Day of Common Learning 2012: Modeling Civic Engagement

Ramona Holmes, Mary Sherhart, Michele Anciaux Aoki, and Nedim Hamzic present “A Common Song: Musical Reconciliation in the Balkans.”  Watch and listen to the various musical selections from Bosnia, Herzegovina and Macedonia presented at the 2012 Day of Common Learning.

Day of Common Learning 2010

Changing China: Associate Professor Doug Downing explores the story of how China has recently changed and the role of microcredit in providing opportunities for the poor. Associate Professor of Economics. Part 1 [Video] Part 2 [Video]

The Global Food System and India: Food Security vs. Food Sovereignty: Professor Kevin Neuhouser discusses the possibilities of ending world hunger through maximizing food production and strategies that focus on local, organic, and native foods. [Video]

Today’s Persecuted Church: Associate Professor Don Peter discusses the cultural, political, and religious motivations of global Christian persecution. [Video]

Who Is My Neighbor?: Associate Professor Michelle Beauclair and Instructor Andrea Taylor-Brochet discuss the stance of Christian Roma community members, how Christian groups have responded to the Roma expulsion, and what we can learn from this about our interactions with people who are culturally different from us. [Video]

Signs and Wonders: Communications Specialist Julia Siemens and SPU students Emily Morehouse and Rachel Smith tell stories of miraculous things they witnessed in Bangalore. [Audio]

The Global Impact of Infectious Disease: What Can You Do?: Biology Professors Cindy Bishop and Derek Wood discuss the global impact of parasites and infectious diseases with a focus on the “Microbial Impact Project” assembled each year by students in the SPU BIO 3351 Microbiology course. [Video]

A Child Redeemed: ZOE Children’s Home, Chiang Mai, Thailand: SPU staff member Joyce Bhang portrays God’s redemptive work in Thailand through the life of a child rescued from the threat of human trafficking. [Video]

The World Comes to Seattle: Assistant Professors of Education Jorge Preciado and Tracy Williams discuss ideas on improving social and academic performance in multicultural education. [Video]

Art, Christianity, Global: Charis Boundary Crossings: Art Professor Roger Feldman examines the artistic cultural exchange, hosted by the Nagel Institute and CCCU, that converged in Yogyakarta and Bali on Java, Indonesia in June of 2008. [Video] [Audio]

Energy Poverty: Associate Professors of Physics Lane Seeley and John Lindberg discuss the ways in which availability of energy resources influences a community’s ability to meet basic human needs and provide opportunities for intellectual and spiritual growth. [Video] [Audio]

Our Top Ten List of Amazing Good News from India: Professor of Geography Kathleen Braden and Al Erisman, Executive in Residence discuss ten economic and social phenomena from India that create encouragement and hope regarding India’s future. [Video] [Audio]

SPRINT India: Transformative Mission Through Empowering Education: Owen Sallee, Michael Richards, and members of the Summer 2009 and 2010 India SPRINT teams share stories from their work with Operation Mobilization and the Dalit Freedom Network, empowering members of India’s lowest caste through schools and education. John Perkins Center. [Video] [Audio]

Kingdom Without Borders: Global Christianity in the 21st Century: Professor of Global Ministries Miriam Adeney explores Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist countries, as well as Latin American and African, and provides a glimpse of the backstory of her new book Kingdom Without Borders. [Audio]

Embassy Doorways for Orphan Nation: Assistant Professor of Education Richard Scheuerman and 2004 Alum Richard Moore share information on challenges and opportunities to place over a thousand orphans in Christian homes in their native country across Eastern Europe. [Audio]

Day of Common Learning 2009: Transformational Leadership

The Day of Common Learning is a campus in-service day during which faculty, staff and students have the opportunity to participate together in a learning community outside of traditional classrooms.

Keynote Address: Transformational Leadership Ronald C. White. Emeritus Professor of American Religious History at San Francisco Theological Seminary. [Video]

Abraham Lincoln: Classical Orator Assistant Professor of Classics Owen Ewald and Associate Professor of Communications William Purcell consider Lincoln in the context of the tradition of classical oratory. [Audio]

Civil Discourse in a Coarsening Culture Ronald C. White, Emeritus Professor of American Religious History at San Francisco Theological Seminary, and Doug Strong, Professor of the History of Christianity and Dean of the School of Theology, address how Lincoln can be a guide for wisdom and witness. [Video]

From Just Paying the Bills to Intentional Living: Leadership Transforming the Off-Campus Housing Experience Associate Director of University Ministries Matthew Koenig and Sharpen Ministry Intentional Living Core students discuss the demographic changes at SPU which find more and more students commuting and how groups of students are responding through innovative forms of Christian community. [Audio]

