Blog

As was the case for many professional conferences in the past year, the Society for Pentecostal Studies met online for its annual event.  A few participants did make the trip to The King’s University in Southlake, Texas, but the vast majority of attendees participated virtually from the comfort and security of their own offices or…Read More

The trip to St. Petersburg, Florida for the 18th Annual International Society of Sports Nutrition (ISSN), was one that I will remember for the years to come. As a new professor, this opportunity to be amidst the brightest minds in the realm of Sports Nutrition with relevant topical lectures represented a metaphorical “buffet for the…Read More

As organizational science increasingly explores diversity topics, some growing pains and misunderstandings are inevitable. Working and conducting research with any group in which one does not have a membership requires considerable preparation, specific skillsets (e.g., ensuring translation accuracy in cross-cultural research; ensuring participatory research), as well as cultural knowledge and humility in checking for own…Read More

Teaching Human Sexuality for 38 years to undergraduates certainly becomes a challenge of how to straddle an age divide, but also a ‘cultural divide’ at many levels. For one, every culture group understands and treats human sexuality differently—some being quite open to sexual discourse and practices, while others remaining very closed to sexual discourse and…Read More

The Western Psychological Association (WPA) was founded in 1921 and their annual conference attempts to bring students, professors, and practitioners of psychology together for professional, scientific, and educational exchange. It is a regional event that gathers psychologist from school throughout the western region of the United States (i.e. UCLA, Biola, UC Davis, UNLV.) Due to…Read More

Realizing that one of the most joyful blessings God has given me is great and generous mentors throughout my life, I have a strong desire to mentor students through scholarly work.  However, here at Vanguard University, the Early Childhood Program is fully online and at an undergraduate level, so it is somewhat challenging to conduct…Read More

This conference was originally designed to be a one-day meeting in New York City.  Due to Covid-19, it developed into an 8-plus hour meeting spread over two weekends and the two-week break in-between. There were around seventy participants from all over the country.  Chloe Chapin from Harvard, Christianne Meyers, and Sydney were the major organizers of…Read More

On October 22-24, 2019, I, and three colleagues from VU’s Graduate Programs in Education, Dr. Terrelle Sales, Dr. Jennifer Jagerson, and Dr. Rebecca Spady, attended the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE) conference in San Diego, California. The CCTE’s focus of the conference was to address a growing need in the field of teacher education…Read More

On November 25, 2019, I had the privilege of presenting a paper titled “The Academy, Imagination Formation, and Social Media” at the American Academy of Religion (AAR) Annual Meeting. Held jointly with the Annual Meeting for the Society of Biblical Literature, each this conference brings together over 10,000 scholars and practitioners in the field of…Read More

I had the privilege of representing Vanguard University at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society held this year in San Diego, CA, November 20-22. The venue for this year’s meeting was the Manchester Grand Hyatt. Almost immediately after checking in, I took this picture of the evening view from the room. Then, I…Read More

With the aid of travel funds approved and provided by the Professional Development Committee, I had the opportunity attend the 105th annual convention of the National Communication Association held in Baltimore, MD from November 14 – 17, 2019. The conference was intellectually stimulating and professionally enriching. The National Communication Association is the national professional organization…Read More

I attended both the Religious Communication Association’s (RCA) national convention and the National Communication Association’s (NCA) national convention in Baltimore, MD from November 13-18, 2019.  I have been a member of both organizations since 1984 and have enjoyed presenting papers, chairing and responding to panels, as I did this year, together with learning from fellow…Read More

The Annual Meeting and Expo for Public Health, sponsored by the American Public Health Association (APHA), occurred the week of November 2 through November 6, 2019, at the Philadelphia Convention Center in Philadelphia, PA. Over 13,000 people attended, which included university faculty, health organizations, nurse educators, and so forth, from around the world. The APHA…Read More