Editor's note: I had the privilege of meeting G. Randall Bond, M.D. at Urbana12. Randy was one of a number of people who visited the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN) booth to share not only a vision for, but also a commitment to next steps in "academics-as-mission." A hearty "Thank-you!" to Randy for sharing his passion with the Emerging Scholars Network via our blog. I encourage our readers to share their thoughts/insights on the topic with Randy. He truly enjoys engaging in Transformative Conversations and I … [Read more...] about A missionary calling to Africa for Christian academics: Part 1
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A Dialogical Campus Ministry
"I'm still waiting to read a scientific paper that gives a biological explanation of the emergence of biological science among us human beings, also a naturalist account of what motivates people to become evolutionary psychologists and why others are impressed by their explanations." -- A taste of the pointed wit which draws one into Part 3 of Vinoth Ramachandra's Engaging the University (22:04). As you my remember from Part 2, the recording cut off as he began a "defense of the human." Ramachandra focuses on … [Read more...] about A Dialogical Campus Ministry
A Mission to the University: Part 2 of Engaging the University
Part 2 of Vinoth Ramachandra's Engaging the University (21:22) is packed. After exploring the broad topics of funding's push toward instrumentalism, the fragmentation of campus academic life by global communication, and the lack of "any coherent master narrative for a central point of reference . . . to evaluate the relationship of . . . parcels of knowledge to other parcels or to weigh their relative importance," Ramachandra considers three challenges which Christians face in engaging the … [Read more...] about A Mission to the University: Part 2 of Engaging the University
A Mission to the University: Part 1 of Engaging the University
"Dr. Ramachandra is a theologian and an activist whose work engages with the context of his native Sri Lanka, a country whose long conflict has often been drawn along ethnic and religious lines, and his familiarity with student networks in Asia and across the globe. He gained a bachelors degree and a doctorate from Imperial College, London, in nuclear engineering. For many years he has worked for the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students [IFES], presently as Secretary for Dialogue & Social … [Read more...] about A Mission to the University: Part 1 of Engaging the University
A Mission to the University: Henry Martyn Centre
Listening to the introduction of the 2012 Henry Martyn Lectures, delivered by Dr Vinoth Ramachandra, spurred my curiosity with regard to: Who is Henry Martyn? What is his relationship to the subcontinent? How come there is an active centre and library at Cambridge, which now has a growing focus on the academic study of mission and world Christianity, named after him? Why celebrate the bicentenary of his death with events, seminars, services, an exhibition, and this capstone lecture series? On the … [Read more...] about A Mission to the University: Henry Martyn Centre