Events

2024 AAR & SBL Roundtable: Cultivating Agency as Full-time contingent Faculty Institutions of higher education across the nation are increasing the hire of full-time contingency colleagues. The presence of contingent faculty in institutions has been enriching the curriculum in some contexts while disrupting the curriculum in other contexts. This conversation is a gathering to discuss the multilayered experience of being a full-time contingent person in theological education. Participants are invited to connect with other full-time contingency colleagues for conversations concerning the teaching life. Central to the conversation will be an exploration of identity formation, scholarship development, and improving the teaching life. This roundtable will include small groups and plenary discussions as well as shared meals. We will grapple with such questions as: What does it mean to have a fulfilling career as a full-time contingent scholar? In what ways can networking enrich and bolster full-time contingency faculty? What opportunities for writing, publishing, and service might be attended to when you are a contingent faculty? What is good citizenship for contingency faculty? And how do those expectations shape the role, responsibilities, and authority of a contingency faculty colleague? What habits and practices enrich teaching life when one is a full-time contingent person? Goals To discuss identity formation, scholarship development, and improving teaching habits and practices To understand our teaching lives in the context of our institutions and the changing landscape of higher education To reflect on practices that help contingent faculty flourish in light of the precarity of being full-time contingent faculty Participant Eligibility Continuing term, and/or full-time contingency faculty teaching in seminaries, divinity schools, or theological institutions Has taught a minimum of 2 years in the fields of religion and/or theology Job description or contract that is at least 50% inclusive of teaching responsibilities Teaching in accredited theological institution in the United States, Puerto Rico, or Canada Doctoral degree awardedbythe time of session Institutional support and personal commitment to participate fully in pre-conference session RSVP is required.Participants will be selected on a first come first serve basis. Each participant will be provided with a stipend of $1000 after participation in the roundtable in order to defray the costs of meeting attendance. Participants must RSVP and sign a letter of agreement from the Wabash Center that confirms full participation to receive the stipend after the roundtable. After you complete the registration form, the Wabash Center will send required financial documentation that must be completed. For international colleagues, please be reminded that if you are employed by a school through an H-1B visa arrangement, you are not eligible to receive stipends. The Wabash Center, as an agency other than your sponsoring institution, cannot by law provide you a stipend. For preservation of legal H-1B status, H-1B workers should not accept any offer of honoraria or consultation fees. Stipends, honoraria, and consultation fees paid by an employer other than the entity that sponsored the H-1B petition constitute illegal employment under USCIS regulations. With the stipulation of ineligibility for the stipend, colleagues who are holders of H-1B visas are welcome to make application and, if selected, fully participate in the programming of the Wabash Center. RSVP here. Deadline October 1, 2024 Date Friday, November 22, 2024 8:00am – 3:30pm Location Grand Hyatt, Coronado D Facilitators Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi,Iliff School of Theology Roger Nam,Candler School of Theology Allison Norton,Hartford International University Katherine Turpin,Iliff School of Theology Guests Mark Hearn,Church Divinity School of the Pacific Boyoung Lee,Iliff School of Theology Click here to RSVP Questions may be directed to Dr. Sarah Farmer Associate Director farmers@wabash.edu

2024 Sessions Contingent Faculty Roundtable Institutions of higher education across the nation are increasing the hire of full-time contingency colleagues. The presence of contingent faculty in institutions has been enriching the curriculum in some contexts while disrupting the curriculum in other contexts. This conversation is a gathering to discuss the multilayered experience of being a full-time contingent person in theological education. Participants are invited to connect with other full-time contingency colleagues for conversations concerning the teaching life. Central to the conversation will be an exploration of identity formation, scholarship development, and improving the teaching life. This preconference roundtable will include small groups and plenary discussions as well as shared meals. Click HERE for more information. Deadline October 1, 2024 Date Friday, November 22, 2024 8:00am - 3:30pm Location Grand Hyatt, Coronado D Facilitators Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi,Iliff School of Theology Roger Nam,Candler School of Theology Allison Norton,Hartford International University Katherine Turpin, Iliff School of Theology Guests Mark Hearn,Church Divinity School of the Pacific Boyung Lee, Iliff School of Theology BIPOC Faculty Luncheon This mealtime gathering, for those who identify as BIPOC faculty, is a place for fellowship, connection, and mutual support. Hear about Wabash Center grants specifically allocated for BIPOC peer mentoring. The mealtime conversation will explore self-care and wellness as a fundamental component of the teaching life. Being healthy, getting healthy, staying health, is an essential aspect needed to successfully navigate the classroom, your institution, and academic career. Gather with a network that cares about life-affirming teaching and faculty formation. Deadline November 1, 2024 Date & Time Saturday, November 23, 2024 11:30am - 1:30pm Location Grand Hyatt, Coronado D Wabash Center Creative Writing Session For those hoping to broaden to reach and creativity of their scholarship, this session will be an opportunity to learn more about creative writing as a scholarly genre and practice! Join us as we share approaches, techniques, and generative writing exercises. This will be an interactive gathering intended to widen academic settings. Date & Time Sunday, November 24, 2024 9:00am - 10:00am Location Grand Hyatt, Coronado D Facilitator Donald Quist, Wabash Center Wabash Center Reception Come join us for drinks, tapas, DJ, music, and dessert as we honor our work with faculty in religious studies departments and theological schools. Gather as past, present, and future participants from Wabash Center workshops, colloquies, consultations, and grants. Enjoy fellowshipping one with another. Network and have fun! Date Saturday, November 23, 2024 8:00pm - 10:00pm Location Grand Hyatt, Harbor Ballroom G-I Wabash Center - Teaching in Death-dealing Contexts: Prison as a Place of Liberative Education What does it mean to teach theology and religion in death-dealing, dehumanizing contexts – i.e. prison? Reflecting upon years of experiences with teaching in carceral spaces, the panelists will explore the ways that a particular context helps reimagine the purpose of education and the role of teachers and learners. Given hooks and Freire’s imaginative stance that teaching must be transgressive, what does it take to bring emancipatory education to people who are in the correction system? This panel will engage the recently released books of Sarah F. Farmer’s Restorative Hope: Creating Space for Connection in Women’s Prisonsand Rachelle Green’sLearning to Live: Prison, Pedagogy, and Theological Educationdiscussing the ways teaching in prison raises new questions for educators of theology and religion. Theological education, and those practicing liberative pedagogy, must be willing grapple with these 21st century questions. Date Saturday, November 23, 2024 4:30pm - 6:00pm Location Grand Hyatt, Coronado E Wabash Center New Teacher Dinner & Honored Guest New teachers, those faculty in the first three years of full-time teaching, are invited to gather for a special dinner. There will be time for networking, being introduced to honored guests, interactive games, and directed conversations. Tenure-track and contract faculty are welcome. Deadline November 1, 2024 Date Sunday, November 24, 2024 6:30pm - 8:00pm Location Grand Hyatt, Coronado D Click here to register for the AAR & SBL 2024 Annual Meetings Questions about the Wabash Center's activities at AAR & SBL may be directed to Dr. Sarah Farmer Associate Director farmers@wabash.edu