I greatly appreciate the ASA’s ongoing partnership with InterVarsity, particularly when it comes to engaging with college and graduate students at our Annual Meeting. Hannah Eagleson and Tom Grosh have done a wonderful job of creating opportunities for students to interact with their peers as well as professionals within their disciplines. These networking connections are a win for everyone involved, and we look forward to continuing this partnership at next year’s ASA meeting. — Leslie Wickman, Ph.D., Executive Director, American Scientific Affiliation (ASA) [Read more…] about Next Steps for ESN — Part 2: Vision, Partnership
American Scientific Affiliation
Next Steps for the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) — Part 1
Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service. — Os Guinness, The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2003), 4, 29.
As some of you know (may even remember), 5 years ago I became the Associate Director of the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN). What a privilege it has been to be part of connecting, encouraging, equipping and mentoring a growing network (4,200+) of those on the academic pathway (undergrads, grad students, postdocs and early career faculty) via blogging, facebook, ministry/conference partnerships, paper.li, and twitter. Note: If you have not already joined ESN’s dynamic network, please do such 🙂
When launched on March 1, 2004, ESN offered to help every member, at whatever career stage, to ask — and formulate answers to “The Four Questions”:
- Why should I consider pursuing an academic vocation, for my entire career or a significant amount of time?
- What do I need to learn about Christian thought and practice to be faithful within my academic calling?
- How do I navigate the various stages and transitions of an academic vocation?
- Who can help me at each stage of my professional development, and whom can I help?
Exploring “The Four Questions” led members of the ESN staff team and partners in ministry (including a strong contingent of faculty) to
- Dig deep in mentoring conversation via a number of platforms, with blogging becoming the most prominent starter for a season of ministry (August 21, 2008 – )
- Connect with peers and mentor figures online and at conferences
- Partner with InterVarsity campus fellowships (e.g., STEAM Project Grant Series) and conferencing (e.g., Urbana)
- Partner with other likeminded organizations such as the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA)
- Engage with a growing number of PhDs, who due to a variety of factors, find their journey through “liminal space” leading to uncertainty about next steps as the academy has limited space for the volume of graduates. Many have shared with me their appreciation of ESN’s exploration of Writing Christian Personal Statements and offering of Scholar’s Compass: a devotional written for and by scholars.
When asked what ESN does, I typically turn to stories and illustrations drawn from a list such as the above, but when engaged in planning next steps I have found the below list of benefit.
- Building/encouraging/publicizing networks of Christians within academic fields
- Connecting students in transition to InterVarsity events/campus groups and resources beyond the academy
- Producing material to support groups and individuals exploring their academic vocation and sharing it on our blog
- Providing emerging scholars opportunities to connect with peers and mentor figures online and at conferences
- Providing emerging scholars training and opportunities to grow as public intellectuals and bless the church and the world through blogging and speaking opportunities
- Engaging InterVarsity alumni with a desire to serve emerging scholars
Stay tuned, much more to share in future posts about ESN’s history, next steps, and very specific stories as to how we have served students, recent graduates, and faculty at important times in their academic journey. Your prayers, partnership (as the Lord enables), and encouragement in this Kingdom work is much appreciated. To God be the glory!
Connecting with ESN has really enriched my experience at Urbana because it expanded my mind to see that God called me into the engineering field for a reason. Missions and academic/vocational pursuit are not two separate ideas, but rather beautifully intertwined to fulfill a piece of God’s bigger story for my generation. — Galina, ESN Urbana 15 participant, currently a grad student
July 2017 Prayer Post
Dear friends,
As we start July, would you pray with us at the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN)?
Please pray for:
- Genuine rest and Sabbath for busy academics
- Safety in summer travels
- Chances for Christian academics to serve others in the church and beyond this summer
- Growing writer base for the the blog
- Praise: Several participants in InterVarsity Christian Fellowship / USA’s 2017 Midwest Faculty Conference shared a passion for coming alongside Emerging Scholars in their academic journey by writing for the blog. Pray for next steps in creating future posts. Note: The most recent ESN Review highlights a number of our Spring 2017 posts / series.
