Welcome to the _LFP Update_, an e-publication from the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts to keep LFP representatives and others informed about the activities of 1) LFP National Network institutions, 2) present and former Lilly Fellows and, 3) the LFP office at Valparaiso University.
______ Darren Dochuk wins Allan Nevins Prize ______
______ Other former fellow activities______
Darren Dochuk (LF 04-05) was awarded the prestigious Allan Nevins Prize for his dissertation, "From Bible Belt to Sunbelt: Plain Folk Religion, Grassroots Politics, and the Southernization of Southern California, 1939-1969."
The Nevins Prize
is awarded annually by the Society of American Historians for the best-written doctoral dissertation on an American subject. The Nevins jury described Dochuk's work as "meticulously researched, persuasively argued, and written with style and conviction, asserting that religion must be integrated into, not cordoned off from, postwar political culture....Dochuk offers a rich and multi-dimensional perspective on the origins of one of the most far-ranging developments of the second half of the twentieth century: the rise of the New Right and modern conservatism." In his acceptance speech, Dochuk recognized and thanked Mark Schwehn, LFP Project Director, who won the 1978 Nevins Prize. Other former fellows have been making an impact in writing and research as well. Recent Publications by former fellows include: Paul Harvey (LF 93-95),
Freedom's Coming: Religious Culture and the Shaping of the South from the Civil War through the Civil Rights Era
(University of North Carolina Press, 2005); Thomas "Tal" Howard (LF 98-99), Protestant Theology and the Making of the Modern German University (Oxford University Press, 2006); Heath White (LF 03-05), Postmodernism 101: A First Course for the Curious Christian (Brazos Press, 2006); Caryn Riswold (LF 00-02), Coram Deo: Human Life in the Vision of God (Pickwick, 2006); James Kennedy (LF 95-97), (and Caroline J. Simon), Can Hope Endure?: A Historical Case Study in Christian Higher Education (Eerdmans, 2005), which was a finalist for the inaugural LFP Book Award, and Stephanie Yuhl (LF 98-00),
The Golden Haze of Memory: The Making of Historic Charleston
(University of North Carolina Press, 2005), which won the 2006 Willie Lee Rose Prize given by the Southern Association of Women Historians and the 2006 Historic Preservation Book Prize given by the University of Mary Washington Center for Historic Preservation.
______ Upcoming National Network Exchanges______
______at Loyola College in Maryland and Calvin College ______
One of the programs funded by the LFP is our National Network Exchanges. The Network Exchange Programs allow Network institutions to showcase distinctive projects, institutes, or curricula that highlight the Christian or church-related characteristics of their schools. They provide for an extended visitation by faculty and leaders from other Network colleges, allowing close observation and study of the pertinent program, so that other institutions might learn from the host institution's experience and perspectives.
In fall, 2005, the National Network Board funded two upcoming Network Exchange Programs. The first is for the Catholic Studies Program at Loyola College in Maryland, which will be held April 18-21, 2007. Founded in 1997, Loyola College in Maryland's Catholic Studies Program strives to strengthen and nurture the College's commitment to its Catholic, Jesuit mission and identity. It accomplishes this by emphasizing the education of the whole person, the pursuit of knowledge for the purpose of knowing the truth, and "finding God in all things." The Catholic Studies Program relies on a wide variety of academic, cultural, social and other programming to explore the depth and breadth of the Roman Catholic intellectual and artistic heritage. The Network Exchange, coordinated by Angela Christman, invites faculty and administrators from all
Network Schools
to apply; the deadline for application is February 1, 2007. For a brochure on the exchange program, please click here for further information on the Catholic Studies Program, click here; to register, click here.
The second Network Exchange program involves the Entrada Scholars Program at Calvin College. For the Network Exchange, Calvin College will select and bring together 30 scholars and professionals from
network institutions
for a four-day immersion experience with the Entrada Scholars Program (ESP). ESP is a summer academic achievement program for 11th and 12th grade North American ethnic minority (NAEM) students who earn three to four hours of college credit at virtually no financial cost. In existence since 1987, the ESP has significantly contributed to the enrollment, retention, and graduation rates of NAEM students at Calvin. In doing so, ESP has made an indelible impact on our campus, in the lives of the program participants, and throughout the world. The Exchange will run from Tuesday, July 10 to Friday, July 13, 2007, and interested institutions must complete and return applications no later than Friday, January 26, 2007.
For more information on ESP, click here.
