PAST
SPONSORED EVENTS
Lilly Network Collaborations and Conferences bring together faculty and administrators from different institutions in church-related higher education.
Collaborations invite a small group to consider a topic of concern or interest in a workshop setting, while conferences bring together a large group of faculty or administrators (possibly along with students or community members) to examine a common concern or topic of special significance to the group.
2024 EVENTS
Enacting Justice, Mercy, and Reconciliation on a Diverse Campus
John Brown University
The purpose of Enacting Justice, Mercy, and Reconciliation on a Diverse Campus regional conference, held May 13, 2024 on the campus of John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas, was to gather faculty, staff, and administrators from the church-related colleges in our surrounding region, many of which are in rural, suburban, or small city settings, to discuss how to enact these biblical values better. These colleges and universities in our region skirting the South and the Midwest, to include our own, can face challenges related to diversity. We are far from the more multicultural east and west coasts, and often, far from large cities and their diversity. We are often institutionally committed to diversity and inclusion, yet demographically and culturally reflective of the white majority, which may be alienating for minority students. Through two plenaries and several workshop opportunities, this conference focused on moving the conversation forward by focusing less on ‘Why’ diversity is important and more on ‘How’ the biblical values of justice, mercy, and reconciliation can be enacted in all of our campus spaces.
Elucidation of Faith and Science Conflict and Integration at Evangelical Universities in the Southern U.S.
Lipscomb University
Despite advances in our understanding of the interplay between science and faith, a majority of Americans believe that science and faith are in conflict. This perceived conflict manifests itself in scientific literacy as well as impeding the faith walks of young scientists and non-scientists alike. This tendency for evangelical Christians to place faith over science can have detrimental impacts on the faith of Christians who pursue scientific endeavors and/or believe in evolution. As college professors and administrators at faith-based institutions, we are extremely committed to helping our students be rooted in their faith while pursuing high-level academics. Unfortunately, 1 in 4 young people that leave the Christian faith feel that Christianity is anti-science and more than a third believe they cannot ask their most pressing questions in church. Coincidently, 34% of Gen Z are unaffiliated with any religion. Therefore, the problem is established that there is a perception of conflict between faith and science in which Christians will either choose their religion or they will choose science and walk away from their faith.
However, our team and others believe there are other options beside open conflict. To address this problem, we proposed a collaboration between Lipscomb University, Belmont University, and Samford University to coordinate our individual efforts into a joint movement through a 2-day intensive workshop with prolonged conversations and actions. The first aim of our collaboration was to produce a survey that will provide an analysis of students’ perceptions on faith and science. The second goal of this project was to produce 3 teaching modules to insert into current course offerings. It is our hope to gain valuable insight and to discern the core drivers of our students’ perceptions of faith and science. This information will allow our team to advance the conversation on faith and science and impact the faith and educational journeys of our students.
Building Sustainable Peace after Genocide: Lessons from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Rwanda
Villanova University
The “Building Sustainable Peace after Genocide: Lessons from Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina” webinar on April 11 and 12, 2024 marked the 30th anniversary of the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina. This LFP sponsored webinar, which Dr. Gerald J. Beyer of Villanova University hosted, included participants from numerous countries, including Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Internationally renowned academics and peace activists discussed their first-hand knowledge and experience of peace building in the Rwandan and Bosnian contexts. Among other topics, they considered the role religion in peacebuilding and fomenting conflict, women as peacebuilders, international law and transitional justice, and the methods, key actors, successes, and ongoing obstacles in the peacebuilding process since the tragedies. They discussed how religious believers courageously and creatively engaged in peacemaking activities in areas characterized by ethnic and religious tensions after the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia. The goal of the webinar was to engender a renewed commitment at church related higher educational institutions to equip peacebuilders with knowledge and insights needed to transform themselves and the world. In addition to providing an opportunity to remember and learn from the genocides in Rwanda and Bosnia, the webinar responded to Pope Francis’s call to members of all the world’s religions to intensify their collaboration in the task of peacebuilding. In this vein, the webinar provided participants with a deep understanding of the latest theoretical and practical initiatives in peacebuilding and transitional justice more generally. For those who were not able to attend, the sessions devoted to Rwanda and Bosnia and Herzegovina are available on the Villanova University YouTube page.
2023 EVENTS
Teaching Peace in a New Era of Global Conflict
Gordon College
Gordon College coordinated a three -day workshop with the European Center for the Study of War and Peace, based in Zagreb, Croatia. Thirteen participants represented six historically faith-based colleges and universities. Collaborators worked toward an understanding and framework around the centrality of peacemaking to church -related higher education. Participants considered how each partner institution could increase peace education while integrating the teaching of peacemaking into the academic disciplines represented by our participants. Our hope was to facilitate the conversation and to assist our contributors in thinking through how they could implement this focus in ways authentic to each school and discipline. We realize that each faith-based institution will approach this task differently, but we believe all are called to the task of peace, and that implementation of a peacemaking focus will be most effective if it is approached from within the distinctive mission of each institution.
