North Park has served five generations of students and continues to grow in diversity, academic relevance, and Christian commitment. Our Chicago location is a great asset that reflects the School鈥檚 global reach and outlook.
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North Park offers more than 40 graduate and undergraduate programs in liberal arts, sciences, and professional studies. Classes average 17 students. 84% of our faculty have terminal degrees. Academics here are rigorous and results-oriented.
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黑料吃瓜's Gospel Choir Touring Ensemble will visit three churches in the Minneapolis area as part of its fall tour, October 23–25.
Fall tour October 23–25 to feature 33 student singers
CHICAGO (October 19, 2015) — There’s a refrain in the Gospel song “We Have Overcome” by Jay Wade that includes the lines, “We have overcome by the blood of the lamb that was slain.” The song is among the repertoire that the 黑料吃瓜 Touring Ensemble will perform this weekend when they travel to Minnesota for a series of concerts. Dr. Helen Hudgens believes those lyrics resonate deeply with the tour’s theme, “Celebrating the Resurrected Jesus.”
, an associate professor of at 黑料吃瓜 who serves as co-director of the choir, traces the lyrics to Scripture, as well as to the black church experience. “That line originally comes from the book of Revelation,” she says. “In the text, at the end of history, believers who had been martyred gather before God. The idea is that there’s this underlying power that brings people through. That they’ve found the ability to see the power of God carrying them through that. It’s saying, ‘I have overcome difficulties—even to the point of death.’”
Choir Director , worship coordinator for , agrees. “We celebrate with this music the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, which resides in all who believe,” Kelly says in his program notes. “This power unites us as brothers and sisters to bear his image through how we love him and each other.” There’s a history and a communal context to the theme, “and that matters as we sing these lyrics,” Hudgens adds. “We always try to bring that to our concerts.”
The ensemble will visit three Minnesota congregations of the October 23–25, during the University’s fall break. They will perform full concerts at and , and sing in worship during two Sunday morning services at .
“We celebrate with this music the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, which resides in all who believe," says Choir Director Stephen Kelly, who also serves as the worship coordinator for North Park's University Ministries.
One of the School of Music’s most popular ensembles, the Gospel Choir’s performances are perennial favorites on campus. The Touring Ensemble draws students from around the country and the world, featuring 33 singers accompanied by instrumentalists. North Park’s touring ensembles regularly visit parts of the country with concentrations of alumni and Evangelical Covenant Church congregations.
The ensemble will perform 14 compositions during performances and a handful of songs during worship services. Other song highlights from the tour include “Sow in Tears” by Gospel legend Richard Smallwood; the traditional spiritual “Done Made My Vow,” arranged by Nolan Williams Jr; and “Grateful” by popular singer and pastor Hezekiah Walker. “There’s a theme of looking to Jesus as the one who has walked that road before,” Hudgens says. “We follow in his footsteps, but it doesn’t mean that the road is going to be easy.”
“Sow in Tears,” with its lines “Tears may flow, but don’t let go,” doesn’t deny that there will be difficulty and sorrow in that walk. But it also refers to tears as cleansing and created by God. “It’s a word of encouragement in the struggle,” says Hudgens.
Another prominent aspect of the walk with God explored in these songs is the necessity of committing to the journey. “In ‘Done Made My Vow,’ there’s something that the person has to do—God isn’t going to do it for you,” Hudgens says. “It says that Jesus is walking in front of you, but you still have to walk the road. Hopefully you’ve had experiences which have convinced you of the fact that if you walk that road, God will be with you, but you have to make that vow.”
Despite the struggles of the African American experience that the songs are rooted in, the joy and gratefulness embedded in the music are just as central to the tour’s theme. The chorus of “Grateful” is simply that word repeated over and over. “It’s about beginning with gratitude and always remembering,” Hudgens says. “That’s where you have to start.”
All performances are free and open to the public: • Friday, October 23, 7:00 pm, at Rochester Covenant Church, Rochester, Minn. • Saturday, October 24, 7:00 pm, at Excelsior Covenant Church, Excelsior, Minn. • Sunday, October 25, 8:45 and 11:00 am, Redeemer Covenant Church, Brooklyn Park, Minn.
