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I remember dial-up modems and the exhilaration of logging onto AOL.com as a teenager. A few years later, I experienced the novelty of Facebook. Duke Divinity School (DDS) advised all of its masters’ students in the 2008 incoming cohort to create Facebook accounts so we could stay connected and support one another through the first year of our graduate program. DDS recognized that this would be a time where students begin to deconstruct presupposed understandings of religion, Bible, and the theologies that we had received from our families of origin and church contexts. Reflecting back on that time, I feel as if the beginning of my deconstruction was wed to the rising age of social media. Now as a professor of the New Testament in the age of social media, what should some of my best practices entail? While difficult to define, the term “social media” identifies the various internet applications that allow users to construct their profiles while also creating content that connects and networks various groups of people. While social media is supposed to be about “connection,” I imagine that we all have experienced “internet trolls,” folks who try to bait and upset readers with disturbing comments. As professors of religion and theology, I would argue that we are the prime targets for internet trolls just by virtue of the nature of our work at a time where there seems to be rising White Christian nationalism in the United States. So, I often ask myself questions about the role of the professor in the age of social media. For example, in my context, our Director of Outreach and Alumni Relations requests that faculty increase their social media presence as a way to connect with alumni who are out working in the world. Can I carefully curate my social media presence to let those alumni know that I support them from afar? As a professor, what content can I create that allows alumni to be refreshed as they do the difficult work of leading congregations and parachurch ministries? Moreover, can social media serve as a way for faculty to connect with prospective students as we all experience the feelings of scarcity in theological education? Is this another area of “service” that faculty can add to their tenure portfolios (assuming one has a job with tenure!)? While I am not sure of the proper answers to the above questions, I certainly try to be cognizant of what the next generations of theological students may look like. Gen Z, for example, born between 1997 to 2012, is the first generation to have grown up with ALL THE TECHNOLOGY. Further, they will buy products from social media sites more than any other generation. Is there a way for Millennial, Gen X, and Boomer faculty to capitalize on connecting with Gen Z through social media? I think that is a conversation that must be had in our various theological faculties. I started @BoozyBibleScholar on TikTok and Instagram, providing segments called “One Minute Womanism” and “Scripture Through Womanist Eyes” as a way to show my growing community that there are other voices besides the conservative right-leaning interpreters of scripture. Now, I will definitely not be keeping up with the latest TikTok dance trends, but I will add my own particular voice to the ever-growing vacuum of social media to provide a brave space for the folks who may be feeling left behind and kicked out of Christianity. Just as in the opening of this reflection I recognized my own deconstruction during the rise of the social media age, I imagine that Gen Z experiences similar deconstruction(s). As I peruse social media, it seems to me that the loudest voices in Christianity today tend to be destructive voices. If you have pondered a desire to help silence those destructive voices, I implore you to act now. Find ways to make your scholarship available to the public. I wholeheartedly believe that one of the professor’s jobs in the age of social media is to be a transformative voice in contrast to those who will try to tear people down. Instead of letting John Piper, John MacArthur, or Voddie Bauchaum be the loudest voices in public religious discourse, professors of religion and theology owe the American public counter voices in the age of social media. My hope is that my social media presence will at least point some to believe that there are other ways to be “Christian” in a world that has vastly devalued such an identity. TikTok: @BoozyBibleScholar and Instagram: @BoozyBibleScholar

Rebecca Badertscher enthusiastically joins the Wabash Center as Administrative Assistant. She was welcomed into this role in April 2023. Her primary responsibilities include providing support for the colloquies and workshops, general office management, and assisting with recordkeeping/database reporting.Rebecca comes to the Wabash Center with office management experience from her years as Administrative Assistant at Crawfordsville Middle School. She enjoys the organizational aspect of her duties and feels pride in her work when her systems support her co-workers in their roles.Rebecca is a proud wife and mother to three children. She and her family have lived in Crawfordsville for 3 years but have been in Montgomery County for 10 years. Outside of work Rebecca enjoys being at the soccer field with her daughter, riding bikes with her youngest son, or at the tennis courts with her eldest son. Her hobbies include true crime podcasts, reading anything that sparks her interest, and cooking delicious meals.

Emily began her position as the Administrative Assistant for the Wabash Center in May 2025.  She comes to the Wabash Center with eight years experience as an Administrative Assistant  with the Crawfordsville Community School Corporation and two years experience as the Administrative Bookkeeper at Bon Appetit at Wabash College.  Emily lives in Crawfordsville with her husband and 6 year old son.  She enjoys spending time with her family, weekend trips, antique store shopping, cooking new recipes, and volunteering with the Wilson Disease Association. 