Christianity and Core Texts at Global / Cultural Crossroads
Grove City College
On March 30-31, 2023, Grove City College hosted an on-campus Lilly Fellows Regional Conference on “Christianity and Core Texts at Global/Cultural Crossroads.” Panelists were asked to deliver scholarly or pedagogical papers on a primary text or core text from a non-Western tradition that engages with Christian faith, practice, or tradition, including works of literature, philosophy, theology, history, and the fine arts. Panels engaged with works and authors from Uganda, Rwanda, Peru, India, Japan, Martinique, Cameroon, the United States, and various Christian communities in the Middle East.
Gene Luen Yang, an award-winning graphic novelist and cartoonist, delivered the keynote address on Thursday evening. Alongside visuals of his cartooning work throughout the years, Yang offered a personal account of his life as he navigated the tensions and harmonies between his Chinese heritage, his search for vocational direction as an artist, and his Catholic faith. On Friday afternoon, Dr. Susan Van Zanten (Valparaiso University) gave a plenary address centered on Christian ethics in contemporary ecocriticism and West African fiction, particularly the recent novel How Beautiful We Were (2021) by Cameroonian author Imbolo Mbue. Dr. Van Zanten’s lecture offered a critical framework for connecting global literatures in light of current environmental crises.
Matter and Spirit: A Chinese/American Traveling Exhibition
Taylor University
These funds provided essential resources to cover the increase in costs of transport and related expenses due to the disruptions of supply chains, and significant increases in fuel and labor in particular (more than doubling those expenses from pre-Covid costs) that persist even today in the post-Covid period so that the exhibition could complete the original plan for its travel to venues through 2023, with dismantling and return of artworks to artists in China and the US in 2024.
The last of the artworks to Chinese artists have arrived in Beijing and successfully cleared customs just today (July 15) as this report is being written and will be delivered to the individual artists around China over the next couple of weeks bringing a 7-8 year project from its inception to a close. Successful re-entry into China has been a monumental undertaking with the rising political tensions and intensified scrutiny of interactions with the US in general and those with any religious (and especially Christian) strains.
2022 EVENTS
Vatican II and Catholic Higher Education: Leading Forward
Sacred Heart University
Sacred Heart University celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, as well as the 60th anniversary of the University’s founding in the spirit of Vatican II in October 2022. To celebrate this landmark moment in the history of Catholic higher education and the Catholic intellectual tradition, Sacred Heart University assembled a conference of thinkers, writers, and artists who will offer deep, creative, and interpretive reflection on the impact of Vatican II on Catholic higher education. We examined how Vatican II can lead and move Catholic higher education forward. We explored how our reading and understanding of Vatican II documents, as well as the formative thinkers of Vatican II and the Catholic intellectual tradition, can deepen and expand our vision of Catholic higher education, addressing new and old challenges. The Conference showcased four keynote presentations:
"What, for the University, is Solidarity? Catholic Higher Education and the Unfinished Reception of Gaudium et Spes," by Susan Bigelow Reynolds
"Joy and Hope on the Margins: The Mission Imperative of Access to Catholic Higher Education," by Patricia McGuire
“To Expel or Embrace? The Challenge and Promise of Handing Down the Catholic Intellectual Tradition in Light of Dei Verbum,” by Grant Kaplan
"Vatican II and Catholic Higher Education: Guest in Its Own House?" by Massimo Faggioli
Fostering Community and Hospitality on a Diverse Campus
Sterling College
On May 16, 2022, Sterling College hosted a conference to gather faculty, staff, and administration from multiple church-related colleges and universities in Kansas and surrounding areas in order to discuss and deepen our commitment to diversity and its connection to our respective missions as faith-based institutions. The one-day conference featured two plenary speakers, Richard Hughes and Nathan Luis Cartagena, and included break-out sessions on specific topics, a question-and-answer session with the plenary speakers, and time for fellowship and collaboration.
Dr. Hughes’s plenary address was titled “Escaping the Grip of White Supremacy: A Mandate for Christian Higher Education” and Dr. Cartagena’s was “Cultivating Mercy on Diverse Campus.” The plenary talks encouraged the conference attendees to listen to the stories of underrepresented students, enter into the suffering of others, and understand how white supremacy often inhibits us from doing so. The breakout sessions were designed to provide take-aways for attendees from different corners of college/university work, such as “Diversity in Athletics” and “Biblical Theology of Hospitality.” Our goal was to encourage professionals from multiple church-related colleges and universities to realize their role as leaders in the realms of community, hospitality, and diversity, thereby shaping the character of their institutions of higher-learning to reflect justice, peace, and reconciliation and the significance of these practices in the Christian tradition. The conference had nearly 90 attendees from eight regional institutions.
