"Strengthening Christian Higher Education in the Era of Global Transformation"

This conference is the 8th international conference, and was held in Cheonan, South Korea. The conference delved into many topics, such as Christian vocation, faith-based interactions in universities, academic curriculum, cultural diversity, and the future of Christian higher education.


THE STATE OF GLOBAL CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION: 

AND THE GRAND CHALLENGE AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE FUTURE

perry glanzer.JPG

Synopsis:  Despite the secularizing forces at work today, Christian higher education continues to grow around the globe.  Still, we must recognize that we face immense challenges.  This talk will focus on a central underlying feature of those challenges and then unpack how this feature actually provides the source for tremendous opportunity for Christian universities. 

Perry L. Glanzer, Baylor University, Waco, Texas, United State

FROM “MISSION SCHOOLS” TO “MISSIONAL” UNIVERSITIES: 

A TALE OF KOREAN CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

kuk won shin.JPG

Synopsis: Christian higher education in “mission schools” had occupied significant role in the past. Now, it is facing serious challenges from secularization and are thus in danger of losing its distinctive identity and vision. My objective is to review the legacy, current challenges, and to project “missional” vision to transform Korean Christian higher education.

Kuk Won Shin, Chongshin University, Seoul, South Korea

 

RE-IMAGINING CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION: HOPE FOR THE WORLD

laurie schreiner.JPG

Synopsis: In what ways does a Christian approach to higher education provide hope to a broken world?  In this presentation, Dr. Schreiner will share her perspective on the global challenges and opportunities facing Christian higher education, as informed by her own research and experience as a faculty member, university administrator, and co-editor of the journal Christian Higher Education.

Laurie A. Schreiner, Azusa Pacific University, Azusa, California, United States

 

CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN LATIN AMERICA:

CHALLENGES AND POSSIBILITIES

H. Fernando Bullón.JPG

Synopsis: It is important to understand the world in which we live and its problems and to take into account global thinking about how education should be responding. Specifically, this presents great challenges for higher education in the endeavor to re-conceptualize itself so as to be up to the mark in meeting these needs. 

H. Fernando Bullón, UNELA & PRODOLA, San José, Costa Rica

 

HIGHER CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA:

PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

musa gaiya.JPG

Synopsis: Dr. Gaiya discusses the impact of Christian higher education in Africa and the internal and external challenges this kind of educational institution is facing are. He argues that Christian universities in Africa should be active in debating educational policies. For private Christian universities in Africa to achieve this, they must form a consortium to galvanize their resources to pursue common goals for sustainability of education in Africa.

Musa A. B. Gaiya, University of Jos, Nigeria

 

 IS THIS A REAL UNIVERSITY?

CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITIES NEED TO BE CENTERS OF SCHOLARSHIP

joel carpenter.JPG

Synopsis: Dr. Joel Carpenter shares his insight on the development of Christian education. Because Christian universities are either young and fragile or older but running constantly on the fiscal edge, they often feel inadequate to the task of pursuing advanced scholarship. He addresses that it is imperative that we do not give up the task of being front-line thinkers and inquirers.

Joel A. Carpenter, Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity, Grand Rapids, United States


SESSION 1

MONDAY, JUNE 5, 11:00 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.

 

1A: MAINTAINING CHRISTIAN INSTITUTIONAL IDENTITY IN A COMMERCIAL/CONSUMER SOCIETY

Moderator: John Hiemstra

  • Heyns, Michael - Stormy petrel and iron cage? - On universities and economization

  • Brink, Paul -Curricular Holism, but Institutional Dualism? Institutional Faithfulness and Christian Higher Education


SESSION 2

Administration/Leadership Subtheme

2A: PERSPECTIVES ON THE NATURE OF LEADERSHIP

Moderator: Harry Fernhout

2B: CHALLENGES TO THE IDENTITY OF CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN GHANA

Moderator: Isaac Mutua

  • Boakye Botwe, Cecilia - Challenges Faced by Christian Higher Education Administrators in Ghana in the Keeping and Practicing of Institutional Christian Values

  • Boadi, Andrews Gyimah - Christian higher education, the art and science of teaching and the realities that enforce contemporary higher education in Ghana

  • Afrane, Samuel Kofi and White, Peter - Maintaining Christian virtues and ethos in Christian Universities in Ghana: The reality, Challenges and the way forward

Curriculum Subtheme

 2C: LITERACY, LIBERATION, AND CULTURAL HUMILITY

Moderator: José Alcántara-Mejía 

  • Kuyvenhoven, Johanna - Literacy Education: Teaching for reading abilities that liberate and extend learner’s worlds