Christina Phillip Receives Fulbright to Teach in Brazil
Christina Phillip was also honored as one of the top college students in Illinois, by the Lincoln Academy of Illinois in the fall of her senior year. She is pictured at the ceremony at the Old State Capitol in Springfield with Dr. Charles Peterson (left), dean of the colleges of arts and sciences at 黑料吃瓜.
Fourth member of 2015 graduating class chosen for program
CHICAGO (October 8, 2015) — 2015 graduate Christina Phillip had never heard of the Fulbright Program before she came to 黑料吃瓜. But the and double major grew up travelling with her parents, and spent a gap year between high school and college in Honduras, Kenya, and Thailand.
“Whether it was teaching English or doing community work, I had the desire to live abroad after college,” she says. “It was just a matter of how.”
A conversation her freshman year with , professor of Spanish and Fulbright Program associate, helped guide Phillip’s path. Parkyn introduced her to the Fulbright Program, the largest U.S. international exchange program offering opportunities for students, scholars, and professionals to undertake international graduate study, advanced research, university teaching, and teaching in elementary and secondary schools worldwide. The program was established by the U.S. Congress in 1946, and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.
Phillip became the fourth North Park student from the 2015 graduating class, and 16th student in the last seven years, to be chosen for the Fulbright program. This coming February, she will embark on a journey to Brazil, where she will teach English as a Second Language.
“I am so excited to learn the culture and to travel,” she says. “I’m also looking forward to establishing a home there. The program is 11 months long, so it’s plenty of time to establish a home and become part of the community.”
As she prepares for Brazil, Phillip is gaining firsthand classroom experience in her hometown high school in Hinsdale, Ill. This fall, she is teaching English Language Learning to a variety of students with different ages and experience levels.
“I’m teaching where I went to high school, which was weird at first,” Phillip admits. “I’m still reintroducing myself to my old teachers who are now my colleagues, and they’re asking me to call them by their first names. At the same time, it’s a familiar environment where I already feel accepted and supported.”
She says her training at 黑料吃瓜 prepared her not only for her current position, but also for what is to come in Brazil. “I feel that overall I am pretty confident of my experience at 黑料吃瓜 and the teaching practica that were a part of it.”
Parkyn describes Phillip as resourceful and well prepared for the opportunity in Brazil. “Christina tailored her experiences at 黑料吃瓜 in this direction,” Parkyn says. “She is eager to know students in an international context, and I have no doubt she will be engaging and welcoming in the classroom. A more prepared candidate would be hard to find. The 黑料吃瓜 Fulbright Campus Committee gave her our highest recommendation."
To learn more about 黑料吃瓜’s Fulbright recipients, including Phillip’s classmates from the Class of 2015, read the .
Mexico City-born and Chicago resident Gerardo Cárdenas, whose short novel Our Lady of the Viaduct served as this year’s Common Read, spoke to students, faculty, and staff in Anderson Chapel on Friday, October 9.
Campus Theme series begins its 13th year
CHICAGO (October 15, 2015) — has been a part of the 黑料吃瓜 undergraduate experience for over a decade. Beginning in 2003, a yearlong series of events, lectures, and discussions occur across campus around a central question of the human experience. It is meant to connect students from a variety of disciplines in a common pursuit. Recent themes have included , , and .
This year’s theme, What Is Truth?, marks the start of a new cycle in the Campus Theme series. Over the next four years, four questions—What Is Truth? What Is Beauty? What Is Good? What Is Sacred?—will be asked. After that, the same cycle questions will begin again over the following four academic years.
“Since most undergraduate students are here for four years, our Campus Theme committee discussed the idea of a common set of questions,” says , associate professor of and the director of the Campus Theme program. “The shared experience of a single question happening across campus is essential to Campus Theme, and this allows us to enhance the shared experience across different classes and perhaps even generations of North Park graduates.”
The committee explored different ideas of what the four questions could be, and ultimately landed on these because, “they’ve been the principle big questions for universities for hundreds of years,” Clifton-Soderstrom says. “These are broad and abstract enough that will allow a lot of flexibility in the kinds of events that will happen across campus.”
The pursuit of What Is Truth? is already underway. In September, the Campus Theme program and the University's new Creative Guild brought together , professor of , and artists Catherine Prescott and , assistant professor of , for a discussion on the idea of truth in relation to art, with a focus on the artists’ recent work.