Religion, State, and Nationalism: Problems and Possibilities
Valparaiso University
On April 8, 2022, Valparaiso University hosted a symposium was sponsored by the Lilly Fellows network. The symposium explored the thorny dynamics of religion, state, and nationalism in three sessions. Atalia Omer, Antoine Arjakovsky, Scott Hibbard, and Slavica Jakelic were among the internationally-acclaimed panelists exploring the problems caused by political exploitation of religion, and the theological possibilities for positive relations between governments and religious institutions. A special panel discussed the challenges and potential of developing curricular resources and pedagogical strategies for teaching religion and state issues in undergraduate programs of institutions of Christian higher education.
2021 EVENTS
Reckoning and Reimagining: Envisioning a Faithful Presence
Azusa Pacific University
This full-day virtual conference hosted by Azusa Pacific University (APU) that gathered a diverse, interdisciplinary group of Christian scholars, clergy, religious leaders, and students to discuss timely issues of reckoning and reimagining. The conference offered insights, theory, and research to inform an understanding of a robust response to the global enduring impacts of COVID-19, including reimagining the liberal arts through the general education curricular revision and other initiatives.
The conference supported institutions from the regional Lilly Network and beyond to participate in panels of faculty and students working together to address the concepts of decolonization, mindfulness, equity, and action in Spring 2021. Panelists shared strategies, curricular innovations, and innovative research in response to COVID-19, the perceived resurgence in overt xenophobia and racism, and how this impacts liberal arts curricula. This conference was envisioned to address four session tracks, or content areas: economics, socio-politics, healthcare, and racial tensions in relation to the Christian faith. Videos of the keynote speakers and plenary sessions are available here.
Higher Education's Moral Obligation of Addressing Addiction: A Humanities Response
University of Pikeville
On May 16, 2022, Sterling College hosted a conference to gather faculty, staff, and administration from multiple church-related colleges and universities in Kansas and surrounding areas in order to discuss and deepen our commitment to diversity and its connection to our respective missions as faith-based institutions. The one-day conference featured two plenary speakers, Richard Hughes and Nathan Luis Cartagena, and included break-out sessions on specific topics, a question-and-answer session with the plenary speakers, and time for fellowship and collaboration.
Dr. Hughes’s plenary address was titled “Escaping the Grip of White Supremacy: A Mandate for Christian Higher Education” and Dr. Cartagena’s was “Cultivating Mercy on Diverse Campus.” The plenary talks encouraged the conference attendees to listen to the stories of underrepresented students, enter into the suffering of others, and understand how white supremacy often inhibits us from doing so. The breakout sessions were designed to provide take-aways for attendees from different corners of college/university work, such as “Diversity in Athletics” and “Biblical Theology of Hospitality.” Our goal was to encourage professionals from multiple church-related colleges and universities to realize their role as leaders in the realms of community, hospitality, and diversity, thereby shaping the character of their institutions of higher-learning to reflect justice, peace, and reconciliation and the significance of these practices in the Christian tradition. The conference had nearly 90 attendees from eight regional institutions.
Crises in the Modern West: The Drama of Atheist Humanism
Belmont Abbey College
Belmont Abbey College hosted a Lilly Fellows Program Regional Conference entitled “Crises in the Modern West: The Drama of Atheist Humanism.” After a long Covid-19 related delay, the program generally went as planned according to the original proposal to LFP.
Following the general format of Henri De Lubac’s book the Drama of Atheist Humanism the conference included three plenary lectures and four faculty and student Socratic seminars on the authors treated by De Lubac in his book. The participants also shared two meals in common.
Wesleyan Education Council Convening
Indiana Wesleyan University
The Wesleyan Education Council comprised of the presidents and chairs of the boards of trustees of colleges and universities affiliated with the Wesleyan Church, a denomination founded in 1968 in the Wesleyan Methodist tradition. Institutions affiliated with the denomination include Houghton College, Indiana Wesleyan University, Kingswood University, Oklahoma Wesleyan University, and Southern Wesleyan University (collectively known as WE5). In fall 2021, the WE5 convened to address issues related to the mission, purpose, and value of Wesleyan Higher Education and allow for further collaboration among our institutions, and the opportunity to chart the future for Wesleyan Higher Education.
