Non-Degree Agency

Proposal abstract :
The project seeks to produce in manuscript form the findings of the Wabash Center funded consultation, “Teaching and Learning in Theological Field Education: The Role of the Field Educator,” held in Nashville in January 2000.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought funding to produce a manuscript from the findings of the Wabash Center funded consultation (990 010), "Teaching and Learning in Theological Education: the Role of the Field Educator," held in January 2000. In writing this manuscript the authors hoped to engage field education colleagues more broadly into the conversation that was begun at the consultation. They also hoped to contribute original scholarship in teaching and learning in the area of theological field education. Finally, they hoped to partner with the Association of Theological Schools in its work on contextualization in theological education.
The authors produced a major article published in Theological Education (Vol. 37, No. 2, 2001, 1-57), entitled "Teaching from a Community Context: The Role of the Field Educator in Theological Education." With this project they feel that they produced a major work on issues of teaching and learning in theological field education that will set standards for field educators as faculty in theological education. This will strengthen theological education in that it will challenge field educators to see their primary function as teachers, while understanding they must also function effectively as administrators.

Proposal abstract :
Support for 15 non-Hispanic faculty of theological seminaries to attend a Faculty Seminar on teaching Latinos/as in the various fields of theology and ministry.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought funds to support a group of non-Hispanic faculty from theological seminaries to attend a faculty seminar on teaching Latinos/as in the various fields of theology and ministry. This seminar of the Hispanic Summer Program would be held at the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, TX.
The group included a total of 22 participants from many areas of the theological curriculum. The largest number of participants was from the areas of Biblical studies, ethics and practical theology. Participants reported their desire to take steps so that similar seminars can take place in their own institutions for their faculty. Others reported their plans to rewrite their course syllabi with Hispanic perspectives included more intentionally. Several felt that through the experience they had found new ways to support and encourage Hispanic students and colleagues.

Proposal abstract :
Teaching theologians, church leaders, and bishops will gather for two consultations between their regular biennial meetings to develop, identify and promote practices in pedagogy that are congruent with the theology of the ELCA.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought to gather together teaching theologians of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and church leaders to clarify their vocation as teachers and to strengthen their roles in the life of the church. They hoped to develop ways of thinking and to initiate practices that better express and embody their vocation as teaching theologians. They also hoped to promote pedagogical practices congruent with the theology of the church.
The first consultation focused on the vocation of the teaching theologian in the ELCS. While no clear relationship between Lutheran theology and pedagogy was established, clear understanding of "Lutheran Leanings" in scholarship and teaching was articulated. It especially affirmed its character as requiring teachers to "teach in an ecclesially public manner." The second consultation focused on Evangelical theology and oversight in a pluralistic society. This allowed both bishops and teaching theologians to develop better common purpose and understanding of each other. An important outcome of the consultation was the proposal of a new association of teaching theologians in the ELCA who will meet regularly.

Proposal abstract :
Three-day consultation of faculty and administrators from Jewish and Christian seminaries in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions to discuss and develop strategies for theological training in a religiously plural world.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought to develop a three-day consultation bringing together faculty and deans from Jewish and Christian seminaries in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions to examine the challenges of teaching theology in a religiously pluralistic world.
The consultation was held with 21 seminaries represented. During the consultation, participants identified and addressed the following areas of particular concern: "(1) the ways in which theological education might become more self-conscious and self-critical in its attention to the challenges raised by the Jewish/Christian encounter; (2) the ways in which a sustained encounter with the Jewish or Christian other might become a more vital force in the formation and education of seminarians; (3) the challenges raised by the Shoah in the seminary curriculum both on theological understanding and on religious identity-formation; (4) new approaches to teaching theology that capitalize on the synergy that comes from encountering the religious other."

Proposal abstract :
Two year support for 20 non-Hispanic faculty of theological seminaries to attend the faculty seminars of the Hispanic Summer Program on teaching Latinos/as in the various fields of theology and ministry.

Learning Abstract :
The project director and various members of the Hispanic Summer Program Governing Board were convinced that the seminar "Through Hispanic Eyes" helped develop non-Hispanic faculty that were more aware of Latina/o issues, who were more ready to support Hispanic colleagues, and who were generally enthusiastic over the challenges and opportunities that the current demographic shifts in the nation bring. Given the paucity of Latino/a professors in our various institutions of theological education, such allies are of fundamental importance.

While the small number of participants in 2003 was unplanned,they noted that the smaller number of Seminar participants had less of a disruptive effect on the HSP, and secondly had positive pedagogical impact on the participating non-Hispanic faculty. The governing board was persuaded of the value of a smaller cohort for any future Seminar.

The interaction between non-Hispanic Seminar participants and the HSP faculty generated fruitful reflection on issues of pedagogy that both groups wish to pursue further. In fact, this project was instrumental in helping the Governing Board of the HSP to establish a priority to investigate formally the issues of pedagogy in an ecumenical theological education.