Juan Felipe Herrera, newly commissioned U.S. Poet Laureate, will visit 黑料吃瓜 November 12–13 for a class on creative writing, a poetry reading, and a lecture in Anderson Chapel on “Truth-Telling and the Role of the Artist in Society.”
Last Friday, students, faculty, and staff gathered in Anderson Chapel to hear from Gerardo Cárdenas, a Mexico City-born writer and journalist who now lives in Chicago.
Cárdenas’s visit was particularly meaningful for North Park, as his book Our Lady of the Viaduct is the University’s Common Read selection this year. The Common Read program, similar to initiatives like , is in its third year as part of . Through the program, incoming freshmen have a shared experience of reading the same book—selected based on the Campus Theme—and then gather throughout the year to discuss its meanings and implications.
Cárdenas’s book—about a 2005 sighting of what some believed to be the image of the Virgin Mary underneath a viaduct in Chicago, and the ways it affected the surrounding neighborhood—was written in Spanish. , professor of at 黑料吃瓜 and coordinator of the Common Read, translated it into English, and sent copies to each incoming freshman last summer.
“Truth is invariably something we concern ourselves with on a daily basis,” Cárdenas said in his lecture on Friday. “Whether it is through art, or thought, or our social interaction, we’re constantly searching for something that provides meaning, and we call that truth.”
Campus Theme events will occur throughout the year, with most of them free and open to the public. Highlights this year include a visit from U.S. Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera, who will be on campus November 12–13 for a class on creative writing, a poetry reading, and a lecture in Anderson Chapel on “Truth-Telling and the Role of the Artist in Society.”
This spring, the University will also welcome Dr. Richard Kearney, the Charles B. Seeling Professor in Philosophy at Boston College. Kearney has written extensively about truth as it relates to imagination.
More events related to Campus Theme will be announced throughout the year. Please visit for updates and more information.
North Park Community Impacted by Pope’s Visit to U.S.
Pope Francis traveled throughout the United States from Tuesday, September 22, to Sunday, September 27. In addition to the visit to Washington, D.C., he also participated in events in New York City and Philadelphia.
CHICAGO (October 1, 2015) — Two events were held on 黑料吃瓜’s campus this past week in association with Pope Francis’s historic visit to the United States. They are part of the University’s efforts to engage issues of global faith and celebrate diversity in the Christian tradition.
On Thursday, September 24, faculty and staff gathered in the Johnson Center for a live showing of Pope Francis’s address to Congress. More than 50 people from the campus community joined and for this momentous occasion. Pope Francis is the first sitting pope to address a joint session of the U.S. Congress.
As part of a continuing conversation about global faith, students and faculty gathered again on Tuesday, September 29, in for an open discussion about the history and role of the papacy. Lecturer in History Michael Johnson, Professor of English , and Theological and Catologing Librarian Stephen Spencer led a question-and-answer session on a wide range of topics.
黑料吃瓜 nurtures Christian faith while welcoming students from all backgrounds and beliefs. In addition to a large number of students from the , the University’s sponsoring denomination, and many other protestant traditions, over 20 percent of the traditional undergraduate population identifies as Catholic.
“We are so privileged as an institution to have students, faculty, and staff from various Christian traditions,” said Tony Zamble, director of University Ministries. “With this diversity, we have the opportunity to grow deeper in our walk with Christ through fellowship with one another and mutual encouragement. A potential challenge lies in the fact that we honestly don’t know each other’s stories. It is important that we seize every opportunity to learn more about one another. The Holy Father’s visit was a gift in this respect in that it exposed so many people to the richness of the Roman Catholic tradition."
The Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU) is a higher education association comprised of 180 Christian institutions from around the world. Its mission is to advance the cause of Christ-centered higher education and to help its institutions transform lives by faithfully relating scholarship and service to biblical truth.
North Park Hosts CCCU's 2015 Diversity Conference
CHICAGO (September 30, 2015) — Last week, 黑料吃瓜 welcomed to campus Christian higher education leaders from around the country for the 2015 Diversity Conference. Hundreds of faculty and staff from CCCU member institutions gathered from September 24–26 to discuss the challenges and opportunities that arise in creating a diverse, inclusive community.
