Is it effective or even possible to teach an introductory course in religious studies that not only provides first-year university students with the fundamental vocabulary, concepts, and critical tools of religious inquiry but also invites and stimulates the transformation of the religious imagination? In what kind of teaching and learning method…

This essay seeks to illumine the teaching and learning of the practice of forgiveness by relating a range of theoretical perspectives (theological, psychological, and socio-cultural) to the process of cultivating the practical wisdom needed for forgiveness. We discuss how a Trinitarian "epistemology of the cross" might lead one to a new way of…

Secularization, the idea that religion would gradually diminish over time, was once widely assumed to be true by scholars of religion, but the unexpected resurgence of religious traditions has called it into question. Related debates on the distinction between religion and the secular have destabilized religious studies further. What does the…

In a postcolonial environment, our students will encounter multiple representations and diverse followers of various religions outside the classroom. Students need to think critically about the representations of all religions and recognize the humanity of all people. Too often, students leave courses discussing one or more world religions with an…

Finding themselves teaching to increasingly diverse student populations, two mid-career faculty from different disciplines embarked on a common voyage to make their foundational courses more sensitive to student learning styles. Adrift in the seas of multiple intelligences and multiculturalism, the researchers quickly abandoned any hope of…

Face-to-face, hybrid, and online courses are part of the panoply of course options available to students and teachers in the twenty-first century. This essay tackles the promise of hybrid courses for enhancing student learning in seminary contexts. The author contends that the introduction of hybrid instruction prompts faculty to revisit questions…

The challenge of learning to teach online leads a junior faculty person to achieve greater levels of teaching satisfaction and proficiency overall. For this professor transitioning an on-campus pastoral liturgy course to an online environment brings about serendipitous discoveries that allow him to do more than survive as a frustrated teacher. The…

While teaching workshops like those offered by the Wabash Center provide a unique opportunity for scholars to reflect on their teaching, three elements important to the workshops' success can be effective in institutional settings as well. Certain characteristics of community, conversation stimulated by differences, and appropriate attention to…

Beginning with a series of questions designed to peak reader curiosity and expose key challenges for mid-career faculty, the authors uncover several issues in post-tenure faculty life and work, and they reflect on images for understanding and responding to these challenges. Topics identified include mid-career as an opportunity for deeper…

This collection of essays tackles thorny questions related to critical incidents in teaching. By using different pedagogical methods and techniques, each author provokes creative thinking about how to address specific concerns common to teaching. The authors demonstrate that the teaching and learning process must make room for--if not…

How can poetry be a resource for effective teaching of congregational life and leadership? Drawing on poetry from an array of sources, the author weaves a narrative to discuss specific strategies employed for using poetry in the classroom. Recognizing the capacity of poems to awaken latent imaginations and evoke new insights about church…

Digital technology offers a host of opportunities and challenges for theological education. In this essay the author considers possible futures for theological education through creative uses of technology. The first half of the essay identifies five areas in which theological educators have had to gain technology skills in the last several years:…

Mentoring new faculty into vocations of teaching falls squarely on the shoulders of those entrusted with setting the course for the next generation of faculty. Often the role of new teacher development is assigned to senior faculty. In this essay the author provides an autobiographical account of experiences both as a mentor and as one who had…

Service learning pedagogy often assumes a variety of forms when connected with classroom teaching. Through a creative use of service learning pedagogy, the author constructs learning designs that foster student engagement with course content and prompts interrelated connections between the subjects and their own service learning experiences. The…

Biblical texts have been handed on to us through a long history of interpretation. Awareness of this rich but complex process is one of the goals of biblical teaching. Since the earliest centuries of the church there has been a parallel history of artistic interaction with the biblical text. These artistic treatments of biblical subjects have had…