Whether local, virtual, or both, our experienced conference team can guide you through the process of gathering Christian colleagues together for encouragement, networking, and fresh ideas for ministry.
Phil Bishop, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Kinesiology, University of Alabama
Summer Workshop – Habits of the Mind: Principles of Thought for the Christian Professor
Co-sponsored with the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (CCSN), this conference will allow Christian faculty to hear from and discuss their common call to Christ and the academy with other Christian faculty. This is an online conference for Christian academics from the United States and around the world.
The Bible speaks a lot about the importance of the mind. We are told, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37-39). But how can we, as Christian professors, better love Christ with our minds? The Bible says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). What does this mean for you and me as Christian professors in the university? What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? The Apostle Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:2). How can our minds be renewed on a daily basis? What is the evidence of a transformation of the mind? What are the implications of a transformed mind at university? How does it affect our relationships and our scholarship? What about our time in the classroom with our students?
Lead Facilitator:
Robert Woods, Executive Director, Christianity and Communication Studies Network; Visiting Scholar
Additional Presenters:
Geri Forsberg, Western Washington University; Jim Cook, Exec. Director, Academic Connections; Bethan Willis, Oxford; Terry Halliday, Research Professor Emeritus at the American Bar Foundation
Geri E. Forsberg (PhD, New York University) has shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with professors since 1991. After completing her doctorate at New York University, Geri taught at Trinity Western University and traveled to university campuses throughout North America to speak to professors. Not only does she teach in the English Department at Western Washington University, but Geri has also led an outreach to professors there for over twenty years. Geri has served as a full-time staff member and an affiliate staff member with CRU since 1975. Currently, she serves as a Faculty Fellow with Faculty Commons, the faculty ministry of CRU. She is also the co-president of the International Jacques Ellul Society and serves on the board of CCSN. Geri’s scholarship focuses on the faith of various media ecologists. Her most recent writings include: “Being Human in a Technological Society: A Theological Perspective,” to be published this spring in Questioning 21st Century Technology with Jacques Ellul (2025). “Informationally Lost with No Sense of Place,” published in Quentin J Schultze’s Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age (1924). And “Transformation in the Public University,” Professing Christ: Christian Tradition and Faith-Learning Integration in Public Universities, ed. Jonathan Pettigrew and Robert H. Woods, Jr. Integratio Press, (2022). She is active in her Anglican church, leading a weekly life group. In 1996, Geri married Paul Madison, and they have one married son who lives with his wife, Honoka, in Tokyo. Connect with Geri here.
Jim Cook founded Academic Connections in 2010 and serves as its Executive Director. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri in Economics (minor in Mathematics) and holds M.A. degrees in Philosophy of Religion (honors) and Biblical Studies (honors). His two MA theses were: “An Analysis and Critical Study of Alvin Plantinga’s Account of Reformed Epistemology” and “An Evaluation of Norman Geisler’s Philosophical Apologetic.” He and his wife, Phyllis, live in Louisville, Colorado, and have one adult son. Jim has served with CRU’s and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s faculty ministry leadership teams. For more than 35 years, he has been helping Christian professors consider the intellectual and spiritual contributions they can make to their institutions. Jim serves Academic Connections as a Ministry and Research Fellow. His academic research interests are epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and virtue ethics. His ministry research interests include forming and sustaining Christian faculty communities on secular campuses, the relationship between “Christ and culture,” Christian integrative scholarship, and ministry ethos. He provides resources and mentors professors on about 79 campuses in the U.S. and abroad through Academic Connections. He and his wife, Phyllis, live in Colorado, where he has enjoyed 30+ years coaching individual campus fellowship leaders and leadership teams. Learn more about Jim here.
Bethan Willis (PhD, Exeter University) leads the Oxford Pastorate, an Anglican chaplaincy serving the academic community in Oxford since 1893. The Oxford Pastorate focuses on integrating faith and scholarship, running year-long formation programs for emerging academics and leaders, and partnering with organizations such as Developing a Christian Mind, Global Faculty Initiative, and Veritas. Bethan has previously headed up programs for the Oxford Character Project, held fellowships from the University of Connecticut and the Library of Congress, and worked for the Church of England in teaching and consulting roles. She has a PhD in Theology from Exeter University and is a Wycliffe Hall, Oxford member. Connect with Bethan here.
