Resources

2008 Conference for Doctoral Programs Preparing Graduate Students as Teachers Dates October 3-5, 2008 - University Place Conference Center and Hotel at IUPUI Participants: J. Matthew Ashley, University of Notre Dame William Bellinger, Baylor University Elias Bongmba, Rice University Michael Brown, Wabash College James Byrd, Vanderbilt University/The Divinity School Euan Cameron, Union Theological Seminary, NY John Carroll, Union Presbyterian Seminary Anthony Ciorra, Fordham University Wendy Cotter, Loyola University Chicago Robert Foster, Southern Methodist University Joel Green, Fuller Theological Seminary Jay Hammond, Saint Louis University Thomas Hughson, Marquette University Richard Jaffe, Duke University Randy Maddox, Duke Divinity School Maureen Maloney, Graduate Theological Union John Marshall, University of Toronto Stephen Moore, Drew Theological School Thorsten Moritz, Bethel University Robert Priest, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School Richard Rosengarten, University of Chicago Divinity School Katharine Sakenfeld, Princeton Theological Seminary Eileen Schuller, McMaster University J. Jayakiran Sebastian, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia Randall Styers, University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill Richard Taylor, Dallas Theological Seminary Terrence Tilley, Fordham University Theodore Vial, Iliff School of Theology James Watts, Syracuse University Charles Wood, Perkins School of Theology Southern Methodist University Phil Zylla, McMaster Divinity College Wabash Center Staff: Paul Myhre,Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion Thomas Pearson,Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion Nadine Pence,Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion

2008-09 Colloquy Mid-Career Religion Faculty Teaching at Colleges and Universities 
Dates July 15-21, 2008 - First Summer Session at Wabash College January 15-18, 2009 -Episcopal Retreat Center, Mustang Island, Corpus Christi, Texas June 3-8, 2009 - Second Summer Session at Wabash College 
Leadership Team Eugene Gallagher, Director, Connecticut College Carolyn Medine, University of Georgia Bruce Forbes, Morningside College Betty DeBerg, University of Northern Iowa Thomas Pearson, Wabash Center 
 Description: The Wabash Center is pleased to announce its Mid-Career Colloquy on teaching. The colloquy covers an extensive period of a teacher’s life, from the granting of tenure (or its equivalent) and the last decade or so before retirement. This period in a teaching career presents its own particular challenges for teaching and learning. This is a time when reflection can help mid-career faculty to identify possibilities, renew commitment, venture in a heretofore unconsidered direction, and compose a more clarified sense of self and purpose. At this point faculty find themselves asking questions such as: How do faculty find they have changed and adapted to the demands and culture of their institution? How does a mid-career person keep herself/himself interested and retain a sense of who they are and what they are doing? What are the boundaries and rhythms of teaching, research, and citizenship at this stage in one’s career? What are the necessary losses and the satisfactions that go with being generative and with being a leader at mid-career? What is the relationship among leadership, roles, institutional context, and person? How do mid-career faculty take on appropriately the role of generative leaders in their profession and in their institutions? How do mid-career faculty continue to form themselves and to be formed? The colloquy is an opportunity for mid-career faculty to gather for reflection on the particular challenges and opportunities of teaching at mid-career. Goals: To support sustained reflection on the rhythms, responsibilities, and challenges of teaching, scholarship, and university citizenship at mid-career; To support excellence in teaching and mentoring of teaching for faculty on the other side of the tenuring process To provide opportunity and resources for participants to develop self-selected projects related to teaching and learning in their courses; To consider the shape and challenges of leadership for mid-career faculty at this time in the field and in higher education; To help mid-career faculty strategize about ways they can support and cultivate their own and others' vocations as teachers; To develop projects that will encourage excellence in teaching in participants' schools and broader academic settings. Front Row (left to right): Amy DeRogatis (Michigan State University), *Carolyn Jones Medine (University of Georgia), Beverly Stratton (Augsburg College), Michael Vines (Lees-McRae College), James Wilhoit (Wheaton College). Second Row: *Bruce Forbes (Morningside College), Debra Mubashshir Majeed (Beloit College), Joanne Robinson (University of North Carolina, Charlotte), Lynn Japinga (Hope College). Third Row: Charles Miller (University of North Dakota), *Betty DeBerg (University of Northern Iowa), Daniel Deffenbaugh (Hastings College), John Lanci (Stonehill College), Todd Penner (Austin College). Fourth Row: Arch Wong (Ambrose University College), *Eugene Gallagher (Connecticut College), Yvonne Chireau (Swarthmore College), Richard Ascough (Queen’s Theological College), *Thomas Pearson (Wabash Center). *leadership/staff