They also observed unplanned benefits when institutions sent two or more persons as Seminar participants and when administrators were present.

Proposal abstract :
Support for development of an electronic Biblical Hebrew language resource tool designed for ease of adoption and adaptation by colleges, seminaries and translation training programs along with the necessary bibliographic resource database.

Learning Abstract :
The grant supported a larger project of the SBL to develop a resource to facilitate the teaching of Biblical Hebrew through web-based technology. This resource would include the following modules: basic Hebrew dictionary, grammar and syntax, vocabulary and translation exercises, audio file pronunciation guide, video presentations of each segment of the grammar, and a database of books, articles and reference works related to the study of Hebrew. The grant would cover digitizing expenses, along with salary replacement funds for a professor to work on the project.
The project director reports that the money was used as proposed and that great progress was made toward the completion of the resource.

Proposal abstract :
Support for fostering better use of technology for good teaching and learning with the MN Consortium of Theological Schools. Specific attention will be given to modeling and providing leadership to other seminaries in the use of technology for good theological teaching and learning.

Learning Abstract :
This grant supported the ongoing work that an original Lilly Technology Grant to each of the schools had begun. The five schools in the Minnesota Consortium are Bethel Seminary, Luther Seminary, Saint John's School of Theology, Saint Paul Seminary, and United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities. Through a series of summer computer camps ('04 and '05), a podcasting seminar, a "Developing Online Groups" seminar, a faculty salon (virtual gathering of Church History faculty from the consortium), and individual grants to faculty to help them move toward a more pedagogically strong on-line teaching environment, the staff and faculty of the five schools (and invited guests from around the country) worked to enhance their teaching through digital technology. The various groups processed pedagogical questions about technology and teaching/learning best practices as they moved forward in the reality of increased use of technology. The computer camp at Luther used a multimedia-equipped classroom and student and faculty labs with special software and hardware for faculty to play and explore how they might change their classroom approaches to teaching in the seminaries.

Proposal abstract :
Course Management Systems (CMS) are becoming commonplace in the teaching of theology and religion. Following up on an overview of courseware options I presented at InfoTech in August, 2003 (http://www.mncts.org/workshops/infotechcourseware.htm) I propose to update and expand the overview, explore the impact of some of these sytems, and point to some promsing alternatives for the future.

Learning Abstract :
Learning Management systems like Blackboard are impacting how one trains for ministry. The grant provided an opportunity to interview LMS pioneer and founder of Fisher's Net Tom Walker who discussed the history of LMS in seminaries and shared what he thinks about its future. Additionally there was an opportunity to build on a list of resources to further explore what's happening in LMS and what it means for ministry training. Questions that remained at the end of the project were: 1) Are there better tools and techniques out there? 2) Open source software offers tools like Moodle or Nicenet as low cost alternatives to Blackboard but are they good choices? 3) Is academic based LMS software event the right model for people training for parish ministry?

Proposal abstract :
Support for a planning meeting to determine which topics to address at the 20th anniversary conference.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought to gather members of the editorial board of the Journal of Feminist Studies in religion to plan a conference to be held in 2005, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the journal.
The planning group decided on the theme "Teaching for Change: Creating Knowledge, Transforming Institutions" for the conference. It would focus around the issues of critically assessing the history and development of the teaching of feminist studies in religion in departments of religion and theological schools.

Proposal abstract :
Support for a study on the impact of the culture of the seminary on theological education and ministry formation. Particular attention will be given to the increasingly culturally diverse student population's impact on theological education and ministry formation.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought funds to convene a task force to plan a study of the impact of the culture of the seminary on theological education and ministry formation. This study would be part of a larger effort by the NCEA Seminary Department to develop resources for Roman Catholic theological schools and college seminaries to effectively address issues of cultural diversity that impact the institutional aspects of the seminary program, classroom teaching, pedagogy and interpersonal relationships.
The planning meeting was held successfully in June, 2004, with a proposal developed as an outcome. The project director reports: "The planning grant was essential for the preparation of the proposal. Without it the Seminary Department would not have been able to convene the planning meetings … These conversations underscored both the potential value and the complexity of the proposal initiative."

Proposal abstract :
Fifteen teachers and scholars will be brought together for a workshop at Centre College to discuss teaching the Reformed tradition. Faculty who are conversant with various aspects of Calvinism and teachers who want to bring this tradition to their students will be invited to the workshop. The intellectual object of the workshop will be to bring the pieces together in an informed and critical way. The practical object of the workshop will be to assemble resources for teaching about the various aspects of the Reformed tradition and its social effects, from which teachers could draw in constructing a variety of courses.

Learning Abstract :
Two dozen scholars from various disciplines met at Centre College to discuss teaching about the impact of the Reformed tradition on the modern world. Calvinism had, of course, a huge effect on religious life during the Reformation, and on Reformed churches thereafter. In addition, though, Reformed, Calvinist, and Puritan Christianity deeply shaped modern capitalist economies, democracies, science, and the very conception of the self. Both the religious and social impacts of the Reformed tradition are richly teachable to undergraduates. One unexpected finding: the Reformed impact on modernity is so pervasive that, after about 1800, its distinctive effects are harder to see. The workshop led to a webpage, "Calvinism and the Modern World" (http://web.centre/edu/weston/calvinism/), which develops these themes.

