2021 Annual Conference
About
86th Annual Conference - October 1-2, 2021
Confronting the Brave, New World:
Science, Politics, Culture & Society in 2021
“O brave new world, that has such people in it!” The Tempest, Act 5 Scene 1
If we asked ourselves in January 2020 what the world would be like in 2021, few would have guessed what changes were in store. We were thrust from the calm of relative naïveté to a storm of ever-changing circumstances and situations. The scientific, political, cultural, and social events of 2020 seemed to vacillate wildly between extremes, and like a ship battered in a tempest, many of us were unmoored and adrift as we sought signs of normalcy on a far-off horizon. Now, in 2021, we find ourselves approaching solid ground after the shipwreck (or, at least gaining some form of perspective). But, what new world is this? What lessons can we take as we move toward the future? As fellow travelers on the journey, we invite you to join us as we explore these ideas together.
It is in this spirit that we cordially invite you to the 2021 meeting of the Association of Lutheran College Faculties.
This meeting is designed as a way for faculty at Lutheran institutions of higher education to meet and reflect on topics as far ranging as intellectual scholarship, our shared experiences in higher education, and our faculty fraternity. This meeting is open to all faculty who teach at a Lutheran institution of higher education, no matter your background. We seek to foster the crucial communication, support, and camaraderie which unites us in uncertain times.
This year, we examine and evaluate the impact that recent events have had through several different lenses. Our scholarship, stories, and perspectives weave together a rich tapestry of insight into the current landscape and the future that lies before us.
We invite papers from all disciplines and from all perspectives. Each discipline has important messages regarding impacts from this past year and directions for the future. Some examples include (but are not limited to):
the impact of attitudes toward vaccines and medical professionals;
the intersection between theology, politics, and environmentalism;
the future of race relations in the United States;
the call to reassess or reinterpret past events in light of recent issues;
the impact of virtual learning on university education;
the societal shift towards online entertainment and interaction during lockdown;
the tensions between the impulse for public safety and social justice;
using historical metaphors to better understand today’s issues; and
perspectives on maintaining work-life balance while working from home.
Conference Hosted by Concordia University Texas in Austin, Texas
Keynote Speaker
Ryan Bebej, Ph.D.
Ryan Bebej is a professor in the Department of Biology at Calvin University, where he was selected by students as professor of the year in 2017. He earned his Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology with a focus in paleontology from the University of Michigan.
He has excavated skeletons of fossil whales at Wadi Al-Hitan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Egypt’s western desert, and he routinely spends time working in collections at world-renowned museums. Ryan is also deeply interested in the relationship between science and Christian faith. He has been a speaker for the BioLogos Foundation since 2016 and frequently presents at churches and schools about evolutionary science and Christianity. He has been a Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford (SCIO) visiting scholar in science and religion and a participant in SCIO's Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities II program.
Keynote address
7:30 pm, Chapel Auditorium
Walking Whales and Theological Travails: Navigating Difficult Issues as a Christian Paleontologist
Presented in association with the Besch Biological Speaker Series
Session 1
8:45 am WORKSHOP - A card game reveals the scientific method
Jeff Potratz (Concordia University, Wisconsin)
A card-game activity demonstrating the scientific method used in a biology course was adopted by a core-curriculum course at another university for the same purpose. The activity has been modified for use in a distance-learning format if necessary.
9:20 am Strengthening undergraduate research experiences during COVID with Concordia's natural resources
Mary Kay Johnston (Concordia University, Texas)
Hands-on research experience is necessary for STEM education, but challenging during a pandemic. By leveraging our natural resources (Friesenhahn Cave, Balcones Canyonlands Preserve, and Tornado Trail) and thinking creatively about scientific questions, many constraints can be overcome and result in successful student research.
9:40 am If the Student Can’t Go to the Cave, Bring the Cave to the Student: Using Friesenhahn Cave to Provide Virtual Access to Liberal Arts Education
Jennifer Hofmann (Concordia University, Texas)
Finding ways to engage with others has become quite challenging during the move to mostly online classrooms. Providing access to natural resources such as Concordia University Texas’ Friesenhahn Cave via alternative means, such as virtual tours, could solve this dilemma and inspire creativity in a variety of ways.
9:00 am The Sidney Psalter: 16th c. Empire-Building, Lineal Security, and the Collaborative Psalm Translation that Helped Launched the English Literary Renaissance
Jo McIntosh (Concordia University, Texas)
An explanation of Mary Sidney completing the family psalter in verse form (16th century), presented to Queen Elizabeth, that draws, largely, from the Geneva Bible and that is credited with launching the English literary Renaissance.
9:20 am Cinema-19: An Experimental Reflection on the Pandemic
Camelia Raghinaru (Concordia University, Irvine)
My presentation focuses on a short experimental film project, Cinema-19, that offers a response to the pandemic. My paper will look at experimental film techniques and the way they offer a way to process individual and collective trauma. As one of the organizers of the project mentioned, the short films explore "the internal sphere of the pandemic," both in its universal and localized dimensions. I will focus on the way the films reflect on individual and collective transformation, on the subjective passing of time, and on a kind of nostalgia that accompanies the retrospective processing of the crisis of the pandemic.
9:40 am From Research to Self-Search: Integrating Emotional Intelligence into the College Writing Curriculum
Gregory Coleman (Concordia University, Texas)
This presentation will address the potential benefits of integrating emotional intelligence into the college writing curriculum. In particular, I will discuss how to use an emotional intelligence inventory during the research paper unit.
