Erika Gault’s scholarly work demonstrates a sustained focus on the impact and outcomes of religion and technology in Black life. Currently, she is most intrigued with the use of online social networks in both the research and curation of religious life among Black young adults. For her, this is meaningful work as it seeks to empower an often vulnerable population both physically and in online spaces. On the topic of Hip Hop, religion, and/or digital ethnography she has delivered and published a number of papers regionally, nationally, and internationally.
With her innovative approach to ethnography, she was awarded the Louisville First Book Grant for minority scholars for the 2018-2019 academic school year. Recently, her co-edited volume Beyond Christian Hip Hop: Towards Christians and Hip Hop was released through Routledge. Her next book on the digital-religious lives of young Black Christians is due out on NYU Press in 2021.
Erika Gault is a self-professed digital tools nerd. In 2018-19, Gault was selected to participate in the highly competitive CUNY Graduate Center’s Digital Humanities Research Institute. In 2019, she organized and facilitated a similar conference specifically focused on Africana Digital Humanities. The Institute drew scholars from across five countries for an innovative web-based program. Erika Gault is also an ordained elder and an award-winning slam poet.