Schedule of Sessions

All Virtual Sessions – Thursdays, 11:00 am -1:00 pm EST

• Session 1–March 17, 2022 (virtual)
• Session 2 –April 7, 2022 (virtual)
• Session 3—April 28, 2022(virtual)
• Session 4—May 19, 2022 (virtual)
• In-Person: June 27-July 1, 2022, Wabash Center in Crawfordsville, 
  Indiana
• Session 5—Sept. 15, 2022 (virtual)
• Session 6—Sept. 29, 2022 (virtual)
• Session 7—Oct. 20, 2022 (virtual)

Leadership Team

Marcia Riggs, Ph.D., Columbia Theological Seminary 

Kenneth Ngwa, Ph.D., Drew Theological School

Participants

Andrew Mbuvi, University of North Carolina – Greensboro
Esther Acolatse, University of Toronto
Mitzi Smith, Columbia Theological Seminary
Richelle White, Kuyper College
Robert Wafawanaka, Virginia Union University
Aliou Niang, Union Theological Seminary
Almeda Wright, Yale Divinity School
Amey Adkins-Jones, Boston College
David Ngong, Stillman College
Ferdinand Okorie, Catholic Theological Union
Jennifer Leath, Iliff School of Theology
Juan Floyd-Thomas, Vanderbilt University
AnneMarie Mingo, Pennsylvania State University
Montague Williams, Point Loma Nazarene University
S.N. Nyeck, University of Colorado at Boulder

Description

This workshop invites mid-career colleagues of the African Diaspora to dialogical engagement around questions of identity and community. Participants will examine how the professional expectations of scholarship, teaching, and service are related to issues of identity. Participants will complete autobiographical reflections on identity and pedagogical models for communal wellness.

The Wabash Center, to support emerging projects on teaching, will provide non-competitive grants in the amount of $5000 for each participant. Please see the small grant description and proposal process on our website. Proposals for the non-competitive grants must be submitted by November 9, 2022.

The hybrid workshop will gather 14 participants for seven online sessions and an in-person summer session at Wabash Center. Sessions will include small group and plenary discussions, structured and unstructured social time, and time for personal and communal discovery, relaxation, restoration, exercise, meditation, restoration, and shared meals.

Workshop Goals

• To explore the meaning of African Diasporic identity on scholarship, teaching, and service
• To explore the nature of community formation for achieving holistic, integrative belonging
• To explore imaginative epistemologies and pedagogies necessary to address multiple pandemics (racial, economic, environmental, health)

Participant Eligibility

Colleagues eligible for application are: those scholars of the African Diaspora who have 7- years or more of full-time teaching in any fields of religion and theology in colleges, universities or seminaries in USA, Canada or Puerto Rico. 

Application Materials 

Please complete and attach the following documents to the online application:

1. Application Contact Information form. 

2. Cover letter:

• A letter introducing yourself, describing your teaching and teaching context and why you are applying for this opportunity. (250 words)

3. Brief essay describing:

• How do you define your identity as a faculty member of the African Diaspora? Describe an incident as a teacher or scholar when you felt your identity challenged. (500 words)

3. Academic CV (4-page limit). 

5. Letter of institutional support for your full participation in this workshop from your dean, rector, president, provost, or principal. The letter should also address your potential for innovative teaching and collaborative contribution to the group.