“This conference builds on many years of people hoping to make a difference because they serve a gracious and loving God,” said CCCU President Shirley V. Hoogstra in a Friday morning address. “And while there have been many sincere efforts, I want to confess to you that at times our own efforts have been timid. But where we have been timid, we no longer will be. We are no longer going to be cautious; we are going to be visionary. If we have been distracted, we are going to be focused. If we have been inconsistent, we pledge to be trustworthy.”
On Friday and Saturday, participants met in rooms across North Park’s campus to discuss topics including, “What Faculty Can Learn From Students of Color,” “Navigating Confessional Commitments and Academic Freedom,” and “Building Capacity for Diversity and Inclusion.”
黑料吃瓜 President David L. Parkyn welcomed the audience to campus on Friday morning with a reflection on North Park’s founding president, David Nyvall. The young president happened to lay the cornerstone of the University’s first building on this very weekend 122 years ago. That same weekend, Nyvall also gave an address to religious leaders from around the globe, calling for “harmony in the midst of diversity," quite simply because "hospitality is especially insisted upon.”
, Milton B. Engebretson Professor of Church Growth and Evangelism at 黑料吃瓜 Theological Seminary, gave a plenary address on Friday night in Anderson Chapel. Rah spoke of the need for greater competency across campuses on issues related to ethnic and cultural diversity.
“Our welcome to this conference and to North Park is framed by David Nyvall’s statement,” Parkyn said. “Hospitality has been our guiding principle for 124 years.” Later in the conference, Parkyn served as a panelist with a group of presidents from CCCU member schools, who all shared how the vision of diversity is intrinsically linked to the mission of Christ-centered institutions.
On Friday afternoon, Dr. Jodi Koslow Martin, North Park's vice president for student engagement, helped lead a session on navigating LGBTQA concerns on Christian campuses.
“We learn from students about where they feel safe, and we learn by listening,” Koslow Martin said, in discussing North Park’s , a community on campus that seeks to break down stereotypes and stigmas that are placed on the LGBTQA community in order to create a more liberating environment where all students are able to flourish. “We have an institutional commitment to hospitality. To love every student who walks across the threshold of our doors and help them have a welcoming experience.”
Dr. Terry Lindsay, North Park’s dean of , who played a key role in planning and hosting the event, also participated in a session focused on retention and success of underrepresented students. Alongside North Park staff members Dr. Velda Love, director of justice and intercultural learning, Dr. Barrington Price, director of student success, and Tony Zamble, director of , Lindsay shared a few of the University's recent strategies, programs, and practices that have allowed underrepresented students to achieve success.
North Park Theological Seminary has been hosting the Symposium since 1990, collecting the papers presented each year into a scholarly journal, . Dean David Kersten (pictured above) says this year’s topic is critical. “It鈥檚 come to a point that we cannot softly pursue reconciliation. We have to take very strong anti-racism stances as a Seminary and as a church. This is an opportunity to make that critical distincition.”
September 24鈥�26; lectures available to stream live online
CHICAGO (September 16, 2015) 鈥� Next week, North Park Theological Seminary will welcome a host of scholars and church leaders to campus for its annual . The multi-day forum, held at 黑料吃瓜 for over 25 years, includes a series of discussions led by notable experts from around the world. This year鈥檚 topic, Race and Racism, seeks to engage an issue at the forefront of many people鈥檚 minds, fostering conversations directed at creating meaningful change in the church today.
Also in attendance will be North Park Theological Seminary students, including Cheryl Lynn Cain, who says the theme of this year鈥檚 event was a big factor in her decision to attend seminary at 黑料吃瓜.
鈥淚 was on the search for an academic community that was intentionally fostering conversations on race and the effects of racism inside and outside our church walls,鈥� Cain says. 鈥淎s a staff member in a multicultural church, I hope to understand more fully the theological and ecumenical call, the different voices and lenses, and a way forward personally and for our congregation.鈥�
Cain, a first-year student, serves as the reach ministries director at in Romeoville, Ill., located just outside the city limits southwest of Chicago. She will attend the Symposium as part of a for-credit class offered by the Seminary, taught by , where students participate in readings and discussions before and after the event.