2020 EVENTS
Challenges and Opportunities for the Catholic University in the 21st Century
Sacred Heart University
The aim of the Conference was to generate a wide, broad conversation about how the Catholic Intellectual Tradition could provide a ‘compass across the college or university’ to promote and imbue the Catholic identity and ‘ethos’ of an institution. In short, the Conference more than met that aim. There were panels on Catholic identity, Catholic thought, on the CIT across disciplines, on pedagogy, on programs, on the Catholic Imagination, on social justice, on student life, and from the perspective of the VPs for Mission. Because of the pandemic, the conference was online, and videos of all the talks are available:
Gregory Kalscheur, SJ, “Engaging the CIT: How Research in All Disciplines Can be Enriched by Encounter with the Tradition”
Carolyn Woo, "Catholic University and Mission: A Primer for Leadership and Development"
Gerald Beyer, “Justice Within and Beyond the University Walls”
Paul Mariani, “Ordinary Time: Poems” and “The Mystery of It All: The Vocation of Poetry in the Twilight of Modernism”
Michael Higgins, “Word, Sacrament and Imagination: Merton and Jones and the CIT”
Communication and Religion in the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election
Seton Hall University
From the 21st to the 23rd of October 2020 the Institute for Communication and Religion (ICR) at Seton Hall University hosted a Lilly Fellows Program Regional Conference entitled “Communication and Religion in the ’20 Election.” Approximately 2500 viewers attended six events broadcast live online including a Presidential debate watch party and keynote addresses from leading scholars in Political Science, Religion, Journalism, and Communication.
Heidi Campbell (Texas A&M) shared research on “Internet Memes and American Civil Religion,” Ronald C. Arnett (Duquesne University) spoke on “Practices that Matter: The Faith and Politics of Dorothy Day,” Rob Pallitto (Seton Hall University) shared expertise on “Trump, the 2020 Election, and the limits of Ideology Theory,” and Jo Renee Formicola (Seton Hall University) addressed “Catholics, The Media, and the ’20 Election.” The final program “Judaism and Christianity in the ’20 Election” was co-presented by Jon Radwan (Seton Hall University, ICR Director) and Peter Beinart (CUNY, The New York Times). Audience questions were answered at all sessions and remaining queries were covered in a follow-up interview with Ronald C. Arnett conducted by Asya Robinson (Seton Hall University).
Conference proceedings can be viewed here. In addition,
SHU has recorded a series of follow-up podcasts on the topic of communication and religion in politics.
EARLIER EVENTS
2019
Matter and Spirit: A Seminar on Contemporary Chinese Art and Society
Calvin College
The Prodigal Love of God: Re-encountering Dordt at 400 and Beyond
Dordt College
Promoting Human Dignity and Civic Responsibility at Catholic Universities in the Chicagoland Area
Benedictine University
2018
Global General Education and Asian Texts: What Should Our Students Read?
Pepperdine University
Building Racial Bridges; Seeking Racial Understanding
Lipscomb University
2017
Reason and Faith on the 500th Anniversary of the Reformation
Central College
2016
Discerning Academic Vocation in a Contested Religious Tradition
Georgetown College
2015
Islam in the Classroom: Challenges and Opportunities of Teaching about Islam in a Post 9/11 World
Gordon College
2014
Teaching the Christian Intellectual Tradition Conference: Augustine Across the Curriculum
Samford University
2013
R5: A Visual Arts Seminar and Studio in South Africa
Calvin College
2011
Faith, Science, and Stewardship: Christian Pedagogy on the Environment
Benedictine University
Wanting Something More: Reflecting Upon the Callings of Mid-Career Faculty
Wittenberg University
2010
Seminar on Academic Leadership in Baptist Universities
Baylor University
Imago Dei: Human Dignity in Ecumenical Perspective
Gordon College
2009
The Pietist Impulse in Christianity
Bethel University
2007
Singing God's Song Faithfully: Implications for Theology and Music Faculty Seeking to Prepare Music Leadership for the Church
University of Notre Dame
2006
Together and By Association, A Conference for Lasallian College and University Faculty
Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
2006
To Be in Good Standing—Implications for a Catholic University
Saint Xavier University
2005
Academic Excellence and Christian Mission: The Chair's Role in a Both/And Approach
Hope College
2004
Building and Supporting Diversity at Church-Related Colleges
Texas Lutheran University
2003
Life of the Mind, Life of Faith, Curriculum, and Student Life in the Bible Belt
Belmont Abbey College
2002
Baylor University
College of The Holy Cross
Gordon College
Midland Lutheran College
Westmont College
2001
Concordia College-Moorhead
University of Notre Dame
2000
Abilene Christian University
Pepperdine University
St. Olaf College
1999
Muhlenberg College
1998
University of Notre Dame
1997
Westminster College
Xavier University
1996
Baylor University
Rivier College
1995
Whitworth College
1994
Loyola Marymount University
1993
Bethune-Cookman College
Boston College
1992
Baylor University
Luther College