Welcome to the Wabash Center's audio blog series - "I'm Just Sayin'." This is a series of audio recordings of my blog posts. I am Nancy Lynne Westfield, Director of the Wabash Center.
Play, with and for adult learners, recognizes embodied aesthetics, assists in meaning making, redefines productivity, and welcomes wisdom. Diversities of epistemologies through play pedagogies enhance adult learning. Learning to have fun together rejuvenates and transforms classrooms. What does it mean to maintain health and wellbeing through play? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts (Chicago Theological Seminary).
Designing innovative ways to integrate research with the classroom experience. Students' questions vary with aspirations - course preparation must anticipate students' needs, wants, seasons of life. All ah-hah! moments are not the same! What if creative bravery is needed for better teaching and original scholarship? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Monique Moultrie (Georgia State University).
This episode is taken from a previously recorded webinar. The everyday pressure of racist climates wears upon the body, mind and soul of teachers. What practices of health, wellness, and self-care might prolong the life of a scholar in a racist, toxic, climate? The featured speakers for this event are Dr. Melanie Harris (Texas Christian University) and Dr. Jennifer Harvey (Drake University).
The challenge of discussing contested ideas is not the threat of personal offense, but the likelihood of continued violence and oppression in the wider society. What does it take to foster life-orienting discussions which generatively reflect upon the insurrection, the quarantine, and the BLM? Can we reconstitute the very nature of the adult classroom to grapple with our changed and changing society? What does it mean to teach stud...
Now, students are multi-vocational and depend upon theological education to address this expanding complexity. What does it mean to prepare students to be socially conscious and justice minded? What if innovative models overtax faculty capacity? Digital-age students require new meaning making strategies. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Vanessa Lovelace (Lancaster Theological Seminary).
For good teaching, we must consider teaching and personal economics, institutional economics, societal economic influences. In what ways do vocational aspirations and goals need to align with the economics of the school? Where do I find information about the economic viability of my school? What is the 2026 cliff? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Roger Nam (Candler School of Theology - Emory University).
Logos Evangelical Seminary teaches in Mandarin - a radical and timely seminary. Given the rise in immigrant people and churches, what kind of seminaries are needed? What does it mean to teach a blend of East and West? New seminaries embody a counter-cultural, counter-narrative of hope for the future. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Chloe Sun (Logos Evangelical Seminary).
Creativity can be learned, practiced, and matured. Encourage yourself to ask - "why not?" "what if?" and "suppose ....?". Be brave in your teaching, suspend judgment, and learn to listen inside and outside of yourself. Dare to learn inspiration as a skill. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Delvyn Case (Wheaton College: Massachusetts)
With no manual for this moment in teaching, we have these questions: After triage strategies, what does it take to pursue a discovery process to reestablish education? What are the new sets of questions and who are the new communities of accountability? What is the un-making and the making-anew of the theological educator? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Mai-Anh Le Tran (Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary).
Where do we fit? How do we talk about the caste supremacy of South Asia as well as of the USA, without our students exoticizing us? What does it take to teach as racialized scholars who teach the disciplinary cannon as well as disrupt the disciplinary cannon? What kinds of collaborations are needed to refine liberative teaching practices in each season of the teaching career? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Hrshita Mruthinti Ka...
Given the insurrection of January 6, anti-queer, anti-Black, anti-Semitic, xenophobic views have got to be questioned. Sustained awareness, analysis, and teaching for justice is necessary. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Phillis Sheppard (Vanderbilt Divinity School).
"I did not, initially, want to be a teacher. God snatched me up! I learned to teach to my own design and for students' needs." Advise for new teachers from an emerita faculty elder. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Diana Hayes (Georgetown University).
Previously recorded as a Wabash Center webinar. Dismantling the systems and healing the wounds of racism requires a communal effort. What habits, strategies, and practices might a school undertake to learn together anti-racist work? The featured speakers for this event are Dr. Melanie Harris (Texas Christian University) and Dr. Jennifer Harvey (Drake University).
What is embodied teaching? What is the politics of body in on-line classrooms? What is a professional online face? How do I provide the best of my public self? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Melanie C. Jones (Union Presbyterian Seminary).
What does it take to orient yourself and students to on-line conversations? Meeting the complexity of remote teaching takes imagination, time and struggle. Walking along-side students during social upheaval and pandemic quarantine requires commitment and conversation partners. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Eric Barreto (Princeton Theological Seminary).
Taking time to breathe, calm and focus is critical to effective teaching. How does one avoid the pitfall of adding to the CV at the expense of personal health and wellness? In what ways can course planning encourage student attention to health and wholeness?
What is white rage? What does it mean that racism so permeates school ecologies that white rage is not noticed by anyone other than its victims? What is the loss to the institution for white rage? How can white rage be counterbalanced? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Melanie Harris (Texas Christian University) and Dr. Jennifer Harvey (Drake University).
Rekindling engagement of the unknown, the unsure, the uncertain can happen in on-line teaching. What does it mean not to shame, blame, or cringe while making mistakes in front of students? Practicing adaptation, nimbleness, flexible is key to kindling passion for teaching. Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Carol B. Duncan (Wilfrid Laurier University).
What obstacles hinder faculty of color from being successful? What institutional strategies might remove unnecessary obstacles? How do creative and committed faculty survive with their hearts intact? Dr. Nancy Lynne Westfield hosts Dr. Miguel De La Torre (Iliff School of Theology).