2007 Online Course for Theological School Faculty Teaching Online Dates Course Dates: June 4 to July 27, 2007 Cost: $100 per person The Wabash Center is increasingly aware of the growing number of seminaries that offer at least some of their curriculum online. The circumstances that lead to the use of online seminary courses are many and complex. The pedagogical challenges and opportunities of the online seminary classroom are of particular concern to us. Therefore, as part of our mission to enhance teaching and learning, we have contracted with the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Distance Education Certificate Program – a nationally recognized leader in instructional design for e-learning environments – to offer an 8 week online class for seminary faculty to learn about and experience effective practices for teaching online. This an introductory course that will present the major elements involved in using the internet for instruction. It will be conducted online to provide hands-on experience with online learning. The course is designed to accommodate faculty with a wide range of online teaching experience. No prior experience is necessary; course material will be valuable to faculty at more advanced levels as well. It will use a “principles-to-practice” approach that presents guidelines and strategies for applying principles of online learning to the practices of individual faculties’ online courses. Each week will include resource materials, readings, and online activities to engage participants in active discussion, debate, case studies, mini-projects, and other group or individual work. The course will use threaded discussion forums and an asynchronous format, meaning you can log in at any time to read and post messages – although posting early in the week and then later in the week is required for group cohesion. This is a concentrated, resource-rich, learning experience. You must think through what you’re hoping to learn, to help guide you in selecting resources most relevant to your situation and context. The approximate time commitment is 8-10 hours per week for reading and activities. To participate, you must be able to login and post responses at least twice every week. There is no “certificate” that is awarded for successful completion of the course. You will need a computer with a broadband connection to the Internet, a browser such as Internet Explorer 6.0 or better, and Flash Player Plug-In (or be able to download the free plug-in). Participants: Mikael Broadway, Shaw University Divinity School Teresa Brown, Church Divinity School of the Pacific Dent Davis, Columbia Theological Seminary Gloria Doherty, George Fox Evangelical Seminary Rob Douglass, Ashland Theological Seminary Brian Dunn, St. Peter's Seminary Steven Edscorn, Memphis Theological Seminary Robert Freeman, Fuller Theological Seminary Peter Gräbe, Regent University School of Divinity Barry Hamilton, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan College Mark Hoffman, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg Gayle Koontz, Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary Julie Lytle, Episcopal Divinity School Christian McConnell, University of St. Michael's College Robert O’Gorman, Loyola University Chicago Juan Oliver, General Theological Seminary Duane Priebe, Wartburg Theological Seminary Douglas Rutt, Concordia Theological Seminary (IN) Ken Sawyer, McCormick Theological Seminary Patricia Schoelles, St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry James Schwenk, Evangelical Theological Seminary Jane Thayer, Seventh-Day Adventist Theological Seminary - Andrews University George Thompson, Interdenominational Theological Center Scott Thumma, Hartford Seminary Jean Trumbauer, United Theological Seminary of Twin Cities Steve Veteto, Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary Sarah Wile, Sewanee: The University of the South Nathan Yoder, Eastern Mennonite Seminary

Graduate Programs Teaching Initiative 
 Leadership Team Eugene Gallagher, Connecticut College Willie Jennings, Duke Divinity School Patricia Killen, Gonzaga University Joretta Marshall, Brite Divinity School RobertPazmiño,Andover Newton Theological School Frank Yamada, McCormick Seminary Purpose: To enable doctoral programs in theology and religion to assess their preparation of Ph.D. and Th.D. students for teaching appointments. The assessment involved conversations with recent alumni/ae to explore the alignment between the preparation they received and the context in which they are currently teaching. Description: 33 graduate programs were awarded $15,000 grants to host Teaching Initiative Gatherings at their school or at a site in close proximity. These gatherings involved 8-10 recent alumni/ae (graduated in the last 5 years and in a teaching appointment), the Dean of the School, Graduate Program Director, and 2-3 key faculty members. The Wabash Center provided each school with a consultant to help them design and lead the 2-day/1 night meeting and a Wabash Center staff person as an observer. The focus of the Teaching Initiative gathering was to explore questions of teaching preparedness with alumni/ae and key parties at the school. 