Proposal abstract :
The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion (JFSR), Inc., on the occasion of its 20th anniversary of publication, received a grant to bring feminist scholars and teachers together for a four-day conference. The goal is to critically assess the history and development of the teaching of feminist studies in religion in departments of religion and theological schools, explore different theoretical approaches in the field with the attention to their effects on course and program design and criteria of evaluation, discuss diverse models of feminist pedagogies, and envision strategies for transforming classroom teaching and institutions. Because the JFSR, Inc. is committed to nurturing the next generation of scholars and teachers in the field, one half of the participants will be graduate students and junior faculty. The JFSR, Inc., is in a unique position to convene such a gathering because of the broad network it has established with scholars and teachers across religious disciplines for twenty years.

Learning Abstract :
The grant provided for 73 participants and 7 student volunteers to engage in 4-day conference around issues related to feminist studies in religion. The conference had three main foci: Taking Stock, a critical survey of the teaching and learning of feminist studies in religion in diverse contexts; Theoretical Analysis, a review of diverse theoretical frameworks of feminist studies in religion and how they affect classroom teaching, course design, choice of pedagogy, evaluation of students, and impact on the academy and wider public; and Strategies and Commitment, a creative envisioning of how to strengthen ongoing feminist networking and mentoring, nurture a new generation, learn across racial and disciplinary boundaries and differences, and reach out to readers not in the academy. Papers generated for the panel discussion at the conference were published in the fall 2005 issue of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion. An additional special issue of papers generated for and emerging from the conference is planned for a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion.

Proposal abstract :
Project Purpose. This project will provide non-Latino professors in the various fields of theology and ministry with insights, techniques, and resources in their own specific fields that they may employ in the process of teaching Latinas and Latinos in those various fields. Project Goals. During the two years of duration of the project, it will: (1) Provide opportunities for Lation/a professors in at least five different fields of study to gather and reflect on specific Latino issues and resources in each of these fields , and on how to communicate these matters to their non-Latino colleagues. (2) Provide at least five seminars for non-Latino professors, each seminar on a different field of study, in which Latina/o professors will guide their counterparts in reflection and learning regarding Latino issues and resources in that particular field. (3) Have at least fifty non-Latino/a professors participate in these seminars. (4) Produce five written pieces, one the result of each seminar to be published as articles in journals or as chapters in a book. (5) Follow up on these seminars by providing participants with bibliographical and other updates.

Learning Abstract :
Our greatest surprise was how little the academic community knows about the Latino community, and particularly its church life. Participants in our seminars repeatedly expressed astonishment and even disbelief when told of the thousands of Spanish-speaking churches in their own cities, or of the number of Latinas and Latinos involved in alternative theological education programs, both Catholic and Protestant. This would seem to indicate that channels and programs need to be developed which will allow and encourage faculty in theological seminaries to seek direct experience of the Latino community.

Secondly, we have found that there is great interest among non-Latino faculty to respond to the needs of the growing number of Latinos and Latinas coming to their schools, and a sense of frustration at the lack of resources - human and bibliographical - that could help them in this endeavor.

Finally, and probably most importantly, we have learned that when the previous two points are combined, there are a number of institutions - or at least a number of faculty within those institutions - who feel that in order to deal responsibly with the changing demographics of the nation and the church, a radical change is needed in theological curriculum, and particularly in methods of delivery - including programs for those who are now excluded from the mainstream of the educational system.

Proposal abstract :
Support for a project to collect and reflect on data from seminaries and dioceses related to international enrollments and implications for Roman Catholic seminaries, theological education and ministry formation. The project will also include roundtables of scholars and seminary leaders to examine the implications of this trend for theological education and seminary life as a whole. The project will provide opportunities for Catholic theological educators to consider this issue from all perspectives and to collectively develop practical resources to respond to the challenge.

Learning Abstract :
In 2004, approximately 30% of the candidates for the priesthood in Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States were born outside this country. In response to this trend of increasing international enrollments, the Seminary Department of the National Catholic Educational Association initiated a study to consider the implications of this increasing cultural diversity on theological education and pastoral formation. The project was based on the following assumptions: that culture is all-encompassing; that effective seminary formation is the complex web of systemic relationships, and that shifts in the cultural mix of a seminary will impact theological learning and pastoral formation program. The project was under the direction of Bernard F. Stratman, SM, director of the NCEA Seminary Department. The project team included Father James Schuerman, director of Spiritual Formation at St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee, WI, and Dr. Bryan Froehle, Ph.D., director of the Siena Center of Dominican University, River Forest, IL.

The results have been published in the Fall 2005 Seminary Journal and the Winter 2005 Seminary Journal.

