Emerging Scholars Blog

InterVarsity's Emerging Scholars Network

ESN Announce

Scholar’s Compass Special Price

Scholar's Compass Booklet

We are offering Scholar’s Compass at a special price for a limited time. InterVarsity has announced that it will be closing its store at the end of May. This has been our main outlet for selling copies of Scholar’s Compass. We may move to a different platform in the future to continue to make this great resource available since it has proven helpful to so many grad students and faculty. But we’d prefer to move the existing stock into the hands of people who would benefit from the book.

The Special!

Scholar’s Compass regularly sells for $8. We have reduced the price by 50 percent to just $4 plus applicable shipping costs. Here are some of the reasons you might order just one, a few, or perhaps a large quantity.

  • The book offers a semester’s worth of short readings and prayers to help you connect your faith and your scholarly work. It represents some of the best reflections by ESN members and makes a great devotional resource.
  • Buy this for a discussion group looking for a resource for their discussions. The short reflections can be read during a meeting and the reflection questions are ideal for one hour or less meetings.
  • Perhaps you are part of a graduate or faculty group meeting over the summer. The format lends itself well to the informality of summer gatherings. Goes great with iced tea!
  • Are you part of a group trying to welcome incoming graduate students or faculty at the beginning of fall term? This makes a great gift!
  • Perhaps your group is planning a retreat on connecting faith and academic work. ESN had developed a special retreat guide for using the book on a weekend retreat.

Our special price ends May 31 or when supplies run out so don’t wait!

Order Scholar’s Compass at the InterVarsity Store

Spring 2023 ESN Conversations

Our crocuses and daffodils are up after an unusually warm February. While it was fun to be out in short sleeves (in Central Ohio), this also just didn’t seem right. It makes me interested in what our guest for our March ESN Conversation will have to say. But with spring’s early approach, I also thought it would be fun to share with you our whole line up for ESN Conversations. We have some outstanding guests joining us. Here’s the schedule with links to register today.

ESN Conversation: Following Jesus in a Warming World with Kyle Meyaard-Schaap

March 15, 2023, 12 pm ET

Have you ever looked at the effects of climate change and the apathy of so many around you and wondered, “What are we missing here?” Climate activist Kyle Meyaard-Schaap understands this feeling from personal experience. But in his years of speaking to and equipping Christians to work for climate action, he’s seen the trend begin to shift. More and more young Christians are waking up to the realities of climate change. They want to help, but they’re not sure how.

Kyle Meyaard-Schaap is vice president of the Evangelical Environmental Network. 

Register for this Conversation

ESN Conversation: Non-Toxic Masculinity with Zachary Wagner

April 18, 2023, 12 pm ET

Dismissals such as “boys will be boys” and “not all men” are ingrained in our world. And the purity culture of our youth sold the same excuses with a spiritual spin. Can we break the toxic cycle and recover a healthy identity for men? In “Non-Toxic Masculinity,” Zachary Wagner tells men, “If you are in Christ, this is your problem—and you should be part of the solution.”

Zachary Wagner is an ordained minister and editorial director for the Center for Pastor Theologians. He is currently pursuing a PhD in New Testament at the University of Oxford. He lives in Oxford, England, with his wife and three children.

Register for this Conversation

ESN Conversation: On Getting Out of Bed with Alan Noble

May 17, 2023, 1 pm ET

We aren’t always honest about how difficult normal human life is.

For the majority of people, sorrow, despair, anxiety, and mental illness are everyday experiences. While we have made tremendous advancements in therapy and psychiatry, the burden of living still comes down to mundane choices that we each must make—like the daily choice to get out of bed.

Alan Noble (PhD, Baylor University) is associate professor of English at Oklahoma Baptist University, cofounder and editor in chief of Christ and Pop Culture, and an advisor for the AND Campaign. His book is a deeply personal narrative on the difficulty of life, and the witness to God and to life’s goodness sometimes expressed in the simple act of getting out of bed.

Register for this Conversation

ESN Conversation: Being God’s Image with Carmen Joy Imes

June 20, 2023, 3 pm ET

What does it mean to be human? This timeless question proves critical as we seek to understand our purpose, identity, and significance. Amidst the many voices clamoring to shape our understanding of humanity, the Bible reveals important truths related to our human identity and vocation that are critical to the flourishing of all of creation.

Carmen Joy Imes seeks to recover the theologically rich message of the creation narratives starting in the book of Genesis as they illuminate what it means to be human.

Carmen Joy Imes (PhD, Wheaton) is associate professor of Old Testament at Biola University.

Register for this Conversation

Special discounts will be available for the books by our guests. The conversations will be recorded and available on our YouTube channel, but if you join us, you get the chance to personally interact with our guests. I hope you will join us and others in the ESN community!

New Seminary Now Course: Together in Ministry

Healthy mixed-gender collaboration is necessary for every ministry. However, partnerships between men and women have been distorted. How can leaders return to the Genesis ideal of co-laborers in today’s ministry contexts? What should mixed-gender partnerships really look like?

Seminary Now, InterVarsity Press, and Missio Alliance have a course on how to practically engage with the opposite sex in ministry. If you want to have a lasting and thriving ministry, this course is for you! Learn how to cultivate healthy partnerships and friendships that lead to human flourishing and multigenerational impact.

This course is based on Senior Fellow Rob Dixon’s book “Together in Ministry,” and is co-taught with Lisa Watson-Rodriguez, National Director of Missio Alliance, and Layla Van Gerpen, an Associate Regional Director from InterVarsity.