For more application information for the Network Exchange, please contact coordinator Rhae-Ann Booker at:
Rhae-Ann Booker, ABD, MSW
Director of Pre-College Programs
3201 Burton SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546
616) 526-6749
rbooker@calvin.edu
___ Upcoming Summer Seminar for College Teachers at Calvin College ___
Summer Seminars for College Teachers are designed for faculty at Network institutions , with preference for those in early stages of their careers. Each seminar will be convened by a seasoned faculty person from a Network school who will have the responsibilities of designing the seminar, recruiting twelve participants, and conducting the seminar. Each seminar will address a major issue of special concern for scholars and teachers in the church-related academy. Participants in the seminar will read a set of common texts, engage in disciplined discussion of the seminar topic, and write on some aspect of the seminar topic. Each seminar will meet for a three or four-week period on the campus of a Network school, or for two weeks with participants returning for three or fours days at a designated additional time, typically the home institution of the seminar director.
In Spring, 2006, the National Network Board approved funding for Calvin College to host "Biblical Studies Across the Curriculum: Discerning Scripture for the Disciplines," which will run from July 9-27, 2007, and is Coordinated by James K.A. Smith and J. Richard Middleton. According to Smith and Middleton, while over the past decade a vision of integral Christian scholarship across the disciplines has flourished, curiously absent from much of this discussion is any robust role for Scripture. While Christian scholars across the disciplines mine the resources of the Christian theological tradition for constructive work in their field, they often don’t dig down to the level of first-hand, rigorous engagement with the Bible. Or when Christian scholars do invoke Scripture, too often it is in the mode of “proof-texting,” drawing on a less-than-sufficient acquaintance with the Bible that tends to de-contextualize Scripture, wresting passages from their canonical and historical context, or simply reducing them to propositions for logical operations. The goal of this summer seminar, then, is to provide a faculty development opportunity that will rectify this situation by bringing together a team of 12 scholars from across the disciplines who are eager to acquaint themselves with the best of critical, confessional scholarship on Scripture with a view to its impact for thinking across the curriculum. As such, the seminar will have both scholarly and pedagogical impact. Applications are due by January 26, 2007. For applications and further information, please click here.
___ National Research Conference held at Baylor University ___
The 6th Annual LFP National Research Conference, The World and Christian Imagination, was hosted by Baylor University on November 9-11, 2006. There were over 100 presentations that explored how the Christian imagination might be brought to bear on all aspects of contemporary life from historical, literary, theological, and artistic perspectives. Speakers included Stephen M. Barr (University of Delaware); Nicholas Boyle (University of Cambridge); David Burrell (University of Notre Dame); Susan Felch (Calvin College); Amy Laura Hall (Duke Divinity School); Kevin Hart (University of Notre Dame) ; Jeanne Heffernan (Villanova University); John Milbank (University of Nottingham), and Merold Westphal (Fordham University). The Conference Coordinator was Douglas V. Henry.
The annual LFP National Research Conference provides a forum for research and scholarship among faculty at Network institutions. The conference fosters and promotes research that addresses issues of faith and learning, Christian practices of teaching, the relationship of religion and the academic disciplines, the relationship of the sacred and the secular, or other aspects of church-related higher education. The next conference will be held in Spring, 2008, at Loyola Marymount University and is entitled: Convivencia: Religious Identities in the New World, and is coordinated by Dorian Llywelyn and Amir Hussain.
___ Spotlight on Regional Conferences ___
Regional Conferences or Workshops represent a flexible category of programs that encourage examination of topics of special significance to faculty, administrators, and students at a particular institution or group of institutions, or matters of special intellectual concern to faculty and others in Christian higher education. The focus, character, and constituency of the conference may vary to suit the needs of the applicant.
There have been three LFP-sponsored regional conferences during the 2006-2007 academic year--one completed, one ongoing, and one upcoming.
Completed at St. Mary's University of Minnesota was "Together and By Association, A Conference for Lasallian College and University Faculty," coordinated by Mary Catherine Fox and Judith Schaefer and held on June 9-10, 2006. This conference was able to bring together representatives from all seven Lasallian universities in the US for the first time to discuss what it means to be a Catholic and Lasallian university in the twenty-first century. Brother President Craig Franz of
St. Mary's University of Minnesota
kicked off the conference with a keynote address that provided highlighted an emerging culture of association between lay faculty and staff at Lasallian Universities. Dr. Stephany Schlacter, Provost of Lewis University, presented an historical overview of mission-related efforts on her campus, which have involved not only hiring and mentoring initiatives, but aesthetic components of the campus as well. Br. Robert Smith, Vice President for Mission and Faculty Development at St. Mary's University of Minnesota, provided an overview of mission activities related to faculty development, highlighting mentoring programs for first year faculty as well as faculty in years three to seven. Dr. Catherine Fox and Sr. Judith Schaefer offered faculty perspectives on their work on the Lasallian Core Traditions program at St. Mary's, and Janet Luce, Director of the Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action, with Br. Michael Sanderl, Assistant Dean of Student Life for Mission, both of St. Mary's College of California, explored the person-centered and missionary spirituality that continues to sustain the work of Lasallian university educators.