Proposal abstract :
Support for a workshop on uses of technology for priest formation.

Learning Abstract :
What we have learned from pursuing this project is that there is a great deal of interest in the use of appropriate technologies to promote teaching and learning in Catholic seminaries, and a number of academic deans are ready to spearhead a Catholic Distance Learning Network in which member schools will be able to offer their courses online and receive enrollments of students from any other member school at no cost to the students or member institutions. One of the ways in which this initiative will contribute is in the potential this kind of collaborative interaction has for both intercultural and interdisciplinary studies as students from different regions engage one another and ongoing courses within the consortium begin to support one another. Another lies in the conversations on pedagogy and adult learning that will likely occur as faculties begin to respond to the changing social realities of the third millennium.

Proposal abstract :
Support is requested to enable a group of professors with responsibilities for teaching Christianity in large public universities in the south to gather during a two-year process in which they reflect critically upon the place of Christian Studies in religious studies in large public universities, develop new models for teaching Christian Studies in this context, and disseminate their results (both successes and remaining or emerging tensions). The proposed gatherings will be held in association with the 2007 and 2008 annual meeting of the Southeastern Commission for the Study of Religion (SECSOR), and the grant will be administered by SECSOR.

Learning Abstract :
"Rethinking the Religious Studies Classroom: Mapping the Hidden (and Not So Hidden) Dynamics of Teaching Religion in the South," discussed two main themes. First, Christianity shapes how our students understand the world, whether they are practitioners or not. Their understandings are informed by personal orientations to Christianity, by social groups such as Life Teen, and by a general sense of growing up with the historical legacies of the South. Thus, students bring forms of identity that we as teachers may threaten, as well as a language for talking about them that is in tension with academic discourse. Developing strategies for unpacking and bridging these differences is key. Second, we came to see that, as Religious Studies departments expand to address religions from a global perspective, two results are gaps in the curriculum on Christianity and a proliferation of methods and discourses that may lead to a breakdown in communication with students and within departments. Developing departmental learning goals becomes crucial, so that we can meet the needs of students, satisfy the many constituents of public universities, and fulfill our mandate to contribute to an informed and critical public discourse.

Proposal abstract :
The NCEA’s Seminary Department provides a number of services to its member institutions, including an annual convention, a biennial institute for the preparation of seminary formation staff, ad hoc consultation, special gatherings, various research projects, and the publication of the Seminary Journal. The goal of this project is to extend the range of NCEA services into providing coordination between seminaries through a distributed learning network qualifying professors in member schools to teach courses online to students enrolled in member schools. In doing this, NCEA hopes to strengthen the process by which member schools share human and material resources with one another. It is NCEA’s expectation that this will not only offer learning opportunities not currently available to students, but that it will also improve the quality of teaching through a combination of the principles of adult learning and the use of appropriate technologies to establish student-oriented learning environments.

Learning Abstract :
The Catholic Distance Learning Network was established for the purpose of providing coordination among seminaries to teach courses online to students enrolled in member schools, and this made necessary the development of a training program to certify seminary faculty in online teaching and learning. We also sought to improve the overall quality of teaching based on the principles of adult learning and the use of appropriate technologies to establish student-oriented teaching and learning environments. In pursuit of our mission, we accomplished our primary goals, certifying by the spring of 2010 44 faculty members in seventeen Catholic seminaries and theological institutes. In our working directly with seminary faculty and developing onsite faculty and student workshops on the campuses of participating seminaries, we also set in motion a process by which these schools could pursue the issues raised by the CDLN within their own communities. Half a dozen of the participating seminaries did, in fact, exchange students so that all students and faculty participating in these exchanges engaged one another's institutional cultures in pursuit of areas of study that faculty might not otherwise have had the opportunity to teach and students the opportunity to learn.

What we learned in the three years of funding by the Wabash Institute is that the CDLN could provide a meaningful hub for seminaries and theological institutes interested in sharing their courses with one another but that for such an organization to meaningfully fulfill its purpose, it needs the support of institutions that already have a strong infrastructure in distance learning. Most Catholic seminaries and theological institutes do not yet have such an infrastructure. While the training of a given faculty member from a given institution in the use of exemplary tools and practices is good, it may not be the most effective way to go about helping the institution realize its mission. For that reason, the CDLN has to also be proactive in helping entire academic programs retool themselves on the use of appropriate technologies for face-to-face or online instruction. Only when the individual infrastructures of the member seminaries and theological institutes are developed will a structured network like the CDLN be fully able to realize its broader vision of helping them share their human and material resources with one another.

To that end, the CDLN retooled itself in the spring of 2010 to provide a fee-based training program for faculty interested in receiving certification in online teaching and learning and a fee-based consultation and workshop program for academic departments interested in transforming their teaching and learning communities through the use of appropriate technologies. It also placed all of its training materials on its website at www.catholicdistance.org for the free and unrestricted use of those interested in learning the essential elements of online teaching and learning. In addition to providing the essential elements necessary for a successful online teaching experience, the certification program materials offer a solid pedagogical foundation for those desiring to pursue additional studies in the use of technology in face-to-face teaching.

