Intercultural Studies, M.A.

• Gain specialized training in ministry
• Experience spiritual growth with a deeper understanding of God and His Word
• Practice your ministry abilities through internships, practicum experiences and field service activities
• Learn in a supportive community

An Innovative Degree:

• Theology of reconciliation, missiology, ecclesiology, world Christianity, and theology of religions, along with practical skills for leadership in these fields.
• Life-changing scholarly and ministerial training that will form you for intercultural engagement and leadership, empirical research, and PhD studies for those interested in pursuing doctoral work.
• Intercultural communication training formed by the ancient Christian practices of kerygma (proclamation), leiturgia (worship), diakonia (service), koinonia (community building).
• Learning from faculty with a wide diversity of cultural backgrounds and nationalities.

Program’s key differentiators:

Program Course Details:

PBA awards over three million dollars in scholarships every year and 97% of PBA undergraduate students receive financial aid.

Tuition & Fees

Learn more about your classes and requirements in the course catalog.

Course Catalog

The Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies Degree is a 36 credit-hour degree.

Undergraduate Requirements:

Applicants must hold an earned a baccalaureate degree from a regionally accredited institution with a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale. (A GPA that falls below this minimum threshold may be considered on a case-by-case basis for admission with probationary status.)

Admissions interview after application.

Director of Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies Program, Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies

Prior to coming to PBA, Dr. Faircloth served in intercultural ministry in Southeast Asia for fifteen years. For the first six and a half years he participated in church leadership and community development efforts in Thailand. In 2011, he and his family relocated to Penang, Malaysia, where he directed the M.A. in Intercultural Studies and Doctor of Missiology programs at a local seminary.

He has presented papers at theological conferences in Malaysia and Australia and has published book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Asian Evangelical Theology, Themelios, New Blackfriars, and International Journal of Systematic Theology. His research interests are theology of religions, intercultural studies, East Asian religions and philosophy, and studies in world Christianity. Dr. Faircloth is a Peer Reviewer for the journal <i>Missiology<i> and a board member for the Association of Professors of Mission (APM). He served as the president of APM for the 2026 conference; ‘Reckoning and Renewal: Engaging the Past and Envisioning the Future of Missions and Evangelism.’

Before moving to Southeast Asia, he worked with an organization that facilitated relief work in Haiti, and also with Wycliffe Bible Translators in Orlando. He and his wife are native Floridians, and they have two children.

EDUCATION: B.A., Palm Beach Atlantic University; M.A., M.Div., Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; D.Miss., Malaysia Baptist Theological Seminary; Ph.D., University of Bristol.

Adjunct Professor, School of Ministry

Dr. Alisha R. Winn is an applied cultural anthropologist. She is the owner and founder of Consider the Culture, a firm that incorporates anthropological knowledge to governmental, community, educational, and religious institutions on the social construction of race, cultural belief systems and practices, language, ethnographic research, and community engagement; helping individuals within and outside of the classroom gain an appreciation for anthropology’s usefulness and relevance today.

She is adjunct professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University’s School of Ministry, infusing community-engaged research and applied anthropology. Dr. Winn has also taught anthropology at Florida Atlantic University, Ashford University, and Fayetteville State University.

Dr. Winn serves as consultant and director for several community and heritage education projects; the preservation and community building efforts for the City of West Palm Beach’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) on the Historic Northwest Rising Project, the Palm Beach County African American Oral History Pilot Project, and professional development to teachers and students on cultural anthropology in the Palm Beach County School System and Cultural Programs.

Dr. Winn has presented at numerous anthropology conferences, and published articles and book chapters on Community on Historical Narratives and Place,” “Community Redevelopment”, “Memorializing and Identifying Sacred Grounds,” The Second Generation of African American Pioneers in Anthropology on Ira E. Harrison: Activist, Scholar, and Visionary Pioneer, and “Diversity Dilemmas and Opportunities: Training the Next Generation of Anthropologists”. Her research interests include space and place, identity, race, class, historic preservation in communities, heritage education for youth, and oral histories.

EDUCATION: B.A, Sociology, Bethune-Cookman University; B.A., Anthropology, Florida Atlantic University; M.A., Anthropology, Georgia State University; Ph.D., Applied Anthropology, University of South Florida.

Adjunct Professor, Intercultural Studies

Dr. Tan is the dean of Asia Graduates School of Theology (AGST Alliance) and director of the D.Min. program. She is also an Affiliate Assistant Professor of Intercultural Studies at Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, CA. Currently servicing as an Executive Board Member of Asia Theological Association, she is the chairperson of the AGST council in Asia.

She holds a Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies (with a focus on worship) from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a postdoctoral fellowship with the Brehm Center, exploring the area of peace and reconciliation through music.

