Preface
Robert Boyle, illustrious scientist and Fellow of the Royal Society, described how, while in Geneva on a continental holiday, he underwent a conversion from nominal, unthinking Christianity to committed Christianity. As a result of his experiences, he stressed the need for Christians to have what he called an “examined faith.” [1]
John Stott, discussing Paul’s letter to the Christians in Philippi, drew attention to the importance for all Christians to heed the apostle’s exhortation to “contend for the faith of the Gospel.” He continues, “This describes a combination of evangelism and apologetics, not only proclaiming the gospel, but also defending it and arguing for its truth.”[2]
Echoing the views of Robert Boyle and John Stott, Mark Noll says, “If what we claim about Jesus Christ is true, then evangelicals should be among the most active, most serious, and most open-minded advocates of general human learning.” [Read more…] about Time to discuss faith, psychology and neuroscience?
Mentoring
New Vision in an Academic Desert
Monica Greenwood (pseudonym) is semi-patiently excitedly awaiting the day she walks into her first graduate seminar in philosophy. Until then, she is an undergrad studying philosophy at a state school known for its agriculture program.Â
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In contemporary America, we have whittled the purpose of college down to pre-job entry training and partying on the side, so it makes sense that a Christian’s vision of college is blurred by the misconceptions of their culture. Indeed, it makes further sense if we realize that our culture’s vision of the college years is fundamentally distinct from what God’s vision for the college years is. And yet often enough, we don’t see the discrepancy between our vision of college and the Lord’s, and find ourselves being frustrated when He doesn’t deliver the college experience we expect to be our rightfully ours.
If you walk into your first college class expecting that academics will be the main focus and most important aspect of your college career, the Lord may need to do some adjusting in your vision of college. As He transforms us into His image (2 Corinthians 3:18), He moves aside the lies of our culture, as our view of things slowly (and sometimes imperceptibly) becomes transformed into His vision of things. He certainly has needed to do this kind of tweaking in my vision. Along the way, I’ve been forced to learn that academics, while they may make up the pragmatic reason why we attend or do not attend a specific school, are not always the main focus of the Lord during our college years.
I want to qualify my point by noting that not all of my readers’ situations will be similar to mine. Some of you will be called by the Lord to pursue your studies with all your strength, and academics will be His focus for you during your studies. My objective here is to point out that that academics is not necessarily and automatically the focus of God for our time in college. [Read more…] about New Vision in an Academic Desert
Find Your Voice and Own It: Women and the Academic Life
Thank-you to J. Nathan Matias (@natematias), Research Assistant, MIT Media Lab Center for Civic Media, for venturing into and reporting on Women and the Academic Life as part of his Urbana12 series.* We’re looking forward to your responses to this material — any seminar participants with thoughts to add? Note: In addition to ESN’s mentoring resources, be sure to visit The Well – a website designed to support women in graduate and professional schools and women faculty as they seek, in their full and complex lives, to be followers of Christ. ~ Thomas B. Grosh IV, Associate Director of ESN.
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This weekend, I’m at Urbana, a gathering of Christian students interested in the work of the church worldwide. Over the last few days, I have been blogging seminars, in which a speaker gives a talk to around 50-60 participants.
What can Christian women expect from an academic life, and how can they flourish despite the challenges they face among families, churches, and university culture itself? Addressing this question is Dr Janet Clark, vice president and dean at Tyndale University College & Seminary in Toronto.
When Janet went to Urbana as a young person, she wondered if she would have to give up her academic interests to be part of God’s mission. And she was willing to do that. After attending Urbana, she moved to Borneo, where she lived and served for a decade. When she moved back to Toronto, she had a chance to reconnect with her love of the academic world.
Janet polls the crowd. About half of the attendees are gradstudents, a third are in gradschool, and a handful are in the middle of PhDs.
“If you have a love for learning, a love to teach, and an academic yearning, if you are being drawn to a missional life, these things are not necessarily incompatible,” Janet says. [Read more…] about Find Your Voice and Own It: Women and the Academic Life
Steve Simmons: Students Are a Lot Like People
Steve Robert Simmons is Morse-Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the University of Minnesota. He served for 32 years in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics where he taught and conducted research on topics ranging from plant physiology to agroecology. He continues to serve as a mentor for graduate students and pre-tenured faculty through the university’s Center for Teaching and Learning Services. In his retirement, Steve is writing creative nonfiction and is working on a book of personal essays. He and his wife, Mary Ann, have three adult daughters and a grandson, all of whom live in Seattle, WA.The following article was originally published in the InterVarsity Faculty Ministry Lamp Post in 2010.
Ten years into my academic career (in 1987), I was encouraged by my Dean to write an article describing my convictions about teaching for an in-house publication. This was before teaching portfolios and statements of teaching philosophy had become more common in universities. After some thought, I wrote a one-page article titled “Teachers Are A Lot Like People.”[1. R. Simmons. 1987. “Teachers Are A Lot Like People.†In Dialogue (March 9, 1987 issue). College of Agriculture, University of Minnesota.] It considered this question: What must a teacher do to be a “good†teacher?
I came up with a motto that summarized my viewpoint—“BE PREPARED, BE CONCERNED, BE YOURSELF.†This motto encapsulated my philosophy and I trusted it would help bring me into a deeper understanding and practice in my role as a university teacher. The motto still has much to offer me, but I have since added another component—BE GRACE-FULL. As one dedicated to living my Christian faith through my professional endeavors, I have been exploring what it means to bring elements of grace—of unmerited favor—into my teaching, and particularly my role as a mentor of students.
Background on mentoring
When I think of graduate studies, I especially think of mentoring and its importance for defining a faculty person’s relationship with students. While most faculty regard mentoring as part of their role in graduate teaching, my perspective is that only students can identify the people who have served as their mentors. [Read more…] about Steve Simmons: Students Are a Lot Like People
A Christian Theology of Mentoring: History, Scripture, Virtue, and Discipline
Christians are characteristically convinced of the importance of mentoring because of the deep way it is embedded in their faith. Understanding God as Trinity presses on us the conviction that loving relationships are at the center of reality. We note that Jesus’ own ministry was centered on the mentoring of the Twelve, and especially the Three. This focus on the intensive formation of a “school of thought and practice†accounts in large part for the durable power of Jesus’ influence. Further, the maintenance of convictional and corporate identity in a minority movement also requires intensive and influential relationships. This is particularly the case for a minority not based in ethnicity or geographical concentration, but on distinctive beliefs that are not accepted and even arouse hostility in the wider cultural milieu. Finally, we are reminded of Jesus’ summary of God’s commandments. Unconditional love to God and love to neighbor of the sort we show to ourselves are the hallmarks of discipleship in the Kingdom of God.
[Read more…] about A Christian Theology of Mentoring: History, Scripture, Virtue, and Discipline