Terry Halliday (PhD, University of Chicago) is a Research Professor Emeritus at the American Bar Foundation, Honorary Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. Terry studied at Massey University, New Zealand, and the University of Toronto. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago. He is the author and co-editor of ten books with Oxford, Cambridge, Chicago, and Stanford University Press. His most recent books are Constitution-Making and Transnational Legal Orders, co-edited with Gregory Shaffer & Tom Ginsburg (Cambridge, 2019); Global Lawmakers: International Organizations in the Crafting of World Markets, with Susan Block-Lieb (Cambridge, 2017); Criminal Justice in China: The Politics of Lawyers at Work, with Sida Liu (Cambridge, 2016); and Transnational Legal Orders, coedited with Gregory Shaffer (Cambridge, 2015). He has published articles in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, European Journal of Sociology, Regulation and Governance, Socio-Economic Review, Chicago Journal of International Law, Journal of Law and Society, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Asian Journal of Law and Society, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, Law & Social Inquiry, and International Journal of Public Theology, among others. He has taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the Australian National University and has held visitorships at Oxford and Sciences Po, Paris. Terry’s public commentary on China has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Le Monde, among others, and he has testified before the U.S. Congress on legal rights in China. With Donald Hay (University of Oxford), Terry founded the Global Faculty Initiative, which promotes the integration of Christian faith and academic disciplines in research universities worldwide. Connect with Terry here.
Robert H. Woods Jr. (PhD. JD, Regent University) served as Professor of Communication and Media at Spring Arbor University for 20 years. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (CCSN) (www.theccsn.com), a non-profit network providing resources and training on faith-learning integration in the field of communication studies. He is the editor-in-chief of the CCSN’s imprint, Integratio Press. Dr. Woods has served as the President of the Religious Communication Association (RCA) and was named Scholar of the Year by RCA. He is the recipient of multiple research and scholarship awards and the editor/author of over a dozen books. Most recently, Dr. Woods is the co-author with Paul Patton on Everyday Sabbath: How to Lead Your Dance with Media and Technology in Mindful and Sacred Ways and Professing Christ: Christian Tradition and Faith-learning Integration in Public Universities. His book co-authored with Kevin Healey (University of New Hampshire), titled Ethics and Religion in the Age of Social Media: Digital Proverbs for Responsible Citizens received the Book of the Year Award from RCA. He recently served as a visiting scholar at Trinity Western University. Connect with Robert here.
Registration Fee: $45
Dr. Ray Cross is the President Emeritus of the University of Wisconsin System. Ray was raised on a small dairy farm in Michigan, went to a one room school through the eighth grade, served in Vietnam, completed his PhD at Michigan State, served as a engineering faculty member, a consultant to numerous automotive corporations, and worked as a college or university president/chancellor in Minnesota, New York, and here in Wisconsin.
His talk will be: “What is the Role of Christian Faculty on the University Campus?”
Dr. Doug Matthews is a Professor of Psychology at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire. He studies alcohol use and misuse, mostly in animal models. He has published over 80 papers (thank you reviewers!) and his lab has received over 2.8 million dollars in grant funds (thank you Lord!).
His talk will be: “The Practical Faith of a Christian Academic”
Dr. John Pfotenhauer is a Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at UW-Madison. He completed his BA in Physics at St. Olaf College and his MS and PhD in Physics at the Univ. of Oregon. His research at UW-Madison has been focused on low-temperature refrigeration, cryogenics, and applied superconductivity.
His talk will be: “Faculty Extending the Kingdom of God on University Campuses”
Cost: $75 for faculty; $35 for grad students
Our theme is “A Call to Love and Action.” When a leading expert in Jewish law approached Jesus to test him, asking what is the greatest commandment in God’s law (Matt 22:35-40), Jesus replied that the first and greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” With the second commandment, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Our call to love and action focuses on the greatest commandment – how can we grow in our love of the Lord and let that spill over into our lives to make Him priority, while loving our neighbors both locally and globally?