Her interests lie in enabling Asian academic scholarship and pursuing the areas of worship in context, world religions, peace studies, and intercultural communication. She co-edited the book, Uncommon Sounds: Songs of Peace and Reconciliation, and has written articles such as, “Contextualized Worship and Identity Formation in the Malaysian Church” and “Transformative Worship in a Malaysian Context.”

EDUCATION: Post-Ph.D., Brehm Center, Fuller Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Fuller Theological Seminary; M.A. Intercultural Studies, Fuller Theological Seminary; M.Min., Malaysia Bible Seminary; Dip.Ed., University of Malaya; B.A. (2nd Class Upper Hons.), University of Malaya.

Adjunct Professor, School of Ministry

Born and educated in Kenya, Dr. Gitau has extensive pastoral experience in dynamic congregations, as well as research experience in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and USA.

Between 2011 and 2017, she was a researcher with a multi-country project, The Africa Leadership Survey https://africaleadershipstudy.org/, funded by Tyndale House Foundation through eleven collaborating universities. Between 2013 and 2017, she was a researcher, convener, and keynoter with the World Christian Revitalization project, funded by Luce Foundation through Asbury Theological Seminary. More recently she has been co-director of a project researching Spirituality, Pluralism and Progress, funded by the Templeton Religion Trust through St. Thomas University.

Dr. Gitau is the author of Megachurch Christianity Reconsidered: Millennials and Social Change in African Perspective(https://www.ivpress.com/megachurch-christianityreconsidered/, a “smart and thoughtful analysis of an extraordinarily important phenomenon in contemporary Christianity” (Philip Jenkins). The book won the 2019 Christianity Today’s book of the year award in the Global Missions category. She is co-author, with Dr. Mark Shaw, of the Kingdom of God in Africa: The Kingdom of God in Africa, revised and updated. She has published numerous other articles and is currently involved in multiple writing projects.

EDUCATION: B.Ed. (Hons.), University of Nairobi; Masters in Missiology, Nairobi Evangelical Graduate School of Theology; Ph.D., Africa International University.

Professor of Sociology and Religious Studies

Over the course of a career stretching back to the 1980s, Dr. Froehle has served on faculties of five different universities, won over two dozen grants, taught over 50 different courses in religion and the social sciences, and chaired more than two dozen dissertation committees. He is an elected member of the International Academy for Practical Theology and has served on the board of the American Society for Missiology.

He began his scholarly career with a focus on congregational studies and comparative studies of diverse churches and denominations in Venezuela. From 2013 to 2016, Dr. Froehle was director of research for Asbury Theological Seminary’s Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization, a project that included original research and consultations in East Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. He also has extensive experience in applied church research over the years, having completed several hundred reports and strategic planning efforts serving church life and religious institutions. His public speaking and workshops address topics such as the future of church life, mission, and culture within the United States and overseas.

He has published monographs with Orbis and Oxford University Press and has a book forthcoming from Brill. His over 50 scholarly articles and book chapters cover topics ranging from missiology to public theology and sociology of religion. His applied church research work includes several hundred strategic planning projects and his public speaking addresses topics such as the future of church life, mission, and culture within the United States and overseas. Current research interests and publishing focus on practical theological method, contextual ecclesiology, and congregational studies.

EDUCATION: B.S., Foreign Service, Georgetown University; M.A., Theological Studies, St. Vincent Regional Seminary; M.A., Sociology, University of Michigan; Ph.D., Sociology, University of Michigan.

Adjunct Professor, School of Ministry

Dr. Cortes is a practical theologian whose research and writing focuses on reconciliation among peoples. Born in Cuba, she grew up in South Florida and did her theological training in Latin America as well as South Florida.

She has served in leadership roles, taught courses, and offered workshops on intercultural living and mission in Latin America, Europe, and Asia. Her dissertation was on the journey of forgiveness and reconciliation between Cubans in South Florida and on the island. Her published research includes work on the revitalization of the church in Cuba within a series produced by Asbury Theological Seminary’s Center for the Study of World Christian Revitalization as well as work focused on Christianity in specific Latin American contexts.

EDUCATION: B.A., Religious Studies, Barry University; M.A., Theology, St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary; Ph.D., Practical Theology, St. Thomas University.

Adjunct Professor, School of Ministry

Dr. Allen Yeh is Dean and VP of Academic Affairs at International Theological Seminary located near Los Angeles, as well as the Creative Director of the Young Adult Initiative at Denver Seminary. He was formerly Professor of Intercultural Studies and Missiology for 16 years at Biola University.