2015-16 Schools Claremont School of Theology Southern Baptist Theological Seminary University of Virginia 2013-14 Schools Duke Divinity School Duke University Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary Hebrew Union College Indiana University - Bloomington Trinity Evangelical Divinity School University of Chicago Divinity School University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill University of Ottawa Summative Conference for 2013-14 schools March 23-25, 2014 Indianapolis, IN 2012 Schools: Boston College Brown University The Catholic University of America Drew University Theological School New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Summative Conference for 2012 schools November 2-4, 2012 at the Wabash Center 2011 Schools: Baylor University Boston University School of Theology Candler School of Theology Dallas Theological Seminary University of Denver/Iliff School of Theology Joint Program Graduate Theological Union Jewish Theological Seminary of America Loyola University Chicago Marquette University McGill University McMaster University Princeton Theological Seminary Southern Methodist University Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Syracuse University University of Notre Dame Summative Conference for 2011 schools April 23-25, 2012 at IUPUI Conference Place Hotel (Indianapolis)

2010 Teaching and Learning Colloquy on The Role of Theological School Librarians 
Dates April 22-26, 2010 – Wabash College 
Leadership Team Roger Loyd, Duke Divinity School, Director Amy Limpitlaw, Yale Divinity School Cait Kokolus, St. Charles Borromeo Seminary Dennis Norlin, American Theological Library Association Paul Myhre, Wabash Center 
 Eligibility: full-time professional librarian working in an accredited seminary or theological school in the United States or Canada within the first seven years of librarian role member of the American Theological Library Association (ATLA) commitment to full participation, from the beginning to ending date and time, for the workshop session Read our Policy on Full Participation (click here) Description: Theological librarians play an essential role in the educational process. Institutional standards developed by the Association of Theological Schools (ATS) highlight the need for librarians to contribute to theological scholarship – teaching, learning, and research – in ways specific both to the profession and to the particular school, its mission, curriculum, and resources. Yet in practice, the means of fulfilling this expectation are not always clear or immediately available to librarians. This colloquy will explore the vocation of theological librarianship and promote the development of strategies and skills for increasing the effectiveness of librarians in the teaching/learning/research process in their own institutional and professional contexts. The colloquy is sponsored jointly by the Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning in Theology and Religion and the American Theological Library Association (ATLA). Colloquy Goals: 1. To provide an opportunity for theological librarians new to the profession to reflect on the distinctiveness of theological librarianship as a vocation and a profession. 2. To assist theological librarians in developing their role as educators and as partners with faculty and students in the task of theological scholarship. 3. To explore the future of theological libraries, including the theological librarian’s role in implementing change in educational practices related to the impact of new technologies, methods, resources, paradigms and trends on theological scholarship/librarianship. 4. To provide opportunities for participants to consider the collaborative nature of librarianship in theological education and to engage in a community of peers. Stipend: Participants will receive a stipend of $1,250 for full participation in the colloquy, plus local expenses and travel. Please Note: U.S. Law prohibits the Wabash Center from paying stipends to participants with certain classes of foreign national status. The Wabash Center is, however, able to reimburse ALL participants for travel and other expenses. Read More (click here) Immigration status has no bearing on the Wabash Center’s selection of participants. It impacts only our ability to pay these participants a stipend. We deeply regret these restrictions but are confident that participants who are not eligible for a stipend will nonetheless find our programs valuable even without a stipend. Front Row (left to right): Suzanne Estelle-Holmer (Yale Divinity School), Miranda Bennett (University of Houston), Lisa Gonzalez (Catholic Theological Union of Chicago), Rebecca Miller (Trinity International University), Lorraine Olley (University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary). Second Row: *Amy Limpitlaw (Yale Divinity School), Elena Nipper (Vanguard University of Southern California), *Cait Kokolus (St. Charles Borromeo Seminary), Tracy Powell Iwaskow (Candler School of Theology – Emory University), Erica Durham (Columbia Theological Seminary), Leland Deeds (Union Theological Seminary – PSCE). Third Row: *Paul Myhre (Wabash Center), Brad Ost (Clark Atlanta University), *Roger Loyd (Duke Divinity School), Lee Webb (Oklahoma City University), Christopher Benda (Vanderbilt University), *Dennis Norlin (American Theological Library Association), Jared Porter (Asbury Theological Seminary). *leadership/staff

2010-11 Writing the Scholarship of Teaching 
Dates October 1-4, 2010 - First Session at Wabash College February 25-28, 2011 - Second Session atWabash College 