  • Gonzalez, Diana E. - Culturally and Linguistically Humble

Pedagogy Subtheme

2D: PEDAGOGY AND DIGITAL MEDIA

Moderator: Ton Bestebreur

  • De Bruijn, Stephanus M. - A Media Attitude Model as a Framework for Learning and Responsible Media Use in a Technological Era

  • Hans, Gnana D. - Cyber Technology Powered Teaching and Learning: Zeitgeist of Communication Technology

  • Lu, Jane I. - The Needs of Higher Education Reform in Myanmar: A Study from a Digital Learning Perspective

  • Vanden Bosch, James - Corpus Linguistics for Non-Linguists in Christian Higher Education

    Research Subtheme

  • 2E: ATTITUDES AND VALUES OF STUDENTS

    Moderator: Laura Montgomery

  • Stuart, Lily T. - A Study of Life Values and Spiritual Growth of Adolescent Children from Christian Families in Avadi, Chennai

  • Oh, Joseph (and Nicholas S. Lantinga) - Correlation Between Faith and Christian Higher Education

  • Seok, BeomJin (and Nicholas S. Lantinga) - Comparison of Secularlism as Differentiation: considering Handong University and Kyung-buk University Students as Targets

    Kim, JiMin (and Nicholas S. Lantinga) - Moral Development in Internet-based Learning

  • Moderator: John Hiemstra

  • Heyns, Michael - Stormy petrel and iron cage? - On universities and economization

  • Brink, Paul -Curricular Holism, but Institutional Dualism? Institutional Faithfulness and Christian Higher Education

SESSION 3

Administration/Leadership Subtheme

3A: CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION AND ACCREDITATION

Moderator: Charles Hale

  • Everhart, Brett Meeting Secular Regional and Professional Accreditation Expectations While Staying True to Faith-Based Missions in Higher Education: Aligning Standards With Institutional Spiritual Mission Goals

  • Asamoah-Gyadu, J. Kwabena - Christian Higher Education in Context: Interrogating the Christian Spirituality Factor in Africa’s Burgeoning Church Universities

3B:  LEADERSHIP ISSUES IN DIFFERENT NATIONAL/CULTURAL CONTEXTS

Moderator: Karen Longman

  • Heyns, Marita - Trust in authority figures from a cross-generational perspective: Implications for Christian Higher Education institutions

  • Roy, Susan - Need of the Day: Effective Leadership for Christian Higher Education in India

  • Pak, David - The Educational Leadership Formation of Eastern University Presidents with Western Experience

Curriculum Subtheme

3C: THE VITAL ROLE OF THE HUMANITIES AND SCIENCES IN CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Moderator: Johanna Kuyvenhoven

  • Alcántara-Mejia, José Ramón - From Reformation to Transformation. The role of the humanities in CHE and its relevance as a critical tool in an era of Global transformation: A critical Latin American perspective

  • Beversluis, Claudia - Current Directions in Science and Faith for the Christian College Classroom

3D: FACULTY-LED STUDY ABROAD – BUILDING A PROGRAM: A COLLABORATIVE DISCUSSION

This panel identifies some of the challenges, successes, and failures of undergraduate study abroad program, and will explore the role of study abroad in their institution’s Christian mission and commitment to global engagement. 

Research Subtheme

3E: ISSUES IN HISTORY AND PRACTICE OF CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Moderator: Kirk Kauffeldt


SESSION 5

Administration/Leadership Subtheme

5A: CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN A MULTI-RELIGIOUS OR HOSTILE CONTEXT

Moderator: Jay Shim

  • Mutua, Isaac - Secularization of education in Africa: Conform or de-secularise?

  • Ng, Peter - Reviving the Spirit of Christian Higher Education in China

  • Shirly, Sidney - In Search of a Pedagogy: Importing Christian Values through Christian Higher Education in a Multi-religious Context

  • Nggada, Philip Asura - Insurgency: A Challenge to Strengthening Christian Higher Education in Northeastern Nigeria

5B: INNOVATIVE DOCTORAL LEADERSHIP EDUCATION IN A GLOBALIZING WORLD

This panel consists of two parts. In Part 1, the program directors, who are also professors, of three leadership doctoral programs in the United States will discuss lessons learned from implementing their respective instructional delivery models: short-residency-based (Azusa Pacific), fully online (Johnson), and residency-online blended (Eastern). In Part 2, a mixed-methods research study will report on the impact of technological and relational factors on the learning effectiveness of US online-based leadership doctoral students.