Rachel Mills is enthusiastic to do her part in the ongoing success of the Wabash Center. In the role of Executive Administrative Assistant to the Director, she is responsible for coordinating details related to Wabash Center programming and resources. She is also the contact person for arranging participant travel, managing stipends related to programs of the Center, and managing office functions.Rachel came to the Wabash Center team with experience in higher education support and is a Crawfordsville local.  Frequently she may be seen walking her golden retriever around Wabash Campus.  She looks forward to her daily cup of coffee each morning and her yearly girls trip to Cancun.  Rachel also loves summer concerts, photography, shopping, and a creative challenge! 

Stacie began her role as the new Grant and Finance Coordinator for the Wabash Center in July 2020.  Before coming to the center, she worked in the Business Office for the EAPS department at Purdue University for thirteen years where she was responsible for grants management, payroll, human resources, and overall office management.Stacie holds a Master’s of Science in Supervision and Leadership from Purdue University Global, a Bachelor’s degree from Bethel College in Mishawaka, Indiana in Organizational Management and an Associate’s degree in Accounting and Business Management from Michiana College in South Bend, Indiana.Stacie resides in West Lafayette, Indiana with her husband Doug and their son Thomas, when he is home from Indiana University where he studies classical guitar and musical performance at Jacobs School of Music. They share their home with two horses, their dog Moose, and two cats.In her spare time, Stacie enjoys riding and showing her Palomino Quarter horses, scrapbooking, and traveling with her family.  Stacie’s friends would describe her as a caring and compassionate person who loves to help others!

Donald Edem Quist, Ph.D., Editor of Journal on Teaching (JoT), has agreed to an expanded responsibility with the Wabash Center. Donald is now our Educational Design Manager (EDM). As the EDM, he will continue as the editor of JoT. He will also be the editor of our blog columns, and assist with developing new and needed educational resources for teaching in religion and theology. Dr. Quist is author of two essay collections, Harbors, a Foreword INDIES Bronze Winner and International Book Awards Finalist, and TO THOSE BOUNDED. He has a linked story collection, For Other Ghosts. Additionally, his writing has appeared in many collections and journals. He is Director of the MFA in Writing at Vermont College of Fine Arts.Nancy Lynne Westfield, Director, said, “Donald, a fine writer and a remarkable teacher of writing, will assist us in creating conversations at the intersection of creativity, teaching, and writing. His artistry will inspire and help us strategize for new ways to improve teaching and the teaching life.”

Paul is thrilled to work at the Wabash Center as the Communication and Digital Media Coordinator. Paul started in the role in January 2023 and is excited to spend his days with a dedicated, caring, and enthusiastic staff as well as a remarkable roster of scholars wrestling with some of life’s most interesting questions. He maintains the digital presence of the Wabash Center including its website, blogs, podcasts, and social media accounts.Paul comes to the Wabash Center from K-12 education. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, he was assigned to teach high school in Malawi, and he continued in the field upon his return to the US working for seven years at the middle school level. In addition to advocating for public education, Paul is passionate about the environment and looks forward to his work with the Wabash Center putting him in contact with scholars studying the intersections of theology and ecology.When not working, Paul can usually be found in a cozy nook with a book, perambulating around town listening to a podcast, or playing the piano. He also enjoys biking, hiking, exercise, scintillating conversation over a locally brewed pint, and a good cup of coffee.