- ESN’s upcoming track at the American Scientific Affiliation’s (ASA) 2017 Annual Meetings
- July 28 – 31, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO.
- Theme for the Annual Meetings: Exploring New Heights for Science & Stewardship
Let’s thank God for:
- All the many ways He provides for us each day
- By God’s grace the Emerging Scholars Network finished “in the black” this fiscal year.
- The many ESN members graduating or achieving some other significant milestone this summer
- Good books to read
- The community of the church
- The beauty of the natural world
We close with a hymn by Charles Wesley:
O for a thousand tongues to sing
my great Redeemer’s praise,
the glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of his grace!My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to proclaim,
to spread thro’ all the earth abroad
the honors of your name.Jesus! the name that charms our fears,
that bids our sorrows cease,
’tis music in the sinner’s ears,
’tis life and health and peace.He breaks the power of cancelled sin,
he sets the prisoner free;
his blood can make the foulest clean;
his blood availed for me.To God all glory, praise, and love
be now and ever given
by saints below and saints above,
the Church in earth and heaven. – Text from Hymnary.com, http://hymnary.org/text/o_for_a_thousand_tongues_to_sing_my
Engaging Science & Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries
In September I had the privilege of participating in the STEAM (i.e., Science & Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries) Project Conference held at Catalina Island, CA. STEAM was initiated at Fuller Theological Seminary when Greg Cootsona and Dave Navarra
[Read more…] about Engaging Science & Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries
ESN Collaborations: STEAM Grant for Faith/Science Engagement (ESN Fall 2016 Preview Series)
ESN is currently running a preview series to give a glimpse of our plans for the 2016/2017 academic year. See the intro post here and the blog topics preview post here.Â
This academic year, thanks to God’s grace and generous funding from the STEAM Project through Fuller Seminary, our faith/science engagement will be expanding in several ways:
- We’ll be running a monthly faith/science curriculum on the blog
- We’ll be testing that curriculum with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA graduate student campus fellowships
- We’ll be running an expanded student track at the American Scientific Affiliation 2017 conference
- In Summer 2017, we’ll be launching a booklet version of our field-tested faith/science curriculum for use in InterVarsity campus groups, ASA chapters, and beyond
We’re grateful for this opportunity for many reasons, one large one being the way it lets us grow in collaboration. As we’ve thought and prayed about ESN’s next steps over the past two years, collaboration with other InterVarsity staff members and with likeminded organizations has been a major theme. In addition to growing our faith/science materials, we’re seeing this opportunity as a model for other collaborations.This grant lets us grow in collaboration in these ways:
Further Collaboration with InterVarsity GFM Campus Groups to Develop Material
InterVarsity campus grad groups will be sharing their questions, and we’ll be crafting our monthly faith/science curriculum around those questions, asking thoughtful Christians in science to address them. We’ll also be testing the materials with these campus groups before revising the curriculum and releasing it in booklet form for wider use. We’re eager to collaborate further with our colleagues in campus groups to continue producing material and making it as helpful as possible.
Collaborations with Likeminded Organizations to Expand Conferencing
We’re also excited to collaborate further with likeminded organizations to provide conference opportunities for emerging scholars. We were so grateful for the chance to launch an ESN student track at this year’s ASA conference, and we’re delighted to expand it next year and invite authors of the blog curriculum we’re producing to speak. We’re hoping for similar collaborative opportunities in other subject areas, too.
Collaborations with Individuals and Groups to Share Tested Material
Once we test our material, we very much look forward to collaborating with individuals and groups to get out the word about the booklet version of the faith/science curriculum we’ll be releasing in Summer 2017. We hope it will be a useful resource to InterVarsity staffers, church groups, and others with an interest in serving students.
In God’s grace, we hope this is just the start of many collaborations. We’re looking for ways to expand our collaborations and materials in the humanities and social sciences as well as continuing to deepen our faith/science engagement.
This project was made possible through the support of an award from the Science and Theology for Emerging Adult Ministries project at Fuller Theological Seminary. The opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Fuller or the STEAM project.
PS. As the Lord provides, prayerfully consider investing in what ESN does / writes. You can give here or contact us here. More specifics will be shared in future posts.