  • Chang, Heewon

  • Longman, Karen

  • Lee, Hyunkyung

  • Crumpton, Alicia D.

Curriculum Subtheme

5C: IDENTITY FORMATION AND CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION

Moderator: Peter Maslin

  • Lantinga, Nicholas S. - Identity and Core in Cross-National Comparison

  • Njaramba, Beth - Transformational Scholarship: A holistic approach

 Pedagogy Subtheme

5D: Southeast Asian Perspectives on Transformations in Christian Higher Education

Moderator: J. Dinakarlal

  • Tansio, Norietta E. Carandang - International Education: Beyond Borders at UPHSD

  • Mainggang, Jose P. - Mapping the Future through Blended Learning

  • Sian, Gin Deih - The Awareness of the Unfinished Task

5E: PANEL SESSION: ALTERNATIVE PEDAGOGIES AND STRATEGIES

Moderator: H. Fernando Bullón

SESSION 4

Administration/Leadership Subtheme

4A: CHALLENGES FACING CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION IN VARIOUS NATIONAL CONTEXTS

Moderator: Peter Ng

  • Bangash, Yaqoob Khan - The Mission College in Pakistan: Challenges and Opportunities

  • Gladstone, John Wilson - Strengthening Christian Higher Education: An Asian Perspective

  • Lee, Leah Yiya and Wang, Peter Chenmain - From a Bible College to a Christian University – the Story of Chung Yuan Christian University in Taiwan

  • Malarvizhi, Vanitha - Prospects and Challenges before Christian Higher Education in a Multi-religious Nation

Curriculum Subtheme

4B: APPROACHING ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES CHRISTIANLY: DEALING WITH SECULARIZATION

Moderator: Claudia Beversluis

This panel will examine secular assumptions that in various discipline and contrast them with Christian worldview assumptions. The panelists will explore some practical ways faculty and administrators can address the challenge posed by this contrast.

  • Beversluis, Claudia: Secularization in the Social Sciences

  • Vanden Bosch, James: Secularization in the Humanities

  • Bradley, James: Secularization in Mathematics

Pedagogy Subtheme

4C: INTERCULTURAL COMPETENCY: WELCOMING THE OTHER

Moderator: Beth Njaramba

  • de Muynck, Abraham- Imagination for hospitality. How can we prepare students for a diverse society?

  • Haesecke, Rebecca - Incognito Intercultural Competency Training

4D: CHRISTIAN HIGHER EDUCATION RESPONSES TO CONTEMPORARY ISSUES

Moderator: Paul Brink

  • Osburn, Robert - Incorporating Anti-Corruption Education into the Christian Higher Education Context

  • Hiemstra, John - The “Ecological Question:” Defining the challenge of global environmental degradation for Christian scholarship”

Research Subtheme

4E: MINDFULNESS AND ETHICS IN CHE RESEARCH

Moderator: Tersur Aben

  • Smith, Andrew - The ethics of power and the power of ethics

  • Lam, Maria Lai-ling - Practicing Mindfulness is distinctive in Christian Higher Education

 

 


 

POSTER SESSION

Training in Soft Skills: An Opportunity for Christian Institutions

Presenter: Gladwin, D. Arun

Description: Institutions of higher learning have realized the importance of imparting soft skills to the younger generation. This  is mainly for making the students fit for the highly competitive international job market. Quite sadly today the students become fit only for jobs but not for life. Christian institutions of higher learning can design soft skills in such a way that the young students can be introduced to Biblical values and virtues besides making them fit for any job.


Challenges Faced by Christian Higher Education Administrators in Ghana in the Keeping and Practicing of Institutional Christian Values

Presenter: Botwe, Cecilia Boakye

Description: The Administrators of Christian Higher Education Institutions Ghana in the 21st century have well documented Christian values. Are these values just on paper? The call from stakeholders of education to create a secular academic institution is a heavy burden on Administrators. This paper assesses the existence, use and maintenance of the Christian Values and how the Administrators deal with these challenges impeding the practicing and keeping of these values in Ghana.

The experience and challenge of bringing Christian faith into all aspects of teaching

Presenter: Glover, Christine Nancy Adjei

Description: Faith based education is an education with a biblical focus.  The study is looking at the experience and challenges of bringing Christian faith into all aspects of teaching, learning and service as a result of strengthening and bringing global transformation into Christian Higher Education like Christian Service University College. The study is to find out about the effectiveness of the faith-based aspects in the teaching, learning and service at Christian Service University College.