Fall and Redemption Across the Disciplines

Monday, August 4 - Wednesday, August 6

Duke University, Durham, NC

The Faculty Theological Collaborative supports Christian professors at secular universities through advanced theological training, living examples of the unity of faith and scholarship, and rich fellowship with faculty across institutions and disciplines. This three-day workshop is built around a series of dialogues between academic theologians and scholars in the natural sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities.

This year’s theme is fall and redemption. Whatever we study, we encounter a condition of brokenness: selfishness in human behavior, injustice in human institutions, sickness in our bodies, ignorance in our minds, suffering and waste among non-human creatures, all of creation subjected to futility and decay. Yet everywhere God is restoring what has been broken and bringing life out of death. The Bible describes the great work of Christ using metaphors that resonate with our academic disciplines: payment of debt (economics), justification (law), reconciliation (sociology), healing (medicine), and many more. Join us to explore how Jesus is at work in your field of study to redeem and restore a fallen world.

Speakers

Joshua Swamidass is an Associate Professor in the Laboratory and Genomic Medicine Division at Washington University in St Louis. His research focuses on using computational methods solve problems at the intersection of medicine, chemistry and biology.

Natalie V. Covington is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences at the University of Minnesota. Her research focuses on understanding and accounting for heterogeneity in cognitive recovery in individuals with a history of traumatic brain injury.

Peter Arcidiacono is William Henry Glasson Distinguished Professor of Economics at Duke University. He specializes in research involving applied microeconomics, applied economics, and labor economics, with a primary focus on education and discrimination.

Crystal Chen Lee is an Associate Professor of English Education in the College of Education at North Carolina State University. Her research lies at the nexus of literacy, teacher education, community engagement and marginalized youth.

Jonathan R. Wilson is Senior Consultant for Theological Integration with Canadian Baptist Ministries and Teaching Fellow at Regent College (Vancouver, Canada). His research interests include biblical ethics, missional and theological ethics, gospel realism for mission, and public witness of the people of God.

The Faculty Theological Collaborative is a joint project of Regent College, a graduate school of theology focused on the education of the laity, and members of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers, including Anselm House at the University of Minnesota, the Center for Christianity and Scholarship at Duke University, and Octet Collaborative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Faculty associated with any Christian study center or center for Catholic thought are welcome to participate.

Previous participants write,

• “This was such an uplifting, stimulating, and friendly conference. Enjoyable all the way around and fruitful.”
• “My understanding of God's work of creation was bolstered and enriched, and I found the applications demonstrated and discussed by faculty in secular teaching environments made me feel more hopeful about my own work.”
• “I appreciated new ideas that stimulated my thinking and faith; new connections with fellow Christians; practical ideas to reflect Christ better in my work and relationships.”
• “The interaction across fields/disciplines was incredibly rich and inspiring. It reminded me why I wanted to become a professor in the first place!”