6.29.2009
Third-year fellow Jin Young Choi invited to participate in Asian Theological Summer Institute
At ATSI held at the Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, May 26-30, Jin Young Choi presented her paper, "(Mis)understanding and Mystery in Mark." She examined a way of knowing through the embodied experience of mystery in the Gospel and explored the possibility of affirming the subjectivity of people living in the margins of the existing power structure, while developing a model of Asian and Asian American biblical hermeneutics and employing interdisciplinary approaches. The Institute was initiated by the Henry Luce Foundation to promote cultural awareness and theological discourse of Asians and Asian Americans who are engaged in theological education at the doctoral level.
6.18.2009
Third-year fellow Kate Lassiter interviewed by local media
Third year fellow Kate Lassiter was interviewed by local NPR and NBC affiliates and quoted in The Tennessean regarding the economic and health benefits associated with a local rezoning policy introduced by Councilman Jason Holleman. The Davidson County Code currently prohibits cultivation of agricultural products for commercial sale within the urban service district. Changes to the law would allow for the sale of fruits, vegetables, and ornamentals produced in commercial and industrial brownzones as well as backyards.
05.02.2009
T&P Fellows hired for translation
Fellows Sean Hayden (Theological Studies) and Gerald Liu (Homiletics and Liturgics) were hired to translate Jürgen Moltmann's commentary on the encyclical, 'Salvi Spe' from Pope Benedict XVI. The translation, entitled 'Horizons of Hope: A Critique of 'Salvi Spe'' can be found in The Christian Century, 5/20/2008. Vol. 125 Issue 10, 31-33.
5.01.2009
Third-year fellow Angela Cowser wins Fulbright Scholarship
Congratulations to Angela Cowser for her selection as a Fulbright Scholar to Namibia! Angela first traveled to Namibia with Vanderbilt Divinity School’s Global Immersion Seminar. She served as a Teaching Assistant in the seminar as part of her work for the Program in Theology and Practice. The program requires fellows to serve in an “integrative” T.A.ship, and Angela chose this one.
The seminar brought Angela into contact with a variety of leaders in the Namibian government, international NGOs, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia [ELCRN]. “At the end of our stay,” Angela said, “one of the ELCRN pastor-guides asked if I would consider returning to Namibia to teach English. I said that I would try. In the fall of 2008 I submitted a Fulbright application to return to Namibia to study as part of my dissertation research on the role of religion and religious institutions in postcolonial economic development.
Angela’s application was strengthened by courses in ethnography, qualitative research, practical theology and social theory for her home area – Ethics and Society – and the Program in Theology and Practice. A summer of fieldwork for Vanderbilt’s Center for the Study of Religion and Culture helped her develop her skills in these areas.
Recipients of the Fulbright are selected on the basis of their demonstrated leadership potential as well as their outstanding research and academic achievement. Administered by the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Program was established by Congress in 1946 with the intent to “enable the government of the United States to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and the people of other countries.”
4.25.2009
T+P Fellow Ben Anthony selected as preacher for Day1
Ben Anthony, a member of the 2009 cohort of Fellows in Theology and Practice, will be featured as a preacher on the multimedia non-profit ministry Day1. His sermons entitled "Folding Screens and Forgiveness," "A Visitor, a Mapmaker, and a Banquet," and "Neither Heaven nor Hell" will be broadcast on April 26, May 3, and May 10, respectively. All are available in text and audio on the Day1 website . Congratulations, Ben!
4.22.2009
Congratulations to the 2009 class of Fellows in Theology and Practice
Jennifer Pouya - History and Critical Theories of Religion
Ben Anthony - Homiletics and Liturgics
Bridgett Green - New Testament and Early Christianity
Myounghun Yun - Religion, Psychology, and Culture
Daryl Ellis - Theological Studies
2.28.2009
Life Abundant: A Conference in Christian Practical Theology
On February 26-28, 2009 Vanderbilt Divinity School welcomed “Theological Education for Life Abundant: A Conference in Christian Practical Theology.” The conference was sponsored by the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith, a project of the Lilly Endowment based at Valparaiso University. The vision for theological education articulated in For Life Abundant (Bass and Dykstra, eds.) served as a starting point for the conference and as a regular touchstone in the proceedings.
