Podcasts

Dwight M. Hopkins, PhD is the Alexander Campbell Professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School. In this interview, Hopkins discusses his desire to be a writer as early as kindergarten, the freedom of the teaching life, the superpower of cross-cultural engagement, and the miracle of helping students realize that they much more than they think they are. 

Steed Davidson, Ph.D is Dean of the Faculty and Vice President of Academic Affairs and is Professor of Hebrew Bible / Old Testament at McCormick Theological Seminary. In this Silhouette Interview, Davidson discusses his childhood desire to be a meteorologist and the pride of his family in his profession. Also: surprise at the difficulty of the teaching life with its constant attention, the superpower of mediation and the "Sense of We," surviving violences by writing and community, and the miracle of igniting students' curiosity. 

Lisa L. Thompson, Ph.D is Associate Professor and the Cornelius Vanderbilt Chair of Black Homiletics and Liturgics, Homiletics and Liturgics at Vanderbilt University Divinity School. Thompson discusses the childhood dream of being an OBGYN, rejecting the false dichotomy between scholarship and teaching, and the ways in which faculty can be punished for being good teachers.  Also: the superpowers of intuition and the facilitation of creativity, community as the key to surviving violence, the miracle of helping people own their voices, and cultivating institutions that facilitate creativity. 

Peter T. Cha, PhD is Professor of Church, Culture and Society at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Cha discusses his childhood desire to be an architect and how that love of design informs his teaching and class creation. He also talks about the demands of institutional citizenship, the superpower of distillation, and the joy of the 'aha' moments.

Rolf Jacobson is Professor of Old Testament and the Alvin N. Rogness Chair of Scripture, Theology, and Ministry at Luther Seminary. In this Silhouette Interview, Jacobson discusses early thoughts of a career in finance, bafflement at the pace of technological and societal change, being a musician, dogged persistence of his students and colleagues in a world filled with violence, as well as the superpower of sarcasm--one of the gifts of the spirit Paul didn't get a chance to enumerate! 

Dr. Tina Pippin is the Wallace M. Alston Professor of Bible and Religion at Agnes Scott College. In this Silhouette Interview, Dr. Pippin talks about how she always wanted to be a teacher and was particularly inspired by teachers who pushed boundaries. She discusses being driven to connect the Word with the world, and in her fight for just wages, her superpower is the ability to show up and stand fast in the places where power doesn't want you. 

Rev. Dr. Stephen G. Ray is the Crump Visiting Professor and Black Religious Scholars Group Scholar-in-Residence at the Seminary of the Southwest. Dr. Ray discusses longing, as a child, to do anything in the future that allowed him to read books, being an only child with the encyclopedia for a friend, and rebounding from an initial undergrad attempt where he had a .75 GPA. Ray also touches on miseducation and the loss of historical knowledge in students, his ability to educate, challenge, and inspire with media and narrative, and the importance of being about your projects--not your institutional job. 

What scholarly skills are transferrable to other enterprises? What does it mean to consider an executive position like a deanship or presidency? How do I manage speaking engagements, book deals, and other kinds of opportunities? When should a LLC be established?

The Rev. Dr. Gay L. Byron is Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at the Howard University School of Divinity in Washington, DC.

Scholarly careers are not linear or tidy. Hear about helpful tools for career management like: creating a map/plan for tenure process and promotion (6 year plan), having more than one mentor, knowing when to leave the first job and when to stay, finding conversation partners for career decisions.