Proposal abstract :
The Project will help assess the effectiveness of seminary faculty in preparing students for pastoral ministry shaped by healthy boundaries and good judgment in pastoral relationships. The outcome of this assessment will serve to better prepare seminary faculty to effectively provide specialized teaching in theological education. In turn, the preparation of students for pastoral ministry will be enhanced. The assessment will focus on faculty and administrators previously trained by FaithTrust Institute through the Seminary Project.

Learning Abstract :
For nearly ten years, FaithTrust Institute has educated the faculty and administrators of seminaries on professional ethics in pastoral ministry through the Seminary Project. The key objective of this training is to prepare future pastoral ministers to be aware of and address issues of professional ethics within their congregations and their denominations. Recently, FaithTrust Institute convened a gathering of 15 faculty and administrators to assess the impact these trainings have on student learning. Participants believe strongly that FaithTrust Institute should continue its training and expand it to include all seminaries in the Association of Theological Schools. Students benefit from learning about healthy boundaries, the role of judicatory committees, and ministerial ethics is an issue of power and abuse rather than an issue of "sexual morality." Success of the FaithTrust Institute Seminary Project is reflected in seminaries incorporating the training and educational materials into their curriculum on a permanent basis.

Proposal abstract :
The small grant will be used to gather a leadership team of women scholars/ teachers of religion and theology to discuss the notion of indignation as a rubric for understanding women faculty issues -- particularly teacher identity, the influence of indignation on vocation, classroom practices, and oppressive forces which seek to render women faculty powerless. In addition, the leadership team will develop proposals for further development of pedagogies of indignation in relation to women faculty.

Learning Abstract :
This planning grant was used to design a project for women who teach and who are simultaneously activists. We are interested in the lives of women who work for justice as they teach and who take seriously their emotional health and well being as well as those who are curious about the role of emotions in the classroom. We see the current phenomena to be problematic - the phenomena of a dramatic increase of women in leadership and very little transformation in the curriculum of higher education. Our plan is to create communal conversation for women so that we might (in an extended conversation) fashion, discuss and create practices for teaching that incorporate the activist spirit and that also take the emotional side seriously. This grant allowed face-to-face meetings with our leadership team to better shape and focus our project.

Proposal abstract :
The aim of this grant is to provide ongoing learning for the members of the College Theology Society (CTS), an academic society comprised of more than 900 members from colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, in relationship to addressing race specifically, and diversity in general in the classroom. We seek to provide resources and support that extend beyond those offered in our respective institutions to a cohort of 15-20 faculty who have expressed a desire to deepen the “gifts” of diversity and to tackle its challenges. We propose doing so through two 1.5 day workshops in June 2010 and June 2011--”Making Visible the Invisible” and “Unlearning Privilege: The Classroom as Spiritually and Socially Transformative Space.” Both will immediately proceed our annual convention and be facilitated by experts in this area of scholarship and pedagogy. The workshops will be linked by a year-long on-line colloquium through the CTS website.

Learning Abstract :
The aim of this grant was to provide ongoing learning experiences for the members of College Theology Society, an academic society comprised of members from colleges and universities in the United States and Canada, in relationship to addressing race specifically, and diversity in general in the theology/religious studies classroom. Three questions oriented our inquiry: 1) What are the gifts and opportunities of having difference in the classroom? This objective of exploring the gift and challenge of race and diversity is easy to say but very difficult to enact. The struggle of this learning does not involve an inability to understand concepts at arms length and on an intellectual level, something we as academics are well equipped to do. Rather it involves the far more demanding capacity to reflect on affective learning in the here and now, not only in the context of our classrooms but also in the context of our relationships among each other as fellow members of an academic enterprise. The skills we acquire in intentionally engaging the diversity among ourselves will translate into ways of being in the classroom that do the same. 2) What are the challenges of having difference in the classroom? Issues of power within a group intensify the struggling to explore issues of diversity. The vulnerability of untenured faculty and various roles in the academy must be accounted for in order for all members to engage constructively issues of diversity. Addressing the power dynamics at work among group members will shed light on dynamics that undoubtedly shape interactions in our classrooms as well. 3) What can CTS do to promote the gifts and help with the challenges of teaching in a diverse classroom? Throughout the workshop the need became clear for a multi-dimensional approach to identity (race, class, gender, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, status within the academy) in order to adequately account for the reality of oppression. To engage in this work it is necessary to have a community of scholars committed to this inquiry to critically explore white privilege, racism, sexism, and homophobia.