Sign up to get three courses to this session for FREE!

Learn more and sign up here

Job Announcement: Engineering Faculty Position at Westmont College

Westmont College is seeking a faculty member (tenure track assistant or associate rank) for its new engineering major.  Candidates must hold a PhD in engineering.  The Westmont program grants a general engineering degree. The successful candidate may be asked to teach a broad range of undergrad engineering courses.  Candidates should also have evidence of excellent and innovative teaching and a plan for continued scholarly work (publications, grants, consulting). Benefits include a generous faculty housing program that makes living in beautiful Santa Barbara CA affordable.

Westmont College is a national liberal arts college in the evangelical Protestant tradition, seeking faculty with a vital and informed commitment to the Christian faith. We continually aim to diversify the faculty and strongly encourage applications from historically underrepresented groups within engineering.

Please go to Open Positions | Westmont College and search for engineering for more details and to apply.  Questions may be addressed to Professor Dan Jensen, Director of the Engineering Program, at djensen@westmont.edu. Review of applications is ongoing and will continue until the position is filled.

2023 Christian Scholars Foundation Legacy Grant

Available to scholars in the U.S. and Canada

We are thrilled to announce Global Scholars will provide an annual Christian Scholars Foundation Legacy Grant beginning in 2023. The grant will be awarded to a junior faculty member in the U.S. or Canada. The purpose of this grant is to advance Christian scholarship, encourage Christian scholars seeking to integrate Christian faith with their academic endeavors, and nurture Christian faculty as they strive for wider recognition in and beyond the academy. 

Applicants are required to be members of the Society of Christian Scholars, a global community of Christian scholars seeking to have a redemptive influence in higher education. Applicants are also required to be members of the Emerging Scholars Network.  

The 2023 Christian Scholars Foundation Legacy Grant will be $10,000. The deadline for applications will be March 15, 2023.

The grant application is available at the Society of Christian Scholars member site under “Grants.” See the end of this post for more details and a quick guide to the application process.

The Christian Scholars Foundation, the Society of Christian Scholars, and the Emerging Scholars Network

The Christian Scholars Foundation was a small family foundation formed in 1986 to encourage and support Christian junior faculty in their efforts to gain recognition and stature in the U.S. or Canadian academy. The Foundation also desired to encourage these scholars in their work to integrate Christian faith and academic endeavor. In December 2022, the Foundation closed its operations and transferred its funds to Global Scholars in order to continue both organizations’ shared vision of aiding Christian scholars as they seek to have a redemptive influence in higher education.

The Society of Christian Scholars is a global movement of Christian scholars seeking to live out God’s calling to serve as scholars in their various cultural contexts. As a principal partner of the Society, Global Scholars provides financial and logistical support to the Society’s fourteen programs and services.

The Emerging Scholars Network is a national, digital first effort to develop and support the next generation of Christian scholars in universities in the United States who follow Jesus, do so in community with other Christian scholars, exercising a faithful Christian presence in their disciplines and institutions.

The Emerging Scholars Network is a U.S. partner of Global Scholars.

You may read testimonials from past recipients here and interviews with several of the recent recipients on the Emerging Scholars Network Blog: Carrie Bredow (2016), Jill Ellenbarger (2017),  Eleanor McGlinchey (2017), Jennifer Hawk (2018), and Derek Thompson (2019).

Eligibility

  • Grants are made only to members of the Society of Christian Scholars and the Emerging Scholars Network. See membership links under Application Steps below.
  • Applicants must have an earned doctorate (or comparable terminal degree).
  • Grants are made to junior faculty, the definition of which we intend to leave vague. Usually, those to whom the grant is awarded will have been on faculty for ten years or less. The applicant will usually not be above the rank of Assistant Professor.
  • Postdocs are not eligible.
  • Grants are available to scholars in academic posts at pluralistic universities in the United States or Canada.
  • Last year’s recipient will not be considered for a grant this year.

Application Details: Preliminary & Full

Preliminary Application: Due March 15, 2023

The Preliminary application consists of the following questions and may be accessed through the Member site of the Society of Christian Scholars:

  • First Name
  • Last Name
  • Email
  • Phone
  • Country of Residence
  • Academic Discipline
  • Current College or University
  • Is this a pluralistic college or university?
  • Years in academic posts
  • Number of academic publications
  • Society of Christian Scholars Membership
  • Emerging Scholars Network Membership
  • Curriculum Vitae Upload
  • Project Title
  • Project Proposal Upload
  • What other grants, if any, have you secured to help fund this project?

More Detail on the Project Proposal

Please submit a brief proposal of the project (1 page, details below). Most helpful to the Grant Evaluation Committee is a title and summary which explains the project clearly and succinctly. The proposal should also explain how the project will help to establish you as an expert in your field and the impact your scholarship will have in Christian and secular academic and/or popular contexts. Please limit the proposal to one standard page length, single-spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins.

Full Application

Authors of the five or ten most interesting proposals will be invited to submit a full application. The necessary details regarding full application will be sent to those selected when they are notified of their selection.

Application Steps

  1. Join Emerging Scholars Network
  2. Join Society of Christian Scholars
  3. Fill out preliminary grant application by 3/15/23 at Society of Christian Scholars grants page (member login required)

Other Questions

Have questions concerning this grant? Use the form below to connect with Dr. Hannah Eagleson, Christian Scholars Foundation Legacy Grant Director.