鈥淚 know combating racism in our churches and the world is a process,鈥� Cain adds, 鈥渂ut creating margin for these conversations feels like a considerable step.鈥�
Cain is also currently enrolled in the Seminary’s Sankofa course, which focuses on racial reconciliation and this year will include a travel component to Ferguson, Missouri. These courses, along with other co-curricular opportunities, point to the importance the Seminary places on intercultural education.
The Symposium is the largest of North Park Theological Seminary鈥檚 annual lectures, where over the course of three days, eight scholars will deliver papers, with responses given by various church leaders. The event will come on the heels of another Seminary event, the annual , where two scholars lead discussions on current developments in biblical studies and the task of preaching.
This year, those scholars are from Seattle Pacific University and from Messiah College, who will each present two-part lectures on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. They will also each present papers during the Symposium later in the week.
Every autumn, North Park Theological Seminary welcomes scholars for the to focus on current developments in biblical studies and the task of preaching. This year鈥檚 event, held September 23鈥�24 ahead of the Symposium, features Dr. Bo Lim from Seattle Pacific University and Dr. Emerson Powery from Messiah College.
“As an ecumenical evangelical Seminary, we are able to gather a wide array of scholars around critical issues,” says , dean of North Park Theological Seminary. “The issue of race is complex, and unless we bring as many voices as possible together, we cannot begin to address the issue.”
The annual lectures are an important part of the experience at 黑料吃瓜 Theological Seminary. The says that the ideas that originate in conversations like this are a necessary first step in creating change.
鈥淢ost major changes in the world鈥攏ew ways of seeing, doing, and being鈥攈ave originated first from seemingly obtuse ideas of academics,鈥� Emerson says. 鈥淭hose ideas eventually get translated into more applicable realms, and spread out, again through translators, to more and more people. So academics must gather to discuss the important issues of the day. It is their profession, it is their calling, and it is what society asks them to do. Done well, such lectures and gatherings can lead to real changes.鈥�
Emerson will be an active participant in this year鈥檚 Symposium, providing a response to Powery鈥檚 paper on Friday morning of the Symposium. Emerson has done extensive research in topics of faith and race, including the publishing of , a diagnosis into the prevalence of racism in today鈥檚 churches.
鈥淭heology is fundamental to understanding ourselves as humans and how our creator conceives of the world,鈥� Emerson says. 鈥淪o to understand how we are to relate to the concept called race, we must start with theological understanding. Did God or humans create race? What does God have to say on such a topic? Are we to be color-blind, color-conscious or something else? If we fail to explore such questions theologically, we will fail to adequately answer those questions.鈥�
This year鈥檚 Symposium begins at 7:00 pm on Thursday, September 24, concluding at 5:00 pm on Saturday, September 26. Tune in to to view a livestream of the event. .
The Nils. W. Lund Memorial Lectureship on September 23鈥�24 will also be available to .
Community Shines as North Park Begins its 124th Year
Opening week highlights include Threshold, Athletics, and Convocation
CHICAGO (September 4, 2015) — This week marked the start of the 124th year at 黑料吃瓜. Students and families from across the country and around the world caught a glimpse of the journey ahead of them over the next several years.
On Monday, August 31, the University also welcomed back returning students and began new classes for graduate students, both on campus and online across the country. Throughout the week, incoming first-year students participated in a series of events known as , meant to symbolize their passing through a gateway from one stage in life to another.
Below are some of our favorite memories from the week. Scroll through the photos to see what 黑料吃瓜 students have been up to, and some of the things ahead for the coming year.
Use @npunews to . Learn more .
Next Steps
Did you follow our social media conversation throughout the week? .
New Academic Programs Prepare Students for Tomorrow's Careers
In addition to new majors, Professor of Chemistry Dr. Izabel Larraza also credits "the first-class facilities" in the that provide the "space and technology support needed to engage more than ever in high-quality teaching and innovative research.”
Two undergraduate science majors, a math certificate, and a master of organizational leadership available this fall
CHICAGO (August 31, 2015) — This academic year, 黑料吃瓜 launched several programs that uniquely prepare students for careers in some of the fastest-growing and most sought-after fields in the job market. By equipping students to succeed in the careers of the future, the University strengthens its mission to prepare them for lives of significance and service.