I am not a scholar of Religion or Theology. However, my work as a creative writer and professor of Creative Nonfiction often involves identifying everyday divinities; finding the sacred in small things, the flawed, and the profane. Many of the readers/contributors to this blog might recognize my name as a kind of curator for this space. I serve the Wabash Center as an Educational Design Manager, a job that has brought me great opportunity to learn, share and reflect approaches to teaching and the teaching life. When I became aware that one of our blog publishing dates would fall on Juneteenth, I wanted to take the opportunity to write about it and perhaps encourage others to learn and teach more about the subject…Juneteenth: What is it?June 19, 1865: Gordon Granger of the Union army arrived in Galveston, Texas, to inform enslaved African Americans of their freedom and that the Civil War had ended. General Granger’s announcement put into effect the Emancipation Proclamation, which had been issued nearly two and a half years earlier, on January 1, 1863, by President Abraham Lincoln.Juneteenth is an annual commemoration of this event and the end of slavery in the United States after the Civil War. It has been celebrated by African Americans since the late 1800s. It is the longest running Black holiday. Also known as Freedom Day, Jubilee Day and Cel-Liberation Day.The day was first recognized as a federal holiday in 2021, when President Joe Biden signed the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act into law after the efforts of Lula Briggs Galloway, Opal Lee, and others.I grew up knowing nothing about Juneteenth. This history was not taught to me in my public schools. I first became aware of the day and its significance in college, thanks to my first African American literature professor, and the book by Ralph Ellison. When I  heard the story, I was angry. Understandably, I think. The idea that slavery in the United States continued quite a while after the Emancipation Proclamation was deeply frustrating. But I was also upset with the fact that this event seemed whitewashed from my education. Why wasn’t this major moment in African American history discussed every Black History Month? Why wasn’t this made a part of the curriculum I was given?Another part of me was unsurprised. As a Black person in America, I am familiar with the ways my homeland can defer its promises of equality, and how inconvenient histories can be overlooked in order to affirm narratives of American exceptionalism. The story of Juneteenth complicates our understanding of the Civil War, Lincoln’s legacy, and the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.I wouldn’t encounter Annette Gordon-Reed’s Juneteenth until I was a teacher myself, assigning it to myself and my graduate students to read together. Together, along with other supplementary texts, we’d learn more details about the factors which led chattel slavery to continue in America years after it was said to have ended…States with little or no Union Soldier presence refused/ignored the order to free enslaved people.Border states, including Delaware, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, and of course Texas, ignored emancipation.Slave owners threatened to kill slaves if they tried to leave. Some slavers moved to Texas to keep people enslaved. Galveston, Texas was the last stronghold.The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t apply to Indian tribes. The five “Civilized Tribes” (Cherokee, Choctaw, Muscogee, Chickasaw, Seminole) owned Black, Mixed and Indigenous slaves. Chattel slavery among these tribes was not officially ended until 1866.These factors demanded considerable time and effort to navigate and prompted questions that were uncomfortable for the learners and for me as well. But I believe more was gained by engaging with Juneteenth in the classroom—a greater understanding of ourselves in relation to our citizenship, our communities of belonging, and one another.I wish I had the opportunity to have learned about the event sooner in my life and more often throughout my matriculation through academia. Even if it would have been awkward at times. I wish to have been able to observe this commemoration of freedom earlier, and the chances I might have had to unpack its significance with teachers and fellow students.There is no real discussion about freedom in America that does not invoke the lived experience of Black people. As the poet Terrence Hayes suggests, Black people share a historical and constant relationship to freedom. To take this further with a question: in lessons about the liberation found through God’s grace—the freedom from fear discovered in faith and divine will—why wouldn’t we center the lived experiences of a systemically subjugated population? Why not ask students to engage with a moment that signifies a turn toward a more moral universe? I would like to make a case for making Juneteenth a point of discussion in classrooms across all fields of study, but especially in theological and religious education with its potential to position scholars who lead communities and shape public thought. There is so much to be gained in the teaching of Juneteenth.Here is a resource, a Juneteenth Reading List cultivated by the Smithsonian’s National African American History Museum: CLICK HERE. As we consider how we might craft lessons around this holiday, making sure to read as much as we can on the subject feels imperative.If there are readers who have had success teaching Juneteenth and would like to share a reflection on their experience, reach out at quistd@wabash.edu.

Rachelle is associate director at Wabash Center for Teaching and Learning. Before coming to Wabash, Rachelle was an Assistant Professor of Practical Theology and Education at the Graduate School of Religion and Religious Education at Fordham University. She taught courses such as Imagination, Foundations of Practical Theology, Foundations of Religious Education, Religion and Criminal Justice, and Antiracism. Rachelle is a former director of the Certificate in Theological Studies Program at a women's prison in Georgia. She was also an associate director of the Theological Education Between the Times grant and assistant director of the Youth Theological Initiative.Rachelle came to theological scholarship after a career in business management and strategic marketing, where she focused on the needs of women and families of color. She is an alum of Emory University’s Graduate Division of Religion (PhD) and Emory’s Candler School of Theology (MDiv).Rachelle Green is the author of Learning to Live: Prisons, Pedagogy, and Theological Education. She relishes traveling with her family, watching Marvel movies, and enjoying good coffee.