The Wabash Center's Dialogue On Teaching

Logos Evangelical Seminary teaches in Mandarin - a radical and timely seminary. Given the rise in immigrant people and churches, what kind of seminaries are needed? What does it mean to teach a blend of East and West?  New seminaries embody a counter-cultural, counter-narrative of hope for the future. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Chloe Sun (Logos Evangelical Seminary).

Creativity can be learned, practiced, and matured. Encourage yourself to ask - "why not?" "what if?" and "suppose ....?". Be brave in your teaching, suspend judgment, and learn to listen inside and outside of yourself.  Dare to learn inspiration as a skill. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Delvyn Case (Wheaton College: Massachusetts) 

With no manual for this moment in teaching, we have these questions: After triage strategies, what does it take to pursue a discovery process to reestablish education? What are the new sets of questions and who are the new communities of accountability? What is the un-making and the making-anew of the theological educator?  Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Mai-Anh Le Tran (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary). 

Where do we fit? How do we talk about the caste supremacy of South Asia as well as of the USA, without our students exoticizing us? What does it take to teach as racialized scholars who teach the disciplinary cannon as well as disrupt the disciplinary cannon? What kinds of collaborations are needed to refine liberative teaching practices in each season of the teaching career? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Hrshita Mruthinti Kamath (Emory University). 

Given the insurrection of January 6, anti-queer, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, xenophobic views have got to be questioned. Sustained awareness, analysis, and teaching for justice is necessary. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Phillis Sheppard (Vanderbilt Divinity School). 

"I did not, initially, want to be a teacher. God snatched me up! I learned to teach to my own design and for students' needs."  Advise for new teachers from an emerita faculty elder. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Diana Hayes (Georgetown University). 

Previously recorded as a Wabash Center webinar. Dismantling the systems and healing the wounds of racism requires a communal effort. What habits, strategies, and practices might a school undertake to learn together anti-racist work? The featured speakers for this event are Dr. Melanie Harris (Texas Christian University) and Dr. Jennifer Harvey (Drake University).

What is embodied teaching? What is the politics of body in on-line classrooms? What is a professional online face? How do I provide the best of my public self?  Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Melanie C. Jones (Union Presbyterian Seminary). 

What does it take to orient yourself and students to on-line conversations? Meeting the complexity of remote teaching takes imagination, time and struggle. Walking along-side students during social upheaval and pandemic quarantine requires commitment and conversation partners. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Eric Barreto (Princeton Theological Seminary). 

Taking time to breathe, calm and focus is critical to effective teaching. How does one avoid the pitfall of adding to the CV at the expense of personal health and wellness? In what ways can course planning encourage student attention to health and wholeness?