanities Department at Lone Star College-Victory Center. She has participated in Embodiment and Religion symposium at the University of Kent in 2012, 2013, and 2014.  In 2014, Aundrea was the Rice University Graduate Student 90 Second Thesis Competition School of Humanities Winner. She is creator and curator of the Inaugural Quilting Exhibit entitled, Hearts, Hands, and Heritage: The Patchwork Soul of Houston at Rice University. She is also the founding President of A.C.E.@ Rice (Academic Cultural Empowerment at Rice), a  student organization that allows Rice students to serve as virtual tutors to high school students with poor academic performance by engaging youth in a virtual on-line learning experience that will strengthen academic skills and reduce the achievement gap at selected H.I.S.D schools in Houston, Texas. In 2009, she wrote a lectionary commentary for the African American Lectionary, Vanderbilt University. In 2008, Aundrea presented a paper at the American Academy of Religion,  entitled “Talk to Me: Theological Discourse and the Hermeneutic of Reconciliation.” In 2007, she presented a paper to the Society of Christian Ethics entitled, “It Is An African Thing, and Now We Understand: The Legacy of Peter Paris.” She has participated in two study abroad programs, one in Ghana, and the other in Egypt. In addition, Aundrea was awarded the 2007 Emerging Black Church Studies Scholar Award from Brite Divinity School.