Proposal abstract :
This pre-meeting session at the Society of Christian ethics annual meeting in January 2011 promotes teaching sexuality from a professional ethics perspective and provides resources to do so. Darryl Stephens, Marie Fortune, and Kate Ott will present, respectively, the efforts of the General Commission on the Status and Role of Women (GCSRW) of the United Methodist Church, the FaithTrust Institute (FTI) and the Religious Institute (RI) to strengthen existing curricular coverage and training in ministerial sexual ethics, professional ethics, healthy boundaries and self-care as standard aspects of seminary and religious education. Following a panel discussion, faculty participants in this pre-meeting will work in groups led by the presenters to develop concrete strategies for improving the teaching of sexual and professional ethics in their own institutional settings.

Learning Abstract :
The project was successful in engaging faculty in conversation at that moment. During the workshop, faculty were very engaged and interested in the topic teaching sexuality from a professional ethics perspective. Most expressed interest in learning about readings and syllabi to integrate professional sexual ethics into existing courses and were glad to have an opportunity for this conversation. However, in follow-up emails, faculty seemed to have difficulty sustaining their attention to this issue amidst the busyness of their day-to-day administrative, scholarly, and teaching responsibilities. An expanding conversation about teaching and learning professional sexual ethics requires institutional structures to support this effort beyond those faculty persons who already have a research interest in or social-justice commitment to sexual ethics. Policies and expectations by church judicatories, in relation to seminaries, and public leadership roles, in relation to undergraduate education, may provide the infrastructure and support needed for improvement.

Proposal abstract :
The overarching purpose of this project is to make available to seminaries in ATS and to bible institutes in AETH a cohort of Hispanic theological educators who, through effective online pedagogical principles and practices, can teach courses on their theological disciplines from their particular Hispanic perspective. One outcome of this project is for AETH to generate a first group of professors across theological disciplines capable of extending their teaching to ATS member institutions that, for different reasons, do not have Hispanic professors as part of their faculty. Another outcome is for AETH to establish a group of Hispanic “online faculty” capable of teaching courses culturally and socially relevant to its member institutions as they strive to prepare the present and future pastors of the growing Hispanic church in the USA.

Learning Abstract :
The implementation of the phases of the project proved to be helpful for achieving the goal of training Hispanic/Latino Faculty to create and teach courses online. But in light of the realities of seminary faculty in general, and of the Hispanic/Latino faculty in particular, for whom the demands on their time during the school year makes really difficult putting aside time and energy to do something that may not have an immediate impact in their theological academic career, a change in the time frame for the implementation of project may be needed. That is, to move from completing the project during a calendar year to implement it in concentrated and intensive 4-5 day time frame. Theological institutions interested in attracting Hispanic students and/or in teaching courses from a variety of theological disciplines with a Hispanic perspective will greatly benefit from the availability of Hispanic/Latino faculty trained for teaching online.

Proposal abstract :
The REA proposes to host two events at its 2014 annual meeting under the aegis of the Wabash Center. The first is a daylong pre-conference event for students, teachers, and practitioners that will unfold in two parts. Participants can choose to be present for one part or both parts of the day. The second event is the Ph.D. student breakfast, traditionally sponsored by the Wabash Center, which provides a setting at the Annual Meeting where students gather to hear from senior scholars on thriving as a teaching scholar inside and outside the academy. Both events will address particular ways that scholars can equip themselves to address the changing contexts of teaching and learning through creative expansion of their repertoire of teaching practices and partnerships.

Learning Abstract :
This small grant was focused on inviting faculty and doctoral students in the field of religious education into engagement with the ecology of digital scholarship and teaching, while nurturing their vocational development. A series of workshops on digital culture and pedagogy which stressed issues of a scholar's "digital presence" and "teaching with experience using digital tools" were offered as a pre-conference event just prior to the 2014 Annual REA meeting. A breakfast seminar for doctoral students was also held during the convention, at which Dr. Willie James Jennings offered the language of artistry as a rich resource for sustaining the vocation of a scholar/teacher in this complex and rapidly transforming scholarly field. In particular he invited doctoral students to consider the adaptive challenges and opportunities the field of religious education poses to them, and he offered the generative framework of being an artist as a strategy for engaging such challenges.

Proposal abstract :
Consultation to explore how Field Educators can sharpen the focus of their identity, paradigms, and methods of teaching as well as impact teaching in the theological curriculum.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought to gather theological field educators from the Association of Theological Field Education for consultation to explore how as a guild they could envision their own paradigms and methods of teaching so as to greater impact teaching in the curriculum of theological education.
Project director reports that the group discovered that the topic of field educators as teachers represents a major new vision of field education that can potentially reinvigorate the discipline and make field education a more integral part of seminary curricula. They saw the project as having significant potential for the transformation of theological education in the ways that it can help seminaries integrate theory and practice more thoroughly in their curriculum. Finally, they realized through the consultation how little is known in the academy about the work of field educators, and thus their task as a guild to communicate to academic administrators in the larger academy about their work.