His areas of geographical expertise are Latin America and China, and also he is interested in generational dynamics, particularly ministry to Gen Z. He has served on the Board of Trustees for American Baptist International Ministries, the Foundation for Theological Education in Southeast Asia; and the Evangelical Missiological Society. He is also an annual summer professor of missions for Campus Crusade for Christ’s Institute for Biblical Studies (IBS).

Dr. Yeh has been to over 70 countries on every continent, to study, speak at conferences, do missions work, and experience the culture. He is also the author of Polycentric Missiology: 21st Century Mission from Everyone to Everywhere (IVP, 2016), and co-editor (along with Tite Tienou, former Dean of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) of Majority World Theologies: Theologizing from Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Ends of the Earth (William Carey, 2018). He is an avid marathon runner and violin player. He is joyfully married to his wife Arianna (a Professor of Communication at Biola) and they have a delightful son, Asher (b. 2019).

B.A., Yale University; M.Div., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; M.Th., Edinburgh University; D.Phil., Oxford University.

Dr. Wisdom works at the intersection of scholarship and global advocacy for freedom of religion or belief. He serves as Global Advocacy Director of the World Evangelical Alliance, representing the global evangelical community before governments, the United Nations, and interreligious bodies, and as Deputy Director of the International Institute for Religious Freedom, where he oversees projects like the Violent Incidents Database, a global research program documenting religiously motivated violence against people of all faiths. His advocacy has included leading a WEA delegation to the U.S. State Department, submitting country reports to the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion or Belief, launching formal dialogue between the WEA and the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations, and speaking at the International Religious Freedom Summit and the G20 Religion Forum. At Palm Beach Atlantic he teaches Contemporary Global Crises, drawing on this ongoing work to help students analyze the political, religious, and humanitarian dimensions of conflict around the world.

He began his career with more than a decade in Indonesia, leading cross-cultural education, research, and community development initiatives and teaching at Indonesian seminaries and training institutions. That experience shaped his doctoral research on Nurcholish Madjid, the Indonesian Muslim thinker whose vision of pluralism offers a model for how a Muslim-majority democracy can sustain religious goods and societal harmony. Dr. Wisdom is an ordained Anglican priest in the Diocese of Cape Coast, and his public speaking and consulting address religious freedom policy, interreligious engagement, and the drivers of religious violence.

His book, Civil Religious Pluralism as Political Philosophy: Insights from Nurcholish Madjid, is published by De Gruyter Brill (2026). He is co-author of the peer-reviewed methodology for the Violent Incidents Database published in Data (2025), and his articles have appeared in the International Journal for Religious Freedom and the International Journal of Asian Christianity. Chapters are forthcoming from Routledge on Protestant Christianity and Humanitarian Islam and from the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies on the resilience of religious minorities in Nigeria, Iraq, and Mexico. Current research interests focus on political philosophy of religious pluralism, freedom of religion or belief, and the relationship between religious persecution and atrocity prevention.

EDUCATION: B.A., Biblical and Theological Studies, Wheaton College; M.Div., Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary; Ph.D., Political Philosophy, Oxford Centre for Mission Studies / Middlesex University.

Associated Professor of Intercultural Studies. Prior to joining Palm Beach Atlantic University, Dr. Simone Twibell served as an Associate Professor of Intercultural Studies at Olivet Nazarene University for seven years. Her ministry background includes over a decade of pastoral service in Illinois and Kentucky as well as three years as a short-term volunteer missionary in Central America.

Dr. Twibell completed her Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies at Trinity International University as a designated Waybright Scholar. She is the author of two books published in 2023, Intimacy with God: An Invitation to Prayer and Boundary-Breaking Mission: The Gospel in a Diverse and Fragmented World, alongside numerous book chapters and over a dozen articles in leading peer-reviewed journals. Her academic contributions have earned her several prestigious honors, including the Kenneth Kantzer Memorial Award for Academic Excellence and Christian Character (2019) and the Samuel L. Mayhugh Award for Scholarly Excellence (2024).

A gifted linguist, she holds a certificate of excellence in Chinese studies and is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian. Her global engagement spans five continents, where she has led mission trips and served as a theological interpreter. Additionally, she has also leveraged her language skills as a certified medical interpreter in hospitals and rehabilitation clinics. Beyond her academic and ministerial achievements, Dr. Twibell is an avid runner; she was named Athlete of the Year and received the Watson Ambassador Award in 2006 after qualifying for the NAIA National Championship Marathon. She loves spending time outdoors exploring nature, but above all else, she enjoys spending time with her two children.

EDUCATION: BA Sociology/Psychology, Olivet Nazarene University (2006), MA Religion, Olivet Nazarene University (2007), MDiv, Asbury Theological Seminary (2013), PhD Intercultural Studies, Trinity International University (2019).