信仰, 科学, and 多样性 Lecture series
The Office of Inclusive Excellence brought three high-profile speakers to campus as part of the new 信仰, 科学, and 多样性 Lecture series. They also hosted smaller integrated course-based discussions quarterly. This year’s theme, “What is creation?,” tackled common misconceptions about race, 人类生物学, 和种族主义, as well as wholeness and suffering.
The annual lecture series was sponsored by a grant from the 支持ing Structures: Innovative Partnerships to Enhance Bench 科学 at Council for Christian Colleges and Universities member institutions. This three-year grant, hosted by the Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford group, also provides research support and professional development training in the integration
of faith, science, and diversity for three
教员.
“I am so blessed to be at a Christian school learning through a biblical and faith-based lens at SPU, and this is all thanks to generous people like you.” —Elisha, Class of 2024
Theological Integration Fellows
This fall the Theological Integration Fellows Program welcomed its third cohort. This certificate program provides seminary training to 教员 who wish to better integrate their faith with their disciplines and professionally enhance their teaching and scholarship. All SPU faculty and staff profess the Christian faith, but not all have theological training. “A lot of faculty teaching at Christian universities haven’t had formal theological training if they’ve only attended secular universities,” said professor and former dean 道格强, who helped establish this program. “具有讽刺意味的是, that means some of the professors at Christian colleges have less theology coursework than their students. This is true at all Christian colleges, but I don’t know of any other Christian college or university doing what we’re doing: offering graduate-level theological training for their own non-theology faculty.” The Theological Integration Fellows Program is made possible by a generous anonymous donor.
Students gain sense of belonging in SoulCare groups
With thanks to the generosity of a handful of donors, every SPU freshman experiences SoulCare — a program adapted from the Wesleyan Holiness heritage. Students participate in SoulCare groups as a way to experience Christian community and learn about spiritual formation centered on the question, “How goes it with your soul?通过SoulCare, students grow in their awareness and love of self, 其他人, 和上帝, and feel a sense of belonging in a small-group community.
Learn more about SoulCare at nysyfdc.com/soulcare.