Breakout Sessions
Friday, Oct. 18 – 9-10:15 a.m.
Liturgical Formation for Justice | Weyerhaeuser Hall 111
Isaac Wardell, The Porter's Gate, joined by musicians from The Porter's Gate Worship Project
The Porter’s Gate is a sacred ecumenical arts collective reimagining and recreating worship that welcomes, reflects and impacts both the community and the church. It was founded with a mission to be a “porter” for the Christian church – one who looks beyond church doors for guests to welcome. This session with the Porter’s Gate director will explore how worship and liturgical practices help shape the human heart, mind and soul toward the pursuit of justice with our neighbor.
Spiritual & Character Formation Through Sports | Weyerhaeuser Hall 302
Timothy Demant, director of athletics, Whitworth University
Steve Schadt, aquatics director, Whitworth University
Rachel Aldridge, women’s tennis coach, Whitworth University
A student chooses to attend a college for several reasons, but the opportunity to participate in intercollegiate athletics is a big draw for many students. Most student-athletes spend far more time with their coaches, athletics staff and teammates than their professors or other campus staff. This panel discussion will explore how athletic departments provide opportunities for character building, mentorship and discipleship and how they can partner with other departments and programs on campus to help students thrive.
Human Flourishing in the Core Curriculum | Weyerhaeuser Hall 303
Josh Leim, Whitworth University
Joelle Czirr, Whitworth University
A liberal arts education aims not merely to equip students for professional success but, more fundamentally, to form students into excellent, flourishing human beings. But how do we speak about “human flourishing” in an academic context? How do our Christ-centered convictions shape the way we imagine the nature and ends of flourishing? And is human flourishing even the type of thing we can teach in the classroom? This session explores Whitworth University’s commitment to design an innovative first-year experience course that intentionally focuses on the spiritual, communal, physical and intellectual well-being of students as a means of equipping students to live flourishing human lives.
Friday, Oct. 18 – 3-4:15 p.m.
The Art of Creaturely Intelligence in an AI Bubble | Weyerhaeuser Hall 111
Jeffrey Bilbro, Grove City College
New AI technologies have understandably caused consternation among educators, but perhaps we should be grateful for them. They help reveal some of our fundamental assumptions about education: how education works, what role writing plays in forming persons, and how we should incorporate writing assignments in courses. We’ll spend some time reflecting on these philosophical questions, but this workshop will also help you understand what kinds of writing the current generation of AI tools can produce and give practical pedagogical suggestions for designing curricula in light of these capabilities.
Renewing Mind, Heart and Hands: Christian Formation in Healthcare Education | Weyerhaeuser Hall 203
Brett McCarty, Duke University
Travis Pickell, George Fox University
Brewer Eberly, Fischer Clinic and Duke Divinity School
Jordan Mason, Providence St. Joseph Health
As rising burnout rates for clinicians and poor health outcomes for patients attest, healthcare in the U.S. is not well. What role might Christians play in its renewal? In particular, how might Christian higher education form faithful healthcare practitioners who are prepared to participate in its renewal? This panel examines the crisis of contemporary healthcare as an opportunity for Christian universities at multiple points in the healthcare education pathway. From undergraduate education to graduate health professions programs, the panel explores some of the most innovative programs in Christian formation in higher education, with plenty of time for Q&A and conversations about local possibilities at your own institution.
Work and Meaning in the Academy: The Contemporary Importance of Mark
Schwehn’s Exiles from Eden | Weyerhaeuser Hall 303
Joseph Creech, The Lilly Network
Ashleigh Elser, Lilly Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017-19, St. Louis University
Jason Gehrke, Lilly Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018-20, Hillsdale College
Abigail Gomulkiewicz, Lilly Postdoctoral Fellow, 2021-23, University of St. Francis
Jillian Snyder, Lilly Postdoctoral Fellow, 2019-21, University of Notre Dame
Jacob Torbeck, Lilly Postdoctoral Fellow, 2022-23, Briar Cliff University
In the early 1990s, a number of books addressed the crisis in church-related higher education, and most adopted a declension narrative to describe in detail the processes by which higher education secularized. Schwehn’s 1993 work, Exiles from Eden, was clearly up to something different. Schwehn insisted that professionalization, not secularization, was the primary analytical tool to understand higher education’s engagement with modernity. Schwehn argued that the way academics are formed in graduate school, that is, the way in which they are professionalized, has profoundly shaped the aim and mission of church-related education, and higher education more generally. At a time of deep intellectual and cultural division about the meaning and purpose of higher education, Exiles from Eden continues to offer profound insight and potential paths forward.
Saturday, Oct. 19 – 8:30-9:45 a.m.
Can You Do Christian Formation in the Core Curriculum? | Weyerhaeuser Hall 111
Joseph Clair, George Fox University
Travis Pickell, George Fox University
Jay Miller, George Fox University
Lindsey Hankins, George Fox University
Dana Robinson, George Fox University
This session examines two innovative approaches to general education at George Fox University created over the past decade – the Cornerstone Core and the Honors Program – and discusses how each attempt to weave the moral, intellectual and spiritual aims of a Christian liberal arts education in a way that is sensitive to the current cultural conditions, professional ambitions and market demands of our changed landscape.
The Experiential Liberal Arts | Weyerhaeuser Hall 203
Abigail Gomulkiewicz, University of St. Francis
Amanda Ruud, Valparaiso University
The formation of character is a central concern in a liberal arts education, especially in church-related institutions. Traditionally, instructors have primarily envisioned and enacted this kind of formation through textual discussions in classrooms. This breakout session, however, challenges this singular vision and explores how experiential activities ranging from theatre to debate to reenactment provide students with dynamic opportunities for formation both inside and outside of the classroom. In this session, we will discuss how these experiential activities often provide particularly fruitful space for students to engage with questions of virtue, character and community in our world. We will also offer suggestions for incorporating these kinds of formative experiences into the curriculum.