We hope you will be inspired by joining a community of believers who imperfectly strive to keep God as first priority in their lives. But, as we love Him and trust Him to work in our lives, we experience the spillover effect of loving others.
This is a call to love Him and take the actions that Jesus outlined for us in Matthew 28:18-20 to make disciples by sharing His love with people on our campuses and also the world.
The keynote speakers are:
Dr. David Mustard is Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics, Terry College of Business, University of Georgia. He’s a leader in Faculty Commons at the University of Georgia and has been involved in the national leadership as a Faculty Commons Fellow for the past five years.
Dr. Adegbola (Gbola) Tolulope Adesogan is a Professor of Animal Nutrition at the University of Florida. He is Director of Strategic Partnerships – Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems. He is also Associate Vice President and Director – Global Food Systems Institute E. T. and V. C. York Professor of International Agriculture. He has served as the President of the UF Christian Faculty Fellowship since 2013 and also provides national leadership as a Faculty Commons Fellow.
What to Expect
Plenary Talks:
“Do you want to change the world for Jesus?”
“Identity in Christ; Investing in Others”
“A Call to Die to Self”
Poster Presentations on Global Missions
Breakout Sessions (one for grad students and the other for faculty)
Roundtable Discussions
Cost: $75 for faculty & administrators; $50 for grad students; Zoom: free with registration
This regional event is for Christian faculty and graduate students who desire to live out their faith in academia. For many, this conference has been a life-changing event in perspective and vision. You’ll meet faculty, staff and graduate students who will encourage and challenge you. You’ll hear about resources and strategies that can help you be more effective in your life and service. You’ll be refreshed to be with other faculty, and graduate students who share “A Common Call.” We also welcome spouses to attend.
Micah Green is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas A&M University and is a frequent speaker on science, faith, and Christianity in Academia. He is married to Heather (who will be joining us at A Common Call) and has four children. Micah’s interests include apologetics and the interactions between science and faith, and he is passionate about helping Christians to be salt and light in the university.
A panel of professors will discuss legal issues, how they have navigated being salt and light on campus, created opportunities to minister, and dealt with the challenges of academic life as a believer. Questions will be welcomed! Round table discussions fostering interaction with colleagues from around Ohio, Michigan, Kentucky, Indiana and beyond.
Dr. Heather Holleman is an associate teaching professor with over 25 years of experience in the college classroom. Her students have called her a “walking exclamation point, and she’s best known for her community building skills and her love of vivid verbs and semicolons. She is a national public speaker, podcaster, and award-winning author of 10 books, including a bestseller in the Christian inspirational market and a winner of Christianity Today’s Book of the Year 2024 for her young adult novel.
Cost: $25
Dr. David Mustard – Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics, University of Georgia
Dr. Phil Bishop – Professor Emeritus of Kinesiology, University of Alabama
Dr. Adegbola Adesogan – Professor of Animal Nutrition, University of Florida
Cost: $45 for faculty; $30 for grad students
Dr. Jennifer Walker
Jennifer Walker earned her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Georgia in 2002. After time as a post doc and starting to raise a family of four daughters, she returned to UGA as an instructional faculty member in the Microbiology Department. Currently, she is a Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Coordinator.
Dr. Crawford Loritts
He has traveled throughout the US and much of the world, speaking in churches, evangelistic outreaches, conferences, colleges and seminaries. He has been the featured speaker at Super Bowls, NCAA Final Four Chapel and the Pentagon. He has been a church planter, served for 27 years on the staff of Cru and served for 15 years as Sr. Pastor of Fellowship Bible Church, Roswell, Georgia. He and his wife, Karen, have been featured speakers at FamilyLife marriage conferences. Crawford is the author of 9 books including Your Marriage Today… and Tomorrow, co-authored with Karen. He is the host of two national radio programs, the weekend program Living a Legacy and the daily program Legacy Moments.
Crawford has served on several boards including Passion, Cru, FamilyLife and Chick-fil-A. He has received five honorary Doctorates (Biola Univ., Cairn Univ., Moody Bible Institute, Trinity International Univ. and Columbia International Univ.).
Crawford is President and Founder of Beyond Our Generation, encouraging and helping to shape the next generation of Christian leaders.
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