Session 2
10:40 am Vocational Exploration Rooted in a Social Justice Approach: Finding a Common Path in 2021
Heather Brady (Grand View University)
I am discussing the ways our diversity and vocation curriculum served the Grand View community during COVID times.
11:00 am Where are the Teachers of Color?
Sandra Harris (Concordia University, Ann Arbor)
The researcher identified the problem of the shortage of teachers of color. The researcher also examined data that described the reasons why this is a problem. Strategies for the recruitment and retention of teachers of color were described.
11:20 am The History of “Playing Indian” – Is it Ever Appropriate to Appropriate?
Paul Hillmer (Concordia University, St. Paul)
Through the examination of Y-Indian Guides, a father-son program that operated from 1926 to 2003, this historical examination will review the reasons why cultural appropriation has been so common in this country, what harm it actually does, and why, in post-George Floyd world, we may finally be ready to have a more holistic discussion about why it should cease.
11:40 am “That has such people in ‘t!”: Post-modernism and Race in Recent American Fiction
Mark Looker (Concordia University, Ann Arbor)
An examination of the manner in which recent novels by and about people of color have co-opted many techniques of post-modernism, while rejecting its underlying ontology and epistemology in ways that speak to the present moment in our culture.
10:40 pm A Service-Minded Approach for Christian Educators and Leaders: A Raised Level of Awareness Needed During Times of Crisis
Kelly Sadlovsky (Concordia University, St. Paul)
This session will examine research from a 2018 study focusing on a service-minded approach for Christian educators and leaders. A raised level of awareness during times of crisis can guide intentional practices that model a Christ-like approach.
11:00 pm An Historical Framework for Understanding Conceptualizations of Illness and Wellness in Relation to Parenting, Pedagogy, and Education Policy in the Context of COVID-19
Nicole Ortegon (Concordia University, Chicago)
The presenter will discuss the value of applying an historical framework to examine conceptualizations of illness and wellness in relation to parenting, pedagogy, and education policy in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
11:20 pm Innovative Collaborative Pathways to Leadership Development for New Lutheran School Administrators
Amanda Mulcahy (Concordia University, Chicago)
Successes and lessons learned from the shift to online delivery for a Lutheran school leader program. Results and feedback from program participants and instructors will be presented to show differences between face-to-face and online groups.
11:40 am International Financial Management and Investments courses case
Elena Skouratova (Concordia University, Texas)
The presenter will discuss how case titled “Countries’ Stock Market Factors Driving Valuation of the US based Multi-National Corporations and International MNCs cross-listed in the USA” was developed to aid students in International Financial Management course.
Session 3
1:00 pm Moving Beyond Myths, Lies, and Scientific Ignorance in an Ongoing Pandemic World
Kerry Cheesman (Capital University)
How do educators adjust the teaching of science to address knowledge gaps created by this pandemic? The merger of anti-vaccination, anti-government, and anti-pharma groups on the Internet has led to a dangerous backslide in scientific knowledge.
1:20 pm Vocation and Vaccines: Vaccination as a Call to Neighbor Love
Drew Tucker (Capital University)
This paper, both in conversation with Luther’s “On Christian Freedom” and my own work on vocation, considers several hesitancies with vaccination in light of a call to serve our neighbors.
1:40 pm Scientism, Subjectivity, and Qualitative Inquiry
Preston Cosgrove (Concordia University, Wisconsin)
A powerful subtext at the heart of many disagreements is not science, but scientism--the excessive authority given to science to answer all fundamental questions. The resulting orientation restricts qualitative inquiry as an avenue for understanding.
2:00 pm Teaching the Arts and Sciences in the COVID-19 Era: A Case Study
Robert Wahl (Concordia University, Wisconsin)
The COVID-19 virus has had a detrimental impact on many aspects of life and higher education was not exempt from changes. This paper examines the impact that abrupt changes in the classroom and lab environment had on instructors and students.
Paul Puffe (Concordia University, Texas)
Paganism teaches the hope of dying and going to a better place. Christianity teaches the hope of the resurrection of the body to life in a renewed creation. We ought to give more attention to clarifying this difference in all our communication.
Norm Beck (Texas Lutheran University)
As we attempt to provide a degree of normalcy with vaccinations available against COVID-19 and mutations of the virus, what should we continue to include and what should we add within our required courses in Theology in our Lutheran Universities?
1:40 pm WORKSHOP - Effective Communication through your Emotional Intelligence: Dealing with your own Feelings, Dealing with others Feelings
Tony Pellegrini (Concordia University, Chicago)
This presentation will be an interactive engagement among participants and presenter synchronously in Zoom via distance. It will focus on how feelings influence communication and specific skills that participants who work with humans can develop to improve communication. Good communication skills are fundamental to the development of all relationships. Communication is a two-way street and is about more than just the exchange of information. It is the interaction that helps to solve problems, improve teamwork, make good decisions, and deepen our connections and networks.
Roundtable Discussion
2:30 pm Reflections on Personal Experience as a Source of Information for Academic Research
Matthew Bloom, Gregory Coleman, Carl Trovall (Concordia University, Texas)
This interdisciplinary roundtable provides an opportunity for presenters and audience members to consider the role of personal experience and personal accounts in students’ academic research in light of the events and controversies of the past year.
2021 ALCF Committee
Mary Kay Johnston, President, Concordia University Texas
Camelia Raghinaru, President Elect, Concordia University Irvine
Ed Hasecke, Past President, Wittenberg University
Robert Hayes, Secretary, Concordia University Chicago
Mark Looker, Treasurer, Concordia University Ann Arbor
Patricia Trautrimas, Midland University
Paul Hillmer, Concordia University St. Paul
Matthew Bloom, Concordia University Texas