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Suggested Future Speakers

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Colloquiums Speaker Suggestions for 2013-2014:  “Serve with Compassion” will be the faculty/staff conference theme; how people serve each other; where does compassion fit into the curriculum, etc.

 The following were suggested:

  • Joshua J. Yates (UVA) cultural sociologist whose research focuses on three overlapping themes: the changing moral foundations of economic life, the development and institutionalization of a rudimentary global culture, and the conflicts and dilemmas such processes are generating both at home and across the world
  • Kaye Brubaker -
  • John Fea (Messiah) American culture broadly defined, the intersection between ideas and everyday life in American history, the relationship between “cosmopolitanism” and “place,” the history of the early mid-Atlantic and New Jersey, and the connections between religion, politics and American culture.  I am also interested in the role of church-related higher education in American society and the relationship between faith and academic life. 
  • Alan Jacobs (Wheaton) – leaving wheaton soon- wrote a book, the pleasures of reading in a distracted age- https://ayjay.jottit.com/- blogs,etc extensively-
  • Sara Miles- started this amazing pantry in California; author of Take this Bread: about the transforming power of communion
  • Jenell Williams Paris - professor of anthropology and sociology at Messiah College; areas of interest are: faith and culture; gender;sexualities; postmodern Christianity; race; African-American urban poverty
  • Kevin Roose - author of The Unlikely Disciple; Andrea Wenger touched base with him; , knows Mennonites and, in fact, went to a Mennonite camp in Ohio as a kid. Subsequent to our email exchange, his agent phoned and left a message.
  • Suraya Sadeed - author of Forbidden Lessons in a Kabul Guesthouse; Suraya blogs about the life of rural women in Afghanistan. Suraya is a CJP graduate
  • Joel Salatin - owner of Polyface Farms in Swoope, Virginia. A sought-after conference speaker, Joel addresses a wide range of issues, from “creating the farm your children will want” to “making a white collar salary from a pleasant life in the country. Joel is the author of 8 books.
  • Lisa Schirch - resource and continues to be pulled into high profile exchanges in DC
  • James K.A. Smith
  • Lois Tverberg, was a bio prof at Hope College, now author http://ourrabbijesus.com/articles/taking-my-thumb-off-the-scale/
  • Alain Epp Weaver - mission focus; theological interpretations of Judaism and Zionism related to Palestine
  • Janine Wedel - (Mary Sprunger contact) - author of "The Invisible Elite" regarding why change is so difficult in the US

  • Cheree Hammond and her presentation in her scholarship practice report about “Shifting Attitudes around the Notion of White Privilege;” David Evans, and his work in a similar field.

The following list was posted on the SGA student board for speaker suggestions:

  • Hector David
  • LINK (Liberty in North Korea, and organization to help NK refugees find asylum) http://libertyinnorthkorea.org/ they have movie that you can book- this might be better coming from a student group- but could be a good cross-talk thing?
  • ·         Shane Claiborne (already coming...)
  • Tim Minchin
  • Veeneta Mason (to speak at graduation '13; International nurse/community health nurse in DC)
  • Slavoj Zizek - is a senior researcher at the Institute of Sociology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia, and a visiting professor at a number of American Universities (Columbia, Princeton, New School for Social Research, New York University, University of Michigan).   Slavoj Žižek's work can be characterized as vibrant, full of humor, blatant disregard for distinctions between high and low forms of culture and his work and presence has gathered him critical acclaim as a superstar in the world of contemporary theory.
  • Greg Boyd- Christianity & Politics- anarchist, founder of Reknew http://reknew.org/
  • Cornel West- HA! He has a booking agency
  • NT Wright- Anglican Bishop, NT scholar, - author of Simply Jesus: A New Vision of Who He Was, What He Did, and Why He Matters – retired to focus on speaking, etc.
  • John Green- one of the vlogbrother- http://johngreenbooks.com/- he travels very rarely these days- wonder if he does any video talks instead of traveling?  Like does he do videos on demand?
  • Justo Gonzalez (Latin American Theologian)
  • William E Connolly (We need a (professional) philosopher!) Political Theory, International Relations
  • Donna Schaper, Judson Church NYC Senior Minister at Judson Memorial Church for seven years. Her life goal is to animate spiritual capacity for public ministry. That means orienting individuals to find their power in such a way that they redistribute power and make the world beautiful and fun for all. She imagines beauty and enchantment as God’s purpose in the beginning – and joins in the great stream of the enchanted as a life love. She also grows a fine tomato – and helps to grow fine congregations. She is the principal in a consulting firm called “Bricks Without Straw,” which shows not for profits how to raise energy and money and capacity. A “Turn Around” specialist, Schaper brings communities into the 21st century, manages grief about what is lost and calmly plots resurrections.
  • An Evangelical revivalist so we can engage fruitful, radically democratic dialogue with them somehow
  • Catherine Keller (Process theology)- Drew University, relational potential of a theology of becoming

Suter Suggestions:

  • Deborah Haarsma: serves as President of The BioLogos Foundation, a position she has held since January 2013. Previously, she served as professor and chair in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Gifted in interpreting complex scientific topics for lay audiences, Dr. Haarsma often speaks to churches, colleges, and schools about the relationships between science and Christian faith. She is author (along with her husband Loren Haarsma) of Origins: Christian Perspectives on Creation, Evolution, and Intelligent Design (2011, 2007), a book presenting the agreements and disagreements of Christians regarding the history of life and the universe. Haarsma is an experienced research scientist, with several publications in the Astrophysical Journal and the Astronomical Journal on extragalactic astronomy and cosmology. She has studied very large galaxies (at the centers of galaxy clusters), very young galaxies (undergoing rapid star formation in the early universe), and gravitational lenses (where spacetime is curved by a massive object).
  • Bo Brinkman (BoBrinkman.com), Author of Ethics in a Computing Culture
  • John Wenger- EMU alum, head of the new Integrative Medicine program at RMH- potential to be Homecoming speaker
  • History-Suter Science co-interest: Invite the VA State Archeologist, Michael Barber : to talk about the findings that pre-clovis peoples lived in Va (20K years ago)