Leadership Team Patricia O'Connell Killen, Pacific Lutheran University Eugene V. Gallagher, Connecticut College Thomas Pearson, Wabash Center 
 Description: The purpose of this colloquy is to cultivate the scholarship of writing about teaching among teachers of religion and theology in colleges, universities, seminaries and divinity schools. The colloquy will gather a small group of experienced and critically reflective teachers for a year-long process of writing and conversation about writing the scholarship of teaching and learning. The colloquy involves two weekends and assignments between the sessions. Participants will work on their own article length manuscript through the course of the colloquy year, engage in peer review, and converse about writing this genre. The colloquy is designed with the intention that each participant will produce a publishable essay in the scholarship of teaching and learning in theology and religion. Colloquy Goals: Provide a supportive context within which participants develop and produce publishable work in the scholarship of teaching in theology and religion Facilitate reflection on writing the scholarship of teaching and learning in theology and religion that helps to articulate general characteristics of quality and to refine forms of the genre Identify strategies that will support the production of high quality scholarship of teaching and learning Increase the number of persons in the field who are conversant with the scholarship of teaching and learning in theology and religion as well as the broader scholarship on teaching and learning Stipend: Participants will receive a stipend of $1,500 for full participation in both sessions, plus local expenses and travel. Participants will receive an additional stipend of $500 for submission of an article manuscript on teaching to either Teaching Theology and Religion, or some other appropriate academic journal, by January 1, 2012. Please Note: U.S. Law prohibits the Wabash Center from paying stipends to participants with certain classes of foreign national status. The Wabash Center is, however, able to reimburse ALL participants for travel and other expenses. Read More (click here) Immigration status has no bearing on the Wabash Center’s selection of participants. It impacts only our ability to pay these participants a stipend. We deeply regret these restrictions but are confident that participants who are not eligible for a stipend will nonetheless find our programs valuable even without a stipend. Front Row (left to right): Luke Powery (Princeton Theological Seminary), *Patricia O’Connell Killen (Gonzaga University), Gay Byron (Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School), Norris Palmer (Saint Mary’s College of California). Second Row: Joanne Robinson (University of North Carolina – Charlotte), Elizabeth Corrie (Candler School of Theology – Emory University), Lucretia Yaghjian (Episcopal Divinity School), Bruce Forbes (Morningside College), Michael Koppel (Wesley Theological Seminary), Kristi Upson-Saia (Occidental College). Third Row: *Thomas Pearson (Wabash Center), *Eugene Gallagher (Connecticut College), Reid Locklin (University of Toronto), Arch Wong (Ambrose Seminary), Elijah Siegler (College of Charleston). *leadership/staff

2010-11 Teaching and Learning Colloquy on Religious Commitments in the Undergraduate Classroom 
Dates July 19-24, 2010 - First Session at Wabash College March 23-27, 2011 - Second Session at Mustang Island 
Leadership Team Carolyn Medine, University of Georgia, Director Joseph Favazza, Stonehill College Kathleen Skerrett, Grinnell College Daniel Deffenbaugh, Hastings College Thomas Pearson, Wabash Center 
 Description: Recent studies, including the HERI Report and Barbara Walvoord’s study of undergraduate introductory courses in religion (see links on the right above), suggest that most students come into the college classroom with expectations that their “big questions” will be addressed: e.g. self-understanding, development of personal values, and expression of spirituality. By contrast, faculty members tend to emphasize critical thinking and analytical distance as primary learning outcomes for their courses. This colloquy of 20 faculty will address this tension between student expectations and faculty goals. We invite religious studies and theology faculty in undergraduate colleges and universities to explore teaching practices that encourage students to integrate their religious and ethical commitments with critical thinking. Such practices might include activist pedagogies (such as service learning, feminist pedagogies, contemplative pedagogies, education for social justice) as well as more established approaches (such as reflective journaling, servant leadership, and spiritual autobiography). Through common readings, guided conversation, and sharing and analysis of teaching practices, this colloquy will engage the relationship between informing and transforming our students. Colloquy Goals: 1. To form a learning community of reflective practitioners rooted in conversation and cooperation 2. To develop teaching practices that enable students to: connect critical thinking to development, commitment and action reflect on the meaning of their commitments integrate religious commitments with other aspects of their personal identities interpret their commitments in a global and pluralistic context 3. To reflect on our teaching practices