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.
______ Nominations and Applications received for the LFP Post-Doctoral______
______ Fellowship and for the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program ______
We are happy to announce that the LFP received 107 applications for three LFP Post-Doctoral Fellowships at Valparaiso University. The selection committee regarded the applications this year among the strongest in recent memory. Look for announcements in the March issue of the _LFP Update_ for profiles of the new fellows, who will be selected in February.
We are also happy to announce that the LFP received 67 nominations from 39 network schools for 15 2008 Lilly Graduate Fellowships (http://www.lillyfellows.org/graduate_fellows_program.htm). Thank you for all your work in making the nomination process of this first year of the Lilly Graduate Fellows Program a success. Applications for nominees are due on February 1, 2008. 24 finalists will be selected by March 1, 2008, and the 15 Fellows will be selected during an Interview Conference at the University Conference Center and Hotel in Indianapolis, Indiana, on April 11-13, 2008. Dr. Pamela Jolicour, President of Concordia College, Moorhead, will be the conference speaker.
______ Upcoming National Research Conference at Loyola-Marymount University ______
On March 27-29, 2008, Loyola Marymount University (http://www.lmu.edu/site4.aspx) will sponsor the 2008 LFP National Research Conference, Convivencia: Religious Identities in the New World, in Los Angeles, California.
The title, Convivencia, or shared existence, is a concept from the "old world" of mediaeval Spain, when Christians, Muslims and Jews lived in mutual tolerance and relative peace. The conference will examine the concept of Convivencia from a variety of disciplines as it might speak to our "new world" which seems defined by tensions between religion and secularism and scarred by religious and ethnic violence. Los Angeles, where America imagines itself and where forces of globalization and fragmentation intersect, will provide a living backdrop for the conference.
The conference will open with a reception on the evening of Thursday, March 27, 2008, followed by a concert by the Yuval Ron Ensemble. The conference will begin with a keynote address on Friday, March 28, by Marķa Rosa Menocal, and the conference will feature plenary speakers in dialogue with each other. These speakers include Ahmet Karamustafa, Ebrahim Moosa, Peter Phan, Robert Orsi, Linda Komaroff, Arnold Eisen, Thomas Tweed, Diane Winston, Timothy Matovina, and Ann Taves.
For a conference flyer, click here
For more information on the conference, including conference schedules and registration, click here.
_____ Upcoming National Network Exchange at Geneva 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, 2007, the National Network Board approved a Network Exchange Program at Geneva College: "Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights" to be held June 3-15, 2008.
This exchange program will consist of a four-day seminar (June 3-6), followed by an eight-day bus tour (June 7-15). Participants in the Network Exchange Program will spend time in deep study of the Civil Rights Movement as presented through the "Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights" program so that they may implement a similar program at their respective institutions. At the conclusion of the on-campus seminar, participants will then depart on a tour of key sites of the Movement, having the chance to interact with a diverse group of Movement veterans.
In keeping with the standard format of the Network Exchange Program, Geneva College will select a group of twelve scholars and professionals from Network institutions for this exciting opportunity. What follows are a few pertinent details of this innovative experience:
- Preference will be given to those persons who can participate in both the seminar and the tour.
- Persons interested in attending the tour only can contact Todd Allen for additional information.
- The registration fee for both the seminar and the tour is a $150 non-refundable deposit. No space will be reserved without a deposit paid in full. Checks are to be made payable to: The Common Ground Project.
- Seminar/tour participants will have the following expenses paid: Travel to/from Geneva College (http://www.geneva.edu/) (up to $400 reimbursable), all of the meals associated with the seminar aspect of this event, and lodging. Lodging on the tour will be based on double occupancy. If requesting a single room on the tour, there will be an additional expense. Lodging for the seminar is single occupancy.
- Registration deadline is: March 14, 2008
.
You can learn more about the "Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights" program, as well as download an application form by clicking here.
_____ Network Exchanges held at Loyola College in Maryland and Calvin College _____
In fall, 2005, the National Network Board funded two Network Exchange Programs for 2007.
The first, for the Catholic Studies Program at Loyola College in Maryland, was 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, had 12 participants from 12 network schools. Attendees heard lectures, observed the activities of the center, and had ample time for group discussion of the program; they also learned about Roman Catholicism's heritage in the region through trips to surrounding sites. Attendees reported that the exchange was a tremendous success.
