Lead Facilitator: Robert Woods, Executive Director, Christianity and Communication Studies Network; Visiting Scholar
Additional Presenters: Geri Forsberg, Western Washington University; Jim Cook, Exec. Director, Academic Connections; Bethan Willis, Oxford; Terry Halliday, Research Professor Emeritus at the American Bar Foundation
Date/Time: Thursday, June 19, 2025 | 11:30 am – 3:00 pm EDT
Description: The Bible speaks a lot about the importance of the mind. We are told, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt. 22:37-39). But how can we, as Christian professors, better love Christ with our minds? The Bible says, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:5). What does this mean for you and me as Christian professors in the university? What does it mean to have the mind of Christ? The Apostle Paul tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by renewing our minds (Rom. 12:2). How can our minds be renewed on a daily basis? What is the evidence of a transformation of the mind? What are the implications of a transformed mind at university? How does it affect our relationships and our scholarship? What about
our time in the classroom with our students?
Geri E. Forsberg (PhD, New York University) has shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with professors since 1991. After completing her doctorate at New York University, Geri taught at Trinity Western University and traveled to university campuses throughout North America to speak to professors. Not only does she teach in the English Department at Western Washington University, but Geri has also led an outreach to professors there for over twenty years. Geri has served as a full-time staff member and an affiliate staff member with CRU since 1975. Currently, she serves as a Faculty Fellow with Faculty Commons, the faculty ministry of CRU. She is also the co-president of the International Jacques Ellul Society and serves on the board of CCSN. Geri’s scholarship focuses on the faith of various media ecologists. Her most recent writings include: “Being Human in a Technological Society: A Theological Perspective,” to be published this spring in Questioning 21st Century Technology with Jacques Ellul (2025). “Informationally Lost with No Sense of Place,” published in Quentin J Schultze’s Habits of the High-Tech Heart: Living Virtuously in the Information Age (1924). And “Transformation in the Public University,” Professing Christ: Christian Tradition and Faith-Learning Integration in Public Universities, ed. Jonathan Pettigrew and Robert H. Woods, Jr. Integratio Press, (2022). She is active in her Anglican church, leading a weekly life group. In 1996, Geri married Paul Madison, and they have one married son who lives with his wife, Honoka, in Tokyo. Connect with Geri here.
Jim Cook founded Academic Connections in 2010 and serves as its Executive Director. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri in Economics (minor in Mathematics) and holds M.A. degrees in Philosophy of Religion (honors) and Biblical Studies (honors). His two MA theses were: “An Analysis and Critical Study of Alvin Plantinga’s Account of Reformed Epistemology” and “An Evaluation of Norman Geisler’s Philosophical Apologetic.” He and his wife, Phyllis, live in Louisville, Colorado, and have one adult son. Jim has served with CRU’s and InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s faculty ministry leadership teams. For more than 35 years, he has been helping Christian professors consider the intellectual and spiritual contributions they can make to their institutions. Jim serves Academic Connections as a Ministry and Research Fellow. His academic research interests are epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, and virtue ethics. His ministry research interests include forming and sustaining Christian faculty communities on secular campuses, the relationship between “Christ and culture,” Christian integrative scholarship, and ministry ethos. He provides resources and mentors professors on about 79 campuses in the U.S. and abroad through Academic Connections. He and his wife, Phyllis, live in Colorado, where he has enjoyed 30+ years coaching individual campus fellowship leaders and leadership teams. Learn more about Jim here.
Bethan Willis (PhD, Exeter University) leads the Oxford Pastorate, an Anglican chaplaincy serving the academic community in Oxford since 1893. The Oxford Pastorate focuses on integrating faith and scholarship, running year-long formation programs for emerging academics and leaders, and partnering with organizations such as Developing a Christian Mind, Global Faculty Initiative, and Veritas. Bethan has previously headed up programs for the Oxford Character Project, held fellowships from the University of Connecticut and the Library of Congress, and worked for the Church of England in teaching and consulting roles. She has a PhD in Theology from Exeter University and is a Wycliffe Hall, Oxford member. Connect with Bethan here.
Terry Halliday (PhD, University of Chicago) is a Research Professor Emeritus at the American Bar Foundation, Honorary Professor at the School of Regulation and Global Governance at the Australian National University, and Adjunct Professor of Sociology at Northwestern University. Terry studied at Massey University, New Zealand, and the University of Toronto. He received his PhD in sociology from the University of Chicago. He is the author and co-editor of ten books with Oxford, Cambridge, Chicago, and Stanford University Press. His most recent books are Constitution-Making and Transnational Legal Orders, co-edited with Gregory Shaffer & Tom Ginsburg (Cambridge, 2019); Global Lawmakers: International Organizations in the Crafting of World Markets, with Susan Block-Lieb (Cambridge, 2017); Criminal Justice in China: The Politics of Lawyers at Work, with Sida Liu (Cambridge, 2016); and Transnational Legal Orders, co-edited with Gregory Shaffer (Cambridge, 2015). He has published articles in the American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, British Journal of Sociology, European Journal of Sociology, Regulation and Governance, Socio-Economic Review, Chicago Journal of International Law, Journal of Law and Society, Annual Review of Law and Social Science, Asian Journal of Law and Society, Hague Journal on the Rule of Law, Law & Social Inquiry, and International Journal of Public Theology, among others. He has taught at the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the Australian National University and has held visitorships at Oxford and Sciences Po, Paris. Terry’s public commentary on China has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and Le Monde, among others, and he has testified before the U.S. Congress on legal rights in China. With Donald Hay (University of Oxford), Terry founded the Global Faculty Initiative, which promotes the integration of Christian faith and academic disciplines in research universities worldwide. Connect with Terry here.
Robert H. Woods Jr. (PhD. JD, Regent University) served as Professor of Communication and Media at Spring Arbor University for 20 years. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (CCSN) (www.theccsn.com), a non-profit network providing resources and training on faith-learning integration in the field of communication studies. He is the editor-in-chief of the CCSN’s imprint, Integratio Press. Dr. Woods has served as the President of the Religious Communication Association (RCA) and was named Scholar of the Year by RCA. He is the recipient of multiple research and scholarship awards and the editor/author of over a dozen books. Most recently, Dr. Woods is the co-author with Paul Patton on Everyday Sabbath: How to Lead Your Dance with Media and Technology in Mindful and Sacred Ways and Professing Christ: Christian Tradition and Faith-learning Integration in Public Universities. His book co-authored with Kevin Healey (University of New Hampshire), titled Ethics and Religion in the Age of Social Media: Digital Proverbs for Responsible Citizens received the Book of the Year Award from RCA. He recently served as a visiting scholar at Trinity Western University. Connect with Robert here.
Registration Fee: $45.00