Podcasts

Sophfronia Scott is Director of the Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Alma College in Alma, MI and author a numerous books including Wild Beautiful and Free and The Seeker and the Monk.Teaching scholars to write better undoubtedly fosters better teaching. What does it take to pivot away from the stale conventions of scholarly writing, and move toward writing that expresses genuine and needed ideas? How do we learn to write what we are thinking and challenged by? 

Elías Ortega is President and Professor of Religion, Ethics, and Leadership at Meadville Lombard Theological School.What would it take for theological education to become an agent of social impact? How could theological education help us learn to be better human beings? What would it mean for theological education to teach students to meet the challenges of their communities of origin? What if the scholarly contribution was synthesizing theory for the creation of the good community in regions across the country and around the world?  

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Harvey is Vice President of Academic Affairs and Academic Dean and Professor of Christian Ethics at Garrett-Evangelical Theological SeminaryIn an aching world, what does it take to make education accessible, meaningful, affordable, and relevant? What is the role of educational leadership when institutions are faltering, and people are in pain? What is to be done when there is no quick fix? 

Rev. Dr. Kristina Lizardy-Hajbi is Assistant Professor of Leadership and FormationDirector of the Office of Professional Formation at Iliff School of Theology.Education is a formational endeavor. Explicit and implicit teaching outcomes are operative in our classrooms, and yet a concise agreement of the aim of teaching is too often illusive and too often un-met. What does it take to be more cohesive and coherent with curriculum? 

Dr. Alton B. Pollard, III is President Emeritus of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.Now in retirement, President Pollard shares his reflections, considerations, musings and convictions on the practice of rest, the benefit of pacing one's work, the place of stillness for deeper knowing in community and the necessity of embracing the genuine self for a meaningful vocation.  

Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert is Dean of Howard School of Divinity. Shifting from being a longtime faculty member to the role and responsibility of dean can be gratifying and terrifying. Hear the story of becoming a dean who successfully raises funds, supports a diverse faculty, listens to students, and keeps the faith. 

Samantha Miller, PhD, is Assistant Professor of Theology at Whitworth University.How do you give permission to adult learners to drop their intellectual guard and engage openly in the complex thinking of your course? How do you assist students with pushing past those fears which keep them self-conscious and hinder their learning?  Making use of gaming, imagination,  simulations, the outdoors, i.e. play in many forms, strengthens adult classroom experiences. 

Rev. Dr. Kenyatta Gilbert is Dean of Howard School of Divinity. Dr. Gilbert discusses the dream of being an architect, the surprise of being able to create space for oneself, the joy of lightbulb moments, and the superpower of prayer.

Grace Kao is Professor of Ethics and the Sano Chair of Pacific & Asian American Theology at Claremont School of Theology and Joy McDougall is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Emory's Candler School of Theology. McDougall and Kao reflect upon the experience of participating in a Wabash Center grant project entitled, "Teaching at the Intersections: Re-Imagining Feminist, Womanist, Asian, Latin, and Indigenous Theological Pedagogies." The imaginative and generative project, using a case study approach, convened a diverse spectrum of colleagues to reflect pedagogically and programmatically to strengthen teaching.  

Donald Quist is Assistant of English at the University of Missouri. Donald Quist discusses the developmental editing approach that helped create Glimpses of Me and Mine by Nancy Lynne Westfield. Their conversation describes the writing technique called fragmentation and how it is advantageous for scholarly writing. Westfield and Quist discuss the challenges and potential rewards of writing with intimacy, transparency, and personal disclosure in fiction and nonfiction.