Workshop, “Professing Christ as a Graduate Student: Navigating Faith-learning Integration in the Secular Academy”

Registration Available now

Title: Professing Christ as a Graduate Student: Navigating Faith-learning Integration in the Secular Academy

Date and Time: Thursday, August 18, 2022 | 11:30 am – 3:00 pm EDT

Presenters/Facilitators: Deanna Sellnow, PhD, Professor of Communication, University of Central Florida; Katherine G. Hendrix, PhD, Professor of Communication, University of Memphis; Lakelyn Taylor, third-year doctoral student in communication, University of Central Florida

Description: Navigating graduate school is arduous enough without also determining how to express certain aspects of identity, especially religious identity in a more secular environment. This workshop brings together graduate students and faculty members to discuss how Christian graduate students can express their faith in the Academy. The panelists and guest speakers will cover topics such as how graduate students can integrate faith into pedagogy, research, publication practices, mentoring, and student or colleague communication. Keynote presenters include. Deanna D. Sellnow (University of Central Florida) and Katherine G. Hendrix (University of Memphis). Student panelists from University of Central Florida, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Texas A&M, University of Memphis, and Ohio University will be included.

Deanna D. Sellnow (PhD, University of North Dakota) is Professor of Communication in the Nicholson School of Communication and Media at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on strategic instructional communication in a variety of contexts including risk, crisis, health, and online settings. She has conducted funded research for the United States Geological Survey, Department of Homeland Security, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. She has also collaborated with agencies such as the International Food Information Council about food security across the globe. She has published her work in numerous refereed articles in national and international journals, as well authored or co-authored several textbooks including Effective Speaking in a Digital Age, Communicate!, and The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture. 

Katherine Grace Hendrix (PhD, University of Washington) is a full professor in the Communication Department at the University of Memphis. Dr. Hendrix is an instructional communication scholar with a broad teaching range. She is dedicated to the scholarship of teaching, and studies professor and graduate teaching assistant (GTA) communication contributing to their classroom credibility. Dr. Hendrix has a particular interest in the pedagogical contributions of and challenges faced by professors and GTAs of color—including international graduate teaching assistants. In all her research, Dr. Hendrix employs a critical approach to investigating implicit rules and issues of power associated with questions of epistemology, axiology, and ontology coupled with the academic research process. Most recently, Dr. Hendrix was awarded the University of Memphis Benjamin Rawlins, Jr. Meritorious Professorship. In 2020, she received the Lifetime Service Award by the African American Communication and Culture Division/Black Caucus of the National Communication Association (NCA) along with the Distinguished Article Award from the NCA Instructional Development Division. Over the course of her career, she has earned numerous national, regional, and campus awards acknowledging excellence in research and teaching. Dr. Hendrix is married with two adult children, one grandchild, and a chocolate Labrador Retriever/American Staffordshire (pit bull). She is a dedicated rosarian, communion stewardess in the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church, and loves photography. She wants to be a wedding photographer when she grows up.

Lakelyn E. Taylor (she / her / ella) is a third-year doctoral candidate at the University of Central Florida. She is currently a fellow for UCF, for an NSF grant-funded project, and for the Christianity and Communication Studies Network (CCSN). She is also a graduate teaching associate in the communication department where she has adopted a holistic, feminist, critical communication pedagogy. These three perspectives contribute to her research work as well as Lakelyn is interested in applying religion, ethics, and instruction to risk and crisis communication. Her primary goal is to introduce alternative ways of knowing into communication theory and understanding. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7683-180X

Registration Fee: $25.00

Registration Available now