Lincoln and the Lilacs Professor of English and Director of the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development Susan VanZanten examines how Walt Whitman captured both Lincoln’s magnificence and American grief. [Video]

Lincoln and the Possibilities of Prudential Politics Assistant Professor of Old Testament Bo Lim and Assistant Professor of Political Science Caleb Henry examine why prudential politics is so difficult. [Audio]

The Lincoln/Douglas Debate The SPU Debate Team recreates part of the Lincoln / Douglas debates that helped propel Lincoln onto the national stage. [Audio]

Lincoln on Education Professor of Education Chris Sink explores Lincoln’s views on education in light of contemporary perspectives. [Audio] [Video]

Lincoln’s Use (and Abuse?) of Presidential Power Professor of History Bill Woodward asks the audience to judge both Lincoln’s actions and parallel instances today with regard to five transforming ways Lincoln wielded presidential power. [Audio]

Ode to Joy: Tragedy, Triumph and Transformation in the Life and Music of Beethoven Professor of Music Wayne Johnson looks at how adversity can help create qualities of determination, character and transformative leadership. [Video]

Transformational Leadership: In Practice and in Progress The John Perkins Center and Student Volunteer Coordinators introduce the John Perkins Center model of student leadership development and share stories of growth and engagement from student leaders currently serving in volunteer programs and at various stages along the leadership development continuum. [Video]

Transforming Leadership and the Power of Service Professor of Nursing Kathy Stetz and Assistant Professor of Journalism Rick Jackson discuss how Paul Farmer’s journey offers insight for everyone, inside and outside medicine, on how real leadership arises from service anchored in vocation. [Audio]

Transforming Self to Transform Others: Lessons from the Prodigal Father Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology Margaret Diddams walks through the practices necessary to become a transformational leader and the unique types of changes that transformational leaders are most likely to make possible. [Audio] [Video]

U2 and the Future of Transformational Leadership Associate Professor of Christian Ministry Jeff Keuss looks at how U2 provokes leaders of the free world to reconsider everything from immigration policy to debt relief. [Audio] [Video]

Day of Common Learning 2008: Theme of Beauty

The Day of Common Learning is a campus in-service day during which faculty, staff and students have the opportunity to participate together in a learning community outside of traditional classrooms.

Keynote Address: Beauty, Love, Justice, and Worship Professor Emeritus of Yale Divinity School Nicholas Wolterstorff explores the base commonality between issues of beauty, love, justice, and worship. October 15, 2008. (33:29) [Audio] [Video]

The Psychology of Physical Beauty: Characteristics, Consequences, and Costs Associate Professor of Psychology Margaret Marshall discusses the characteristics of physical beauty, the social consequences of physical beauty, and the psychological costs of the modern obsession with physical beauty. October 15, 2008. (38:54) [Audio] [Video]

Beauty and the Beasts: How Our Ideas About Appearance Affect the Way We Relate to God’s Creatures Professor of Geography Kathleen Braden challenges how our ideas about appearance affect the way we relate to environmental conservation. October 15, 2008. (29:29) [Audio]

Dr. Seuss and the Poetics of Beauty: Why the Grinch, Sneetches, and Lorax Matter Today Associate Professor of Christian Ministry Jeff Keuss highlights Dr. Seuss’ aesthetics influence for many children and how these images address deep questions of belief and realism. October 15, 2008. (47:28) [Audio]

Beauty and the Bible Instructor of Biblical Studies Sara Koenig and Professor of Christian Scriptures Rob Wall explore images of physical beauty in the biblical narrative and a theory of aesthetic guidelines in the formation of the New Testament canon. October 15, 2008. (41:56) [Audio]

Beast…and The Beauty Communications Specialist Jeffrey Overstreet explores the attraction between the beast and the beauty as found in fairy tales, poetry, science, and modern stories and the redemption found therein. October 15, 2008. (54:50) [Audio] [Video]

Leading Beautifully: Practicing the Art of Leadership SPU Faculty Margaret Diddams, Joey Collins, Robert McKenna, and Paul Yost facilitate envision beautiful leadership as an unfolding, interdependent partnership by which leaders co-create the future with the people they lead. October 15, 2008. (51:41) [Audio] [Video]

Springsteen | Expressing Gratitude | Campolo

Recent Features:
Darkness on the Edge of Town: The Gospel of Hope According to Bruce Springsteen Associate Professor of Christian Ministry Jeff Keuss looks at the way in which Springsteen’s Catholic heritage re-imagines the virtue of hope throughout his musical career. 2007 Day of Common Learning. (37:42) [Video]

