1996 Conference for Doctoral Programs Preparing Graduate Students as Teachers

Dates:
October 20-22, 1996 – Wabash College

Leadership Team:
Raymond Williams, Wabash Center

Participants:
Maureen O’Brien, Boston College
David Eckel, Boston University
William Loewe, Catholic University of America
Kathleen Greider, Claremont School of Theology
Charles Foster, Emory University
Mary C. Callaway, Fordham University
Kent Yinger, Fuller Theological Seminary
Barry Stenger, Graduate Theological Union
Tyler Roberts, Harvard University
Richard MIller, Indiana University
Bruce E. Nielsen, Jewish Theological Seminary
Patrick Carey, Marquette University
Katharine Sakenfeld, Princeton Theological Seminary
Mary Boys, Union Theological Seminary/Columbia University
Dean McBride, Union Theological Seminary in Virginia
William Schweiker, University of Chicago Divinity School
Robert Baird, University of Iowa
Paul Groner, University of Virginia
Peter Hodgson, Vanderbilt University
Marilyn Adams, Yale University

Description:
Twenty representatives from Ph.D. granting institutions convened to discuss how their programs prepare doctoral students for future careers as teachers in theology and religion.

The group came up with some specific suggestions for initiatives:
(a) designs for a teaching portfolio
(b) competitive grants for teaching fellowships in the schools with graduate programs, creating opportunities for students to teach independent courses at their home institutions
(c) subvention for a faculty mentor
(d) competitive visiting fellowships at other institutions, supporting the teaching of doctoral candidates at undergraduate liberal arts institutions
(e) grants to support the production of course syllabi on teaching
(f) grants to foster meetings between faculty and graduate students at different institutions to discuss the challenge of undergraduate pedagogy and the training of graduate students for careers as teachers