Proposal abstract :
Consultation to bring together Presbyterian teachers and others from Presbyterian Church (USA) institutions to reflect on how Presbyterian understanding can inform the ideals and practices of teaching.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought to develop a consultation of Presbyterian teachers and other teachers from PC(USA) institutions who are strongly engaged in the Reformed tradition of higher education to reflect on how Presbyterian understanding can inform the ideals and practices of teaching.
One learning revolved around "the question of whether or not institution's Presbyterian element could be strengthened in the face of generally secular trend of the academy. While some were optimistic that so much might be done to strengthen Presbyterian related colleges, others felt that other colleges, especially those in the historical category, did not have enough Presbyterian identity left to strengthen." On the issue of pedagogical practice, they noted that while historically Presbyterian pedagogy was informed by the doctrine of the sovereignty of God and the lecture format, they teach students that struggle with that doctrine and prefer "a general approach of concerned teaching and active learning over lecture."

Proposal abstract :
Pre-conference meeting of those who teach in pastoral psychology and theology to evaluate the practice-theory-practice method used in "Introduction to Pastoral Care" courses and the correlation of various disciplinary perspectives used at the master's level in both seminary and university contexts.

Learning Abstract :
The project sought to gather teachers of pastoral psychology and theology in a one-day meeting preceding the annual meeting of the Society for Pastoral Theology. The purpose of the meeting would be to reflect upon various methods of practical theology used by those who teach in the area of pastoral theology at a master's level. Specifically, they hoped to consider their use of a practice-theory-practice method in their introductory courses and examine how various disciplinary perspectives relate to each other and to practice.
The following five themes emerged as common rationales for their teaching strategies: theological education that seeks both pastoral formation and critical thinking, with the method of practical theology to ground it; beginning with and valuing experience, with authority granted to the context of pastoral care; enhancing self-awareness of social identity and power differentials; acknowledging students' accountability to denominational and professional organizations; and forming students who have a capacity for empathy and who know how to establish and maintain faithful relationships.

Proposal abstract :
The Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia is planning a Retreat for representatives from area seminaries. This will be the first major gathering of the Center's Philadelphia Area Inter-Seminary Initiative. "Encounters in Learning: Preparing Tomorrow's Religious Leaders for Interfaith Engagement" will be held on June 9th and 10th at Cranaleith Spiritual Center in Philadelphia. This is an opportunity to share research on the current state of interfaith education; to explore themes of common interest and concern; and to build relationships across institutions. The all-day session is open to as many members of seminaries' faculty, administration and staff who are interested. Specific evening and morning sessions will be for individuals selected by each institution to represent their interests in planning the Initiative going forward.

Learning Abstract :
The Interfaith Center of Greater Philadelphia is engaged in the formation of a regional Inter-Seminary Initiative to promote interfaith learning among seminary faculties, administrators and students, preparing them to live and lead faithfully in a religiously diverse world. The Wabash Center provided pivotal funding for a two-day retreat for representatives of area seminaries. Entitled Encounters in Learning: Preparing Tomorrow's Religious Leaders for Interfaith Engagement, this retreat was attended by 33 representatives of 11 schools. Participants on day one included Presidents, Deans, Faculty, Librarians and others, with a cross section of leaders from these seminaries remaining for a second day, forming an oversight group that continues to work on future planning and implementation of the full initiative.

Proposal abstract :
The Inter-Seminary Initiative will equip faculty, administrators and students in Philadelphia’s area schools of theological education with the skills and experiences to minister in a world of growing religious diversity. The focus of this request is to answer the question: What are the most effective methodologies for multi-faith education. The Interfaith Center will organize professional development opportunities for faculty in diverse area seminaries to learn a range of pedagogical approaches that have been successfully employed by peer leaders in the field who have incorporated multi-faith education into the classroom.

Learning Abstract :
Funding from The Wabash Center allowed the Inter-Seminary Initiative, a collaborative of twelve seminaries in the Philadelphia region, to explore the question ‘what are the most effective pedagogical models for inter-religious education?' Through extended listening sessions, open house events, and facilitated conversations at day-long or multi-day retreats, we have found that immersive, direct, and dialogical experiences are the better practices for inter-religious education. While other pedagogical offerings are helpful and useful, the more that people are in direct contact with one another, over a sustained amount of time, the more likely they have a transformative experience. This transformation will impact the classroom and higher education experience, as well as future leadership in the congregation or elsewhere. The Inter-Seminary Initiative continues to explore how to offer embodied, hyper-local encounters, which we consider foundational for inter-religious education, despite a movement toward online and distance learning offerings.

Proposal abstract :
The new Coronavirus pandemic has created a context with which religious leaders 'in formation' must contend - and for which their teachers/guides must also be newly prepared. Schools moved classes online, worship shifted to remote spaces, and field education / internships adapted to the current reality. This year’s annual Inter-Seminary Initiative (ISI) Retreat, Learning Across Distance and Faiths: Theological Education and COVID-19, will give trusted colleagues an opportunity to discuss what they did that worked (and why); what failed (and why); what made for a smooth transition to online learning; what were obstacles; and, most importantly for the ISI, what opportunities does online learning at these individual schools open up for collective teaching and learning among the schools.