in the context of: institutional missions teaching goals and outcomes measures and instruments of assessment professional and personal identities student and guild expectations Stipend: Participants will receive a stipend of $2,500 for full participation in the two sessions, plus local expenses and travel. Front Row (left to right): Kristine Utterback (University of Wyoming), Kerry Skora (Hiram College), Steve Young (McHenry County College), Michelle Tooley (Berea College), *Joseph Favazza (Stonehill College). Second Row: Dianne Oliver (University of Evansville), Kathleen Fisher (Assumption College), *Carolyn Medine (University of Georgia), *Kathleen Skerrett (Grinnell College), *Daniel Deffenbaugh (Hastings College), David Howell (Ferrum College), Suzanne Morrison (Ohio Northern University). Third Row: Ann Pellegrini (New York University), Georgia Frank (Colgate University), *Thomas Pearson (Wabash Center), Hannah Schell (Monmouth College), Arthur Sutherland (Loyola University Maryland), Charles Miller (University of North Dakota), Phil Quanbeck (Augsburg College), Fred Glennon (LeMoyne College), Phil Wingeier-Rayo (Pfeiffer University). *leadership/staff

2010-11 Teaching and Learning Workshop for Pre-Tenure Theological School Faculty 
Dates July 5-10, 2010 - First Summer Session at Wabash College January 20-23, 2011 - Winter Session at Mustang Island June 20-25, 2011 - Second Summer Session at Wabash College 
Leadership Team Rolf Jacobson, Luther Seminary, Director Joan Martin, Episcopal Divinity School Fred Smith, Wesley Theological Seminary Tracy Trothen, Queens University Thomas Pearson, Wabash Center 
 Front Row (left to right): *Rolf Jacobson (Luther Seminary), Inese Radzins (Pacific School of Religion), Bo Karen Lee (Princeton Theological Seminary), Roger Nam (George Fox Evangelical Seminary), Randall Woodard (Saint Leo University). Second Row: Lea Schweitz (Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago), *Tracy Trothen (Queens University), Moses Penumaka (Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary), Insook Lee (Hood Theological Seminary), Jessicah Duckworth (Wesley Theological Seminary), Keri Day (Brite Divinity School), Dwight Zschelle (Luther Seminary), Mark Brummitt (Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School). Third Row: Andrea White (Candler School of Theology), *Fred Smith (Wesley Theological Seminary), *Joan Martin (Episcopal Divinity School), Angel Santiago-Vendrell (Memphis Theological Seminary), *Thomas Pearson (Wabash Center), Dominic Doyle (Boston College School of Theology and Ministry). *leadership/staff

2010-11 Teaching and Learning Colloquy for Mid-Career Theological School Faculty 
Dates July 12-17, 2010 - First Summer Session at Wabash College January 27-30, 2011 - Winter Session at Mustang Island June 13-18, 2011 - Second Summer Session at Wabash College 
Leadership Team Willie James Jennings, Duke Divinity School, Director Robert Pazmiño, Andover Newton Theological School Amy Oden, Wesley Theological Seminary Virginia Wiles, New Brunswick Theological Seminary Paul Myhre, Wabash Center 
 Description: This colloquy will gather 14 teachers who are in their mid-years of teaching, from the granting of tenure (or its equivalent) to the last decade or so before retirement. This period in a teaching career presents its own particular challenges for teaching and learning. This is a time when reflection can help mid-career faculty to identify possibilities, renew commitment, venture in a heretofore unconsidered direction, and compose a more clarified sense of self and purpose. This year's mid-career colloquy will take as its organizing theme, "The Art of the Teaching Life" giving faculty the opportunity to reflect on their identities as teachers in their institutions through the identities of artists. How might our understanding of the teaching life be deepened by imagining its form through the identities and realities of artists? This colloquy is not aimed necessarily at those in the arts, rather we are looking for faculty who are at the point of asking questions such as: Now that I have given myself to the teaching life, do I like who I have become or who I am becoming? Have I found my voice in the classroom, in my scholarship, at my institution? Or have I lost interest in the intellectual expressions of my discipline, my institution, or the vocation of teaching? Now that I have gained distance from my teachers and mentors, how have I charted my own vision of the teaching life in terms of my pedagogy, my scholarship, and involvement in my institution? In what ways am I yet expressing the gratitude and/or grief of the doctoral formation process in my vocational identity? In what ways do I sense my unique contribution to the classroom, my discipline, and my institution? Or is the uniqueness of my voice absent or weak in one or more of these crucial sites? Where is the dream now, for my teaching, my scholarship, or my institutional life? What are the projects that now I am prepared to imagine that will demand all my wisdom, experience, and skill? If here is no dream now, what does that mean? Where do I want to take the students with the art of teaching? Is it the same places I have grown accustomed to taking them and do I remain satisfied with the destination? Or are there new places I want to go and have them go with me? Do I sense generational, cultural, theological, political, and