The Wabash Center's Dialogue On Teaching

At the time of this conversation, Eric Barreto was on the faculty at Luther Seminary, but he has since joined the faculty at Princeton Theological Seminary. His teaching practice is informed by his bi-regional and multi-lingual backgrounds. The biblical text and the ancient world are sites for destabilizing contemporary notions about the stability of historical conceptions of the possibility/ies of living harmoniously within diverse communities.

This podcast was taken from "The “I” That Teaches” series, a video project that invites senior scholars to talk about their teaching lives. These scholar-teachers candidly discuss how religious, educational, and family backgrounds inform their vocational commitments and, also, characterize their teaching persona. From the vantage point of a practiced teaching philosophy we get an intimate account of the value and art of teaching well.

This podcast is from “The “I” That Teaches” series - a video project that invites senior scholars to talk about their teaching lives. These scholar-teachers candidly discuss how religious, educational, and family backgrounds inform their vocational commitments and, also, characterize their teaching persona. From the vantage point of a practiced teaching philosophy we get an intimate account of the value and art of teaching well. In this episode, we feature an interview with Victor Anderson, Vanderbilt School of Divinity.  

Anita Houck, Saint Mary’s College, enriches her teaching with skills she learned from Improv. She always addresses students’ questions with a “Yes” before nudging them beyond their scope of inquiry. She is a humorist who meets students where they are and, then, tickles them into a deeper sense of the subject and, perhaps, themselves. She is a recipient of the institution’s prestigious Maria Pieta Award for Excellence in Teaching in 2004 and the College Theology Society's Monika Hellwig Award for Teaching Excellence in 2017.

This podcast was taken from the video series, "The “I” That Teaches," a project that invites senior scholars to talk about their teaching lives. These scholar-teachers candidly discuss how religious, educational, and family backgrounds inform their vocational commitments and, also, characterize their teaching persona. From the vantage point of a practiced teaching philosophy we get an intimate account of the value and art of teaching well.

For Kenneth Ngwa, Drew Theological Seminary, teaching is not just a vocation but it’s a way of life. He confesses, “I cannot but teach.” Teaching is about a community of learners coming together to make meaning from a set of texts or artifacts. “I think teaching is a powerful tool, ” continues Ngwa, “to shape not just individual perspectives but how society functions.” He teaches classes in the Hebrew Bible and is an important voice in the field of African Biblical Hermeneutics.

This podcast is taken from the "The “I” That Teaches” video series - project that invites senior scholars to talk about their teaching lives. These scholar-teachers candidly discuss how religious, educational, and family backgrounds inform their vocational commitments and, also, characterize their teaching persona. From the vantage point of a practiced teaching philosophy we get an intimate account of the value and art of teaching well.

“Teaching is an art and not a science,” states David Blix, Wabash College. It is about “interacting with students” in a “friendly manner” which is to say that teaching is about what he does in his everyday life.  A deeply engaged student-centered teacher of religions of the world, Blix was a Carnegie Scholar at the Carnegie Institute for the Advancement of Teaching in Palo Alto, California.

This podcast was taken from the "The “I” That Teaches” - a video project that invites senior scholars to talk about their teaching lives. These scholar-teachers candidly discuss how religious, educational, and family backgrounds inform their vocational commitments and, also, characterize their teaching persona. From the vantage point of a practiced teaching philosophy we get an intimate account of the value and art of teaching well.

This podcast was taken from the "The “I” That Teaches” video series.  It is a project that invites senior scholars to talk about their teaching lives. These scholar-teachers candidly discuss how religious, educational, and family backgrounds inform their vocational commitments and, also, characterize their teaching persona. From the vantage point of a practiced teaching philosophy we get an intimate account of the value and art of teaching well.

“My mother’s faith was foundational, and still is foundational, in terms of what it means to care about other people,” says New Testament scholar Mitzi Smith. “But what is different is that…my faith has developed into a critical faith.” It is a critical engagement with the Gospels, in the service of helping others to deepen their sense of shared responsibility, that she brings into the classroom. Early family experiences, formative relationships and training informs our teaching identity. “I teach with all that I am,” pronounces Prof. Smith. A native of Columbus, Ohio she began her teaching career at Ashland Theological Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. However, Dr. Smith has recently accepted an appointment as the J. Davison Philips Professor of New Testament at Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia. 

What is at-stake is a nation fit for our children to inherit - in other words, everything. Change will take a learning journey, culture re-shaping, and actions which change the purposes theological education.  Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Dori Baker (Forum for Theological Education). 

In this time of urgent potential, higher education has a particular role and responsibility to re-frame and fully center our collective commitment around the well-being and thriving of Black and Brown people. Predominantly white institutions have long noted, but tolerated, racial disparities in rates of retention, persistence to graduation, and grade point average--all data that indicate students of color are being negatively impacted by hostile racial climates in so many of our institutions. Those of us who work within higher education, especially faculty, can and must transform our institutions by centering the experiences of Black and Brown students. Rev. Dr. Jennifer Harvey will speak to these issues, by sharing her journey as Faculty Director of the Crew Scholars Program at Drake University. Crew is an academic excellence and leadership development program for students of color at Drake. In its eight years of existence, among students in Crew, Drake has seen the gpa gap close, student of color retention rates soar, and Crew Scholars persistence to graduation outpace and outperform all other Drake students (including white students).

Will there be a church that matters in the 21st century? What stories will we inhabit that are life-giving and for who? Leading evangelical theological education is about risk taking, failure and change.  Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Mark Labberton (Fuller Theological Seminary). 

Attending to the public pressure to rethink societal oppressions requires trustees, faculty, student and administrative alignment. Leaders taking risks for prophetic agendas is the work of justice in theological education. Do not be forced into silence!  Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. L. Serene Jones (Union Theological Seminary).