Proposal abstract :
The main goal of our proposal is to help our members reflect and become intentional in tailoring their teaching of the Bible to address issues of accessibility and technology. Towards this end, this workshop will focus on teaching the Bible not only with technology but also with disabilities studies and healthcare concerns (including how to work with students with accessibility challenges). As many people have pointed out, the crisis of COVID has revealed many inequities in our world. All one needs to do is to look at who gets blamed for causing the virus, who must report to work despite the virus, and whose lives are disproportionately extinguished because of the virus. SBL is committed to making justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and equity (JEDI) a central concern. Given how racism is not only pervasive in both society and academy but also related to matters of both public and private health (Sullivan 2020; Crossley 2022), we also have the goal to provide support for biblical scholars of color. This emphasis is also appropriate since biblical scholars of color, in contrast to scholars who understand

Learning Abstract :
The main goal of our proposal is to help our members reflect and become intentional in tailoring
their teaching of the Bible to address issues of accessibility and technology. Towards this end,
this workshop will focus on teaching the Bible not only with technology but also with disabilities
studies and healthcare concerns (including how to work with students with accessibility
challenges).
As many people have pointed out, the crisis of COVID has revealed many inequities in our
world. All one needs to do is to look at who gets blamed for causing the virus, who must report
to work despite the virus, and whose lives are disproportionately extinguished because of the
virus. SBL is committed to making justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion, and equity (JEDI) a
central concern. Given how racism is not only pervasive in both society and academy but also
related to matters of both public and private health (Sullivan 2020; Crossley 2022), we also have
the goal to provide support for biblical scholars of color. This emphasis is also appropriate since
biblical scholars of color, in contrast to scholars who understand

Proposal abstract :
This is a pilot project to strengthen the teaching of Bible institutes through their own already strong teachers. This allows for each teacher to contextualize the teaching in accordance to the needs of their institution. The project will bring together 10-12 teachers of different Bible Institutes who will commit to teach at least 5 other teachers in their teaching/learning setting what they have learned about technology, critical thinking and theological reflection by using Problem based learning (PBL). The purpose is to improve the quality of teaching at their institutions to generate leaders of the church (clergy and lay) who will be able to bring those skills to their work, modeling them among their own church leaders. Surveys and a final online listening conference will help us to determine whether this project has improved teaching that generates critical thinking and theological reflection. BI’s and/or denominational offices who desire to participate in the project will sign a short document agreeing to having their teachers teach others and, where possible, implement a course on community transformation into the present curricula. If one already exists, then they will seek to evaluate and/or revise the course as needed. Critical thinking and theological reflection are at the heart of being able to teach a congregation.

Learning Abstract :

This is a pilot project to strengthen the teaching of Bible institutes through their own already strong teachers. This allows for each teacher to contextualize the teaching in accordance to the needs of their institution. The project will bring together 10-12 teachers of different Bible Institutes who will commit to teach at least 5 other teachers in their teaching/learning setting what they have learned about technology, critical thinking and theological reflection by using Problem based learning (PBL). The purpose is to improve the quality of teaching at their institutions to generate leaders of the church (clergy and lay) who will be able to bring those skills to their work, modeling them among their own church leaders. Surveys and a final online listening conference will help us to determine whether this project has improved teaching that generates critical thinking and theological reflection. BI's and/or denominational offices who desire to participate in the project will sign a short document agreeing to having their teachers teach others and, where possible, implement a course on community transformation into the present curricula. If one already exists, then they will seek to evaluate and/or revise the course as needed.
Critical thinking and theological reflection are at the heart of being able to teach a congregation.

Proposal abstract :
The editorial leadership of the Horizons in Religious Education book series seeks to inaugurate an initiative on intentional mentoring of scholars within the Religious Education Association for relevant and effective writing, to support emerging authors in the field to wrestle with big questions that integrate teaching, writing, and mentoring: How do we write? What do we write? For whom do we write? To kickstart the initiative, we bring senior and emerging religious education scholars together for reflective and supportive accompaniment, organized around a pilot Writing Retreat, to experiment with some best practices of mentoring authors toward successful “first books.” These efforts draw on the REA’s long-time commitment to intentional care for and empowerment of new and diverse scholarly voices, which we see as a critical example of embodied pedagogy.

Proposal abstract :
This project convenes the editorial leadership of the Horizons book series of the Religious Education Association, for deeper reflection on the integrative, (re)creative, and co-creative nature of academic scholarship as integral to the vocation of the religious education scholar, and to expand our understanding of the nature, meaning, and practices of “mentoring” in support of emerging scholars who are navigating the shifting landscapes of academic life and the complications of the writing life. Through a series of virtual conversations, reading and writing exercises, and listening sessions with prospective authors, we reflect on how to effectively support emerging scholars to hone their authorial voices in staking claims on critical issues of public life, as scholars and practitioners who teach and write at the intersection of religion and education. Through this exploration, we imagine new mentoring models that would be relevant, effective, and transformative for new authors.