The second Network Exchange program involved the Entrada Scholars Program at Calvin College (http://www.calvin.edu/). For the Network Exchange, Calvin College brought together 15 scholars and professionals from 11 Network institutions for a four-day immersion experience with the Entrada Scholars Program (ESP) from July 10-13, 2007. 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. The Exchange began with a keynote address by Dr. Ed St. John, professor of higher education at the University of Michigan, who presented the opportunities for and challenges of defining and achieving college access and diversity goals as faith-based colleges and Universities. Then, for the next four days, participants attended seven different workshops led by Calvin staff members whose work intersects with Entrada. Participants also attended three field experiences: observations of Entrada scholars and staff in the classrooms, academic coaching sessions, and Entrada's closing graduation ceremony. The exchange was directed by Rhae-Ann Booker.
____ Regional Conference held at the University of Notre Dame ____
On April 12-14, 2007, the University of Notre Dame presented the 2007 LFP Regional Conference: Singing God's Song Faithfully: Implications for Theology and Music Faculty Seeking to Prepare Music Leadership for the Church. The conference, which was coordinated by Charlotte Kroeker, explored 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 38 participants (and 10-15 graduate students), including 19 participants from 9 network schools, heard from speakers such as Frank Burch Brown, Craig Cramer, Carol Doran, Quentin Faulkner, Kenneth Nafzinger, Steven W. Semes, Willem Speelman, Gail Walton, and Paul Westermeyer. All conferees were appreciative of the chance to think about the role of the church-related college in educating students in meaningful worship. The in-depth presentations coupled with the experience of meaningful liturgies, singing, sacred music performance, and architectural spaces gave a multi-dimensional view of the potential these colleges have for rich education in this regard.
______ Summer Seminar for College Teachers held at Calvin College ______
In Spring, 2006, the
National Network Board
approved funding for Calvin College (http://www.calvin.edu/) to host "Biblical Studies Across the Curriculum: Discerning Scripture for the Disciplines," which ran from July 9-27, 2007, and was coordinated by James K.A. Smith and J. Richard Middleton, and aimed to bring scholars from across the disciplines eager to acquaint themselves with the best of critical, confessional scholarship on Scripture with a view to its impact for thinking across the curriculum. 11 participants from 9 Network schools were selected for the seminar and housed in nearby apartments; participants were able to bring family members at no expense. Each participant received subventions for travel and accommodations as well as a stipend for purchasing books. The seminar also provided a full slate of social events for scholars and their families to build friendships over the time of the seminar; this reflects the Seminars in Christian Scholarship office at Calvin's commitment to holistic hospitality. According to Smith, the seminar more than accomplished its goals of engaging the biblical texts from different perspectives and disciplines and across the curriculum.
If you or your school might be interested in sponsoring such a Summer Seminar for College Teachers, please note the deadline for doing so below.
______ Upcoming award and grant opportunity deadlines:______
______Summer Seminars and National Research Conferences ______
The deadline for hosting the 2009 Summer Seminar for College Teachers is March 15, 2008. For more information, click here.
The deadline for hosting the 2009/2010 LFP National Research Conference is March 15, 2008. For more information, click here.
______ Arlin G. Meyer Prize nominations due ______
The deadline for nominating a work for the 2008 Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Performing Arts is
March 1, 2008. For more information, click here.
______ From the Colloquium... ______
The Fellows Colloquium reconvened last Monday with a discussion of Roberta Bondi's book To Pray and to Love. (Fortress 1991). In an introduction to the members of the Colloquium, Mark Schwehn wrote:
"Roberta Bondi's book attempts to retrieve the wisdom of the desert fathers and mothers of the first centuries of Christianity in order to strengthen and deepen our loves of prayer today. In the course of this endeavor, she accomplishes at least two things that should engage our attention. First, Bondi provides a rather expansive understanding of prayer such that the line between our prayer lives and our study lives is sometimes very hard to draw. Second, Bondi's book is itself an example of scholarship that is mobilized for the sake of enriching the life of the church and informing the practices of individual Christians. So we might wonder about both about Bondi's discussion of prayer and about the extent to which we should regard her book, at church-related colleges at least, as a work that should count toward tenure; i.e. be regarded as a piece of scholarship that we should evaluate right along with more standard monographs aimed at her scholarly guild, such as her own monograph on the Monophysite controversy."
Long-time Lilly Fellows Program representatives will remember that Roberta Bondi spoke at the second National Conference at Valparaiso University in 1992 and that the text of her talk "Spirituality and Higher Learning: Thinking and Loving" can be found in the June, 1993, issue of The Cresset.
Remember to keep the Lilly Fellows Program and all the many friends it has brought together in conversation over the years in your prayers.
-- John Steven Paul
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