Expressing Gratitude: In the Light and in the Dark Pastor Mark Abbott identifies hardship as part of the Christian life. He encourages listeners to receive God’s love and respond with authentic gratitude in the darkness as well as the light of life. November 18, 2007. (25:01) [Audio]

SPU Classics:
Jesus’ Call for Jubilee Eastern College Professor of Sociology Tony Campolo argues that Jesus calls the church to seek justice and help meet the needs of the poor, ill, and disadvantaged. October 1, 1998. (38:29) [Audio]

Remembering the Future | Hope: Open/Closed | Don Bonker

Recent Features:
Remembering the Future: The Legacy of Moltmann’s “Theology of Hope” Assistant Professor of Theology Doug Koskela explores the theology and theological context of Moltmann’s book Theology of Hope. 2007 Day of Common Learning. October 24, 2007. (21:02) [Video] [Audio]

Hope: Open/Closed An art exhibition by SPU faculty on the theme of hope. 2007 Day of Common Learning. October 24, 2007. (2:13) [Video]

SPU Classics:
A Christian Servant Turned a Civil Servant Former U.S. Congressman Don Bonker shares about the challenges of living out his faith in politics, referencing the Watergate scandal and his conversations with political members caught in that affair. October 22, 1976. (30:45) [Audio]

We Gotta Get Outta Here | Latreia | Thanksgiving

Recent Features:
“We Gotta Get Outta Here” – How Tolkien, Lewis, and L’Engle Help Us Hope Communications Specialist Jeffrey Overstreet talks about growing up with fantasy and fairytales as a source of spiritual truth-telling in a realistic world. 2007 Day of Common Learning. October 24, 2007. (42:53) [Video] [Audio]

Latreia: Worship Through Service SPU Latreia provides opportunities for students to connect faith, action, and community building through one-time service projects. Watch SPU students in action as they participate in Latreia’s November 2007 service day. November 3, 2007. (5:25) [Video]

SPU Classics:
Thanksgiving Gathering: Sharing Our Stories Senior Events Coordinator Rebecca (Webb) Wilhite, Professor of Theater George Scranton, and SPU Student Kim Proctor share their personal stories of thanksgiving. November 21, 2006. (18:12) [Audio]

Vital Power of Hope | Trusting God | Rely on One Another

Recent Features:

The Vital Power of Hope Renowned protestant theologian Jurgen Moltmann speaks on the power of Christian hope upon the way one lives in and thinks about the world. 2007 Day of Common Learning. October 24, 2007. (50:40) [Video] [Audio]

Trusting God: The Teacher Makes the Difference Reverend Earl Palmer presents the secret to Paul’s life of consistency and ministry in the face of incredible hardship. November 6, 2007. (31:29) [Audio]

SPU Classics:
Lessons From a Fighter Pilot: Rely on One Another Former Navy Fighter Pilot Don Halls likens his near-death experience in a cockpit to the Christian life, urging listeners to realize their own weaknesses and willingly rely on God and one another. April 4, 1997. (19:25) [Audio]

Psychology of Hope | Any Hope in Politics? | Healing from Eating Disorder

Recent Features:
The Psychology of Hope Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology and Director of Research Lynette Bikos and doctoral student Lauren Shepherd discuss the psychological studies of hope, as defined as motivation and agency, and outline building and maintaining hope in one’s own life. 2007 Day of Common Learning. October 24, 2007. (41:32) [Video]

Is There Any Hope in Politics? Professor of Political Science Reed Davis presents the need for Christians to be involved in justice and politics as followers of Christ’s New Testament teachings on leadership and stewardship. 2007 Day of Common Learning. October 24, 2007. (42:01) [Audio]

SPU Classics:
Healing from Eating Disorders and Addiction Actress Carol Anderson shares about her struggle with anorexia-bulimia and God’s eventual healing in her life. She offers encouragement to listeners who are struggling to overcome destructive behaviors. February 14, 1996. (23:31) [Audio]

Scripture & Experience | Moltmann Moments | The Answer is 42

Recent Features:
Scripture and Experience Professor of Christian Scriptures Rob Wall teaches from Acts 15, encouraging listeners to discern God’s will by connecting personal experience and the Biblical text. October 9, 2007. (32:36) [Audio]

Moltmann Moments: Hope University Ministries provides an introduction to the theology of Jurgen Moltmann, keynote speaker at the 2007 Day of Common Learning. (3:41) [Audio]

SPU Classics:
The Answer is 42 The late Madeleine L’Engle, writer of children’s classics, challenges Christians to be willing to learn and allow God to continually shape their understanding of Him and His creation. April 25, 1983. (15:45) [Video]