On Thursday, September 21, 2006, St. Xavier University in Chicago and Orland Park, Illinois, kicked off its ongoing Regional Conference which is part of its annual "Catholic Colloquium Series," which is this year titled, "To Be in 'Good Standing': Challenges to Catholic Universities Since Vatican II." The series is also part of the ongoing 160th anniversary celebration of St. Xavier University. Dr. Peter Steinfels, author of A People Adrift: The Crisis of the Roman Catholic Church in America and former religion editor for the New York Times, addressed an audience of about 250, which included students and faculty from St. Xavier University along with representatives from area campuses and Chicago generally. Steinfels examined the relationship between Catholic clergy and politics in America with a special eye to how current shifts in this relationship might affect Catholic higher education. Mr. Steinfels' lecture is the first in a six-part series; speakers featured over the 2006-2007 academic year include: Rev. J. Bryan Hehir, Th.D, president of Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Boston, who presented on November 6, 2006; M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D., associate professor of theology at
Boston College
(February 6, 2007); Francis Cardinal George, O.M.I., Archbishop of Chicago (March 8, 2007), and Mary Ann Hinsdale, I.H.M., Ph.D., associate professor of theology at Boston College (March 29, 2007). All lectures are at 7 p.m. in the Butler Reception Room of St. Xavier University. For more information, contact Sue Sanders, RSM, Vice President for University Mission and Heritage at St. Xavier, 773.298.3981 or click here.
Upcoming is Singing God's Song Faithfully: Implications for Theology and Music Faculty Seeking to Prepare Music Leadership for the Church at the University of Notre Dame, April 12-14, 2007, and coordinated by Charlotte Kroeker. The conference will explore the responsibilities and opportunities for musicians and theologians in church-related colleges and universities to prepare a new generation of worshippers for leadership as professionals or laypersons, leaders who will understand and contribute effectively to vital music in worship. The conference invites chaplains, theology and music faculty, and others who may teach or plan worship on campus to reflect on the nature of music experience in worship, the curricular content for music and worship courses, and the task of training of musicians and theology students during their four years of undergraduate education. Speakers include Frank Burch Brown, Craig Cramer, Carol Doran, Quentin Faulkner, Kenneth Nafzinger, Steven W. Semes, Sillem Speelman, Gail Walton, and Paul Westermeyer. For application information (PDF brochure), click here.
____ Upcoming award and grant opportunity deadlines:____
____Summer Seminars and National Research Conferences ____
The deadline for hosting the 2008 Summer Seminar for College Teachers is March 15, 2007. For more information, click here.
The deadline for hosting the 2008/2009 LFP National Research Conference is March 15, 2007. For more information, click here.
______ Arlin G. Meyer Prize and LFP Book Award nominations deadlines ______
The deadline for nominating a work for the 2007 Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Humanities is March 1, 2007. For more information, click here.
The deadline for nominating a work for the 2007 Lilly Fellows Book Award is March 1, 2007. For more information, click here.
____ From the Colloquium ____
In the last weeks of the Fellows Colloquium this fall, we have returned to Arlin Miggliazzo's gold mine of a book
Teaching as an Act of Faith
(Fordham University Press 2002). You can let that book fall open to almost any page and find something useful and worth considering carefully. The members of the Colloquium were invited to focus on any one of the essays in the volume and someone chose Arlin G. Meyer's essay "Teaching Literature as Mediation." At one point, Meyer is talking about teaching the novels of Thomas Hardy who was:
…not a Christian writer: his world is grimly pessimistic, a world governed by fatalism and pessimism. However, I believe it is vital for Christians to inhabit worlds not lit in precisely the same way as their own. Great fiction enables readers by vicarious experience to bring to bear on their own lives myriads of lives not their own. By immersing oneself in the experience of others, there is more of oneself that can be Christian than there was before. Because Hardy was a writer of considerable mind and imagination who created a fictional world that contains a comprehensive view of life, sensitively perceived and richly embodied, a reader's life should be expanded after reading Hardy. As a result, there is more of that person's life with which to be Christian than there was before and, perhaps, even more conviction in the reader's own view of the world (264)
We could hardly be blamed for having our own grimly fatalistic and pessimistic view of the world in this time of war, and death, and terror, and hunger, forces which tempt us toward an ever tighter and more defensive attitude. And, at this time of the year, the darkness always seems to be winning out over the light and pinching off the beginnings and endings of our days. We should not forget that this was also the kind of world and time into which Jesus the savior was born. May that blessed knowledge expand our own lives so that more of them may be Christian and our own convictions deepened.
--John Steven Paul
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