The conference brought together scholars from a wide range of disciplines, institutions, and traditions to think together about the meaning, purpose, and practice of theological education. Charles Marsh of the University of Virginia offered a keynote address. Plenary panels featured presentations from Dorothy Bass, Brad Braxton, Charles Foster, Willie Jennings, Charles Marsh, Ted Smith, David Daniels, Edward Farley, Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Nadine Pence, John Witvliet, Craig Dykstra, Barbara Holmes, James Hudnut-Beumler, and Mary Ann Moman. Morning prayer was coordinated by Robin Jensen and led by Gerald Liu, Brandon McCormack, and Natalie Wigg-Stevenson, all fellows in the Program in Theology and Practice.
Workshops at the conference were offered by Thomas G. Long, Daisy L. Machado and Samuel Cruz, Barbara Rossing and Benjamin Stewart, Christian Scharen and Eileen Campbell-Reed, Mary McClintock Fulkerson, and Lynne Westfield. Conference participants also broke out into small groups organized by discipline for conversations around sample syllabi – a practice many participants named as the most valuable part of the whole event.
For more information on the conference, and a partial posting of the proceedings, please see the website of the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith.
9.14.2008
T+P program featured in The Presbyterian Outlook's analysis of theological education (click title to view article)
8.25.2008
Congratulations to the 2008 class of Fellows in Theology and Practice
Naomi Annandale - Religion, Psychology and Culture
Carolyn Davis - Theological Studies
Sarah Sanderson-Doughty - Theological Studies
Lisa Thompson - Homiletics and Liturgics
Jennifer Williams - Hebrew Bible and Ancient Israel
5.04.2008
Gathering of practice-related doctoral programs
From Duke, Emory, and Vanderbilt
May 1-3, 2008
In May of 2008 Vanderbilt hosted a conference that brought together students and faculty from Duke’s Th.D. program, Emory’s Concentration in Religious Practices and Practical Theology, and Vanderbilt’s Program in Theology and Practice. Plenary conversations focused on syllabi for core courses and the role of “practice” and “practical theology” in each program. Small groups considered samples of writing from each student within the larger context of that student’s vocation.
People from each school reported learning more about their own program even as they learned about the programs from other schools. Participants followed up with individual essays and conversations with others from their home institutions that should help translate some of what they learned at the conference into concrete program developments. We had a great time – and so we hope to gather at least these three schools again in two years.
Participants included Mary McClintock Fulkerson, Randy Maddox, Laceye Waner, Jeff Conlin-Miller, Melanie Dobson Hughes and Heather Vacek (all from Duke); Elizabeth Bounds, Michael Brown, Letitia Campbell, David King, AnneMarie Mingo, and Joshua Thomas (from Emory); and Patout Burns, Nicholas Head, Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Ted Smith, Brad Daugherty, Brandon McCormack, and Natalie Wigg-Stevenson (from Vanderbilt).
Thanks to the Valparaiso Project on the Education and Formation of People in Faith, which funded the gathering. And special thanks to the Valparaiso Project’s Dorothy Bass and Doretta Kurzinski for wise and generous help in designing and putting on the conference.
2.26.2008
Bonnie Miller-McLemore and Ted Smith describe the origins, substance, and hopes of the program in this essay for the Christian Century.
Copyright 2008 Christian Century . Reproduced by permission from the February 26, 2008 issue of the Christian Century . Subscriptions: $49/year from P.O. Box 378, Mt. Morris, IL 61054. 1-800-208-4097
10.04.2007
Congratulations to the 2007 Fellows in Theology and Practice:
Brad Daugherty - Historical Studies
Gerald Liu - Homiletics and Liturgics
Brandon McCormack - Homiletics and Liturgics
Elizabeth Madden - Religion, Psychology, and Culture
Kelly Whitcomb - Hebrew Bible
4.20.2006
The Association of Practical Theology holds its biennial conference at Vanderbilt University.
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