ideological differences from my students and what does that mean for my life as their teacher? Is the health of my institution such that I will have to imagine taking on a greater leadership role or must I now begin to imagine the teaching life apart from my institution or even apart from a foreseeable teaching position? Colloquy Goals: The overarching goal of the colloquy will be to engage in sustained reflection on the teaching life in terms of our work in the classroom environment, our scholarship, and our citizenship in our theological institution through the identities of artists. We will do this through: Reflecting carefully on the teacher as artist by considering the formation of artists, noting the parallels, differences, and points of convergence Comparing pedagogical form to artistic form by considering the best practices available in teaching and learning in relation to various artistic media (for example, in acting, dancing, oratory, singing, playing an instrument, painting, sculpting, and other forms of crafting) Exploring the significance of a "life with students," and the necessary relationships for sustaining such an "exposed" life Exploring the mentoring, nurturing, facilitating, and directing characteristics of a "life that teaches" by comparing the embodied wisdom of a teacher with the intimate relation of the artist and her art Reflecting on the political nature of the teaching life in its context and content, and its problems and possibilities Forming a modest project that will deepen participant familiarity with an artistic form Building relationships that will support and sustain participants during the time of the colloquy, and hopefully beyond Stipend: Participants will receive a stipend of $3,000 for full participation in the three sessions, plus local expenses and travel. Please Note: U.S. Law prohibits the Wabash Center from paying stipends to participants with certain classes of foreign national status. The Wabash Center is, however, able to reimburse ALL participants for travel and other expenses. Read More (click here) Immigration status has no bearing on the Wabash Center’s selection of participants. It impacts only our ability to pay these participants a stipend. We deeply regret these restrictions but are confident that participants who are not eligible for a stipend will nonetheless find our programs valuable even without a stipend. Follow-up grant or fellowship: Participants will be eligible to apply for a follow-up grant or fellowship of $1,000 for deepening a sense of artistry or spiritual direction tied to teaching and learning. Details will be provided during the colloquy. Front Row (left to right): *Amy Oden (Wesley Theological Seminary), Craig Satterlee (Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago), Rollin Ramsaran (Emmanuel School of Religion), Fred Edie (Duke Divinity School), Julia Speller (Chicago Theological Seminary), Lai Ling Elizabeth Ngan (Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University). Second Row: *Paul Myhre (Wabash Center), Stacey Floyd-Thomas (Vanderbilt University/The Divinity School), Carol Bechtel (Western Theological Seminary), *Robert Pazmiño (Andover Newton Theological School), Klaus Issler (Talbot School of Theology/Biola University), Bruce Fields (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School), *Willie James Jennings (Duke Divinity School), Juan Floyd-Thomas (Vanderbilt University/The Divinity School), David Johns (Earlham School of Religion), Lisa Withrow (Methodist Theological School in Ohio), Ruth Anne Reese (Asbury Theological Seminary), Mignon Jacobs (Fuller Theological Seminary). Not Pictured *Virginia Wiles (New Brunswick Theological Seminary). *leadership/staff

2010-11 Teaching and Learning Colloquy for Theological School Deans: Changing Times for Theological Education 
Dates May 27-June 2, 2010 - Summer Session at Wabash College January 10-14, 2011 - Winter Session at Mustang Island 
Leadership Team Michael Jinkins, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary Melanie A. May, Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School Paul Myhre, Wabash Center 
 Eligibility: full-time chief academic officer in an accredited seminary or theological school in the United States or Canada (commenced position by May 2010) commitment to full participation from the opening to closing session for both workshop meetings Read our Policy on Full Participation (click here) Description: This colloquy will gather 15 deans from theological schools in the United States and Canada for two sessions to focus on the unique role and responsibility of academic deans in theological education. This focus is predicated on careful attention to emerging trends and new models of theological education for the complex 21st-century world. Set in this context, it is clear that the dean’s leadership role and responsibility is more demanding today than ever. The increasingly complex role of the dean requires, first and foremost, the unswerving capacity to be guided by educational mission, as informed by integrative theological reflection. The dean’s role also calls for exceptional communication skills to articulate this mission to a school’s diverse constituencies. This colloquy will explore how deans nurture the wider aims and purposes of theological education, seeking ways in which deans can renew their vision for theological