Dr. Tamisha Tyler Featured at Huntingdon Museum Event

Dr. Tamisha Tyler, visiting assistant professor of theology and culture and theopoetics, was featured at the Huntingdon Museum in Los Angeles in a panel discussion entitled, “Sowing Community: Living with Octavia E. Butler’s ‘Parables.’” The event was part of the museum’s Founder’s Day celebration, held on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

This sold-out session featured a discussion of Butler’s acclaimed 1993 novel Parable of the Sower and its 1998 sequel Parable of the Talents. The books are set in a dystopian Southern California and respond to social, political, and climatological distress. The discussion explored Butler’s call to community building, her influence on writers and activists, and how her work does — and doesn’t — speak to the present moment. The audience for the event, which numbered nearly 400 people, included the actor Lavar Burton, well known for his television appearances in Star Trek: Next Generation, Roots, and Reading Rainbow.

Dr. Tyler’s current scholarship explores the role of religion in the world of Octavia Butler’s fiction. At Bethany, she has taught courses on Butler as well as such topics as Afrofuturism and Theology and Theopoetics Methods. She contributes to the Master of Arts: Theopoetics and Writing program. She earned her PhD at Fuller Seminary. 

“This event was an amazing opportunity to connect with the Huntington and the greater Pasadena, Altadena, and Los Angeles communities,” says Dr. Tyler. “I hope this leads to more collaborative efforts in honoring Butler’s work.”

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