Whew – this is big. I am beginning a new full time position tomorrow with an incredible organization, the Scripps National Spelling Bee. While I am (with many tears) ending my term as Associate Director for the Emerging Scholars Network, InterVarsity has asked me to continue blogging for the Emerging Scholars Blog. I’ve written a very nice letter about my change, so you can read the whole thing right here.
Nearly 20 ESN members gathered at Ohio State last Thursday.
Last Thursday, the Emerging Scholars Network hosted our fifth luncheon at The Ohio State University. These luncheons have been co-sponsored by the Fellowship of Christian Faculty and Staff, Christian Graduate Student Alliance, and Student Christian Fellowship, which is the independent Christian Church student ministry at Ohio State.
We gathered three Christian faculty, a postdoc in the sciences, 10 PhD students, and even a couple of undergraduates. Our topic was “What I Wish I’d Known about Graduate School,” based on our recent Emerging Scholars Blog series, but more importantly, the faculty and students encouraged one another, build relationships, and discovered that there are other academics at Ohio State who love Jesus.
Why do we host these lunches? ESN’s mission is to help Christian students become Christian faculty, so that they will have a redeeming influence in higher education. Students who develop friendships with professors outside the classroom are more likely to become faculty themselves. Further, when we ask ESN members what they want us to do, face-to-face gatherings with fellow Christians are always near the top of the list. Finally, Jesus himself showed us that sharing a meal together can be more than “just” sharing a meal. These lunches provide an opportunity for cross-generational friendships, as well as encouragement for students and faculty who often feel isolated from both their colleagues and fellow believers. It’s also a chance for them to discuss what it means to follow Christ within the university.
Praise God for the work he is doing through these simple gatherings. I hope that lunches like these will spread to other campuses – in fact, a colleague at another major Midwestern research university is thinking about starting a lunch series himself. If you’re interested in learning more, let me know.
Photo credit: Howard Van Cleave
Four Things I Learned about Students and Faculty from Academically Adrift
Earlier this year, Richard Arum and Josipa Roksa created quite a stir with their book Academically Adrift: Limited Learning on College Campuses. Their central claim: if the goal of college is to teach students how to think critically, then colleges are failing at their primary purpose.
My latest Emerging Scholars Blog post. The whole thing is here.
My ministry update and prayer letter from September. A few key highlights:
We’re now up to 3,807 ESN members. Praise God!
InterVarsity’s Gordon Govier recently published a very helpful article called “How to Choose a College…and Keep Your Faith.” Gordon asked me (among others) for suggestions, and he quotes from a recent interview on the Emerging Scholars Blog that highlights the importance of choosing your collegiate friends wisely.
The College Transition Initiative of the Center for Parent/Youth Understanding also offers a college prep seminar. In an interview with InterVarsity’s Mike Hickerson on the Emerging Scholars blog, Initiative director Derek Melleby offered four questions that every college bound student should ask. One of the four is, “With whom will you surround yourself?”
If you’re in the process of choosing a college, or know someone who is, Gordon’s article is a great resource, with links to excellent websites, books, and articles about making your college choice wisely.
Christian professors can be found on every college campus – in fact, there are usually more than you might expect. However, they often don’t know more than one or two other Christian faculty, and they usually aren’t connected with Christian student groups on their campus. Part of my role with the Emerging Scholars Network is helping students and student ministers build relationships with Christian faculty. If students have a “working friendship” with a few of their professors, they’re more likely to see academia as a possible career path. For student ministers, professors can be great allies in serving and transforming the campus.
This past Tuesday, I traveled to Louisville to meet with InterVarsity’s campus staff team for Kentucky. They serve on campuses across the state – the Universities of Louisville and Kentucky, Bellarmine, Berea College, Eastern Kentucky University. I shared with them ESN’s vision of raising up the next generation of Christian professors, gave them some tips on identifying and working with potential ESN members, and suggested key books that they can read with their students. We also talked about Christian professors they know on campus.
Bonnie Lecompte, who works with international students at UofL, gave me a new insight about the importance of Christian professors: they bring credibility to the Gospel. Most international students are working on PhDs or Masters degrees, which brings them into close contact with professors, and most of them come from cultures that give a great deal of respect to elders, scholars, and people in authority. A professor who is also a Christian carries a lot of weight with them when they are considering the Gospel.
Over the next few months, I’m going to be working with these campus ministry staff to connect the professors they know with ESN and to introduce them to the ESN faculty on their campuses. On November 17, I’ll be making my first trip, to Berea College, to speak with students and faculty there about ESN.
Please pray for these trips to be successful in building strong partnerships between Christian professors and campus ministers around Kentucky. Pray also for “divine appointments” as InterVarsity staff and I meet with Christian faculty and staff.