education’s crucial and irreplaceable mission while attending to scholarly, pedagogical, administrative, and ecclesial relationships that frame every aspect of the dean’s work. Issues to be explored include: advancing a school’s educational mission in an environment of shifting economic paradigms, aware that deans are frequently a school’s foremost advocate for this mission among administrative colleagues, members of Boards of Trustees, the faculty and students, and related constituencies; strengthening the ecclesial connections that undergird theological schools, realizing theological education is never an exclusively academic enterprise, nor an enterprise best engaged in reacting to momentary anxieties and infatuations of church and society, since education entails challenge as well as preparation; forging connections with diverse arenas of public life wherein religion plays a more and more crucial role, in order to revise curricula for the preparation of women and men of faith for leadership in these arenas; encouraging cross-disciplinary and interdisciplinary conversation among faculty colleagues, including integrative learning experiences for students, aware that life requires practitioners to bring a full range of understandings, attitudes, knowledge and skills to bear in order to engage in ministerial leadership in congregations, in nonprofits and chaplaincies, and in other arenas of public life; becoming more effective interpreters among schools, and regional and theological accrediting bodies, so the best aspects of peer accountability structures (represented by the accrediting bodies) contribute to their schools’ educational mission, while other aspects of the accrediting process do not distract the faculty from its distinctive role and responsibility; providing institutional leadership for multifaceted discussion of both the potential for information technologies to enhance the educational mission and to enable multiple educational delivery systems, on one hand, and of the need for residential and hybrid learning models, given the limits of these technologies, on another hand, all the while balancing the “end game” of theological education with the interests of a school’s diverse constituencies. Colloquy Goals: This colloquy is designed to provide a forum in which deans explore the overall mission of theological education, articulate new insights, reflect on their own leadership styles and best practices—in community with others engaged in the unique vocation of academic deanship in a theological school. Out of this exchange, we envision goals that will: articulate—from the perspective of academic deans in theological schools—a creative vision for theological education in the 21st century generate published and personal resources to assist deans to understand their distinctive role and responsibility in this newly emerging context, and in relation to shifting institutional priorities amid attendant challenges create resources to address the particular challenges that present themselves to theological deans, given societal, ecclesial, and institutional realities, and to inspire deans to bring to their multifaceted role and responsibility a life-renewing imagination identify ways to support deans’ professional balance of attention to daily tasks and creative reflection on the mission of theological education enhance professional capacities to relate well to diverse constituencies as emerging trends and new models for theological education present new challenges and opportunities encourage academic deans to develop specific action plans that nourish their own vocations, improve relationships with colleagues in leadership, faculty, and constituencies, and enhance professional capacities as they seek to promote their school’s pursuit of theological education in service to church and society Stipend: Participants will receive a stipend of $2,500 for full participation in both sessions, plus local expenses and travel. Please Note: U.S. Law prohibits the Wabash Center from paying stipends to participants with certain classes of foreign national status. The Wabash Center is, however, able to reimburse ALL participants for travel and other expenses. Read More (click here) Immigration status has no bearing on the Wabash Center’s selection of participants. It impacts only our ability to pay these participants a stipend. We deeply regret these restrictions but are confident that participants who are not eligible for a stipend will nonetheless find our programs valuable even without a stipend. Front Row (left to right): Rebecca Slough (Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary), Zaida Maldonado Pérez (Asbury Theological Seminary – Florida), *Michael Jinkins (Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary), *Melanie Duguid-May (Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School), José Irizarry-Mercado (Evangelical Seminary of Puerto Rico), Angela Bauer-Levesque (Episcopal Divinity School). Second Row: *Paul Myhre (Wabash Center), Efrain Agosto (Hartford Seminary), James Kay (Princeton Theological Seminary), Luis Rivera Rodriguez (McCormick Theological Seminary), Mark Markuly (Seattle University), Robin Steinke (Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg), Steven Schweitzer (Bethany Theological Seminary), Israel Galindo (Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond). *leadership/staff