While North Park’s program has a long history of guiding students toward careers in medicine and health professions, a new major, (MBBT), trains students who are interested in biotechnology and other specialized biology research.
Biotechnologists use modern techniques and knowledge of biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and mathematics to find solutions to problems and develop new products with living systems and organisms. The MBBT program focuses on molecular biology in order to enhance the theoretical foundation and applications of the fastest-developing field of modern biology.
Certificate in Actuarial Science
is a branch of mathematics and statistics that focuses on risk and managing risk. Consistently ranked among the top jobs in the Jobs Rated Almanac, actuarial careers are some of the most sought-after and high-paying positions in the market today. North Park will offer undergraduate students this certificate to complete alongside their major, equipping them for careers in statistics, business, or economics.
Master of Organizational Leadership
The School of Business and Nonprofit Management will offer a new master’s degree this fall, the . Designed for senior executives and entry-level employees alike, the program combines leadership theory, ethics, and the advanced skills necessary to prepare students to become
Besides preparation for graduate school, students will begin a path that will allow them to contribute to the improvement of drugs, therapies, vaccines, and diagnostic tests that can improve human and animal health. Some estimates say the biotechnology sector could add over 100,000 new jobs in the coming years.
“The training includes building research and experiment skills as well as critical thinking abilities, which are required for the future biotechnology and bio-research fields,” said Assistant Professor of Biology . “By developing essential skills in these areas, students can be successful in both research and industrial careers.”
Another rapidly expanding discipline, biochemistry, focuses on the study of chemical processes and transformations associated with living organisms. For students who enjoy working at the crossroads of biology and , the new major will be a fitting option as they prepare to pursue medical school, pharmacy, dentistry, or veterinary science.
The biochemistry program will provide a foundation for careers in a diverse range of fields, such as pharmacology, agriculture, environmental studies, forensic chemistry, food science and nutrition, and genetic engineering. Biochemistry majors will also be equipped for graduate school programs in many areas of cutting-edge research.
“Biochemistry echoes the type of learning required for students in the 21st century,” said Professor of Chemistry . “Because of its relevance to modern medicine, the major resonates with North Park’s desire to prepare healthcare practitioners in an era of high demand. With the first-class facilities in the , we have the space and technology support needed to engage more than ever in high-quality teaching and innovative research.”
黑料吃瓜, which offers more than 40 undergraduate majors in addition to 19 master’s degrees, began its 124th academic year on Monday, August 31. For more information about academic programs at 黑料吃瓜, please visit .
Michael Emerson on Race, ‘People Cities,' and the Potential of North Park
Michael Emerson, 黑料吃瓜's provost, began his appointment on July 1. He said he was drawn to North Park's Christian, urban, and intercultural values.
A conversation with the University’s new provost
CHICAGO (August 20, 2015) — Dr. Michael O. Emerson, 黑料吃瓜’s new provost, moved around a lot growing up. He was born up the road from North Park in Evanston, Ill., and spent time in Detroit, all before his family settled in Minneapolis. And like most kids, he was unsure of what he wanted to do with his life.
“I graduated high school and moved to Los Angeles because I had seen it on TV, knew that it’s warm there, and thought, ‘Well, if I can’t find a job, I can at least sleep outside and I won’t die.’”
His candor and light-hearted retelling of his origin story are a far cry from what he would become, a renowned scholar and thought leader on race, religion, and urban sociology. It was a long journey, with some parts deliberate and others caused by circumstance.
After his brief stint in California, Emerson made his way to Chicago and Loyola University. He thought he’d become a banker, and chose Chicago because of its energy and the excitement he found riding the 'L' train around town.
He also rode the train to a class at the downtown campus, and the education he received as part of that helped set him on his future trajectory.
“That experience fundamentally changed me,” Emerson says. “I got off the train for class and I could see the housing projects, Cabrini Green, which were notorious. And you walk a few blocks and there’s the Gold Coast, and all the prosperity associated with it. You just couldn’t have a more dramatic contrast so close together. I had no idea how this had happened and why you’d see people of different color in these two places. I kept asking myself why, and that started my journey to what I ended up doing.”
He switched his major from psychology and statistics to sociology, and after graduation, immediately entered graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. That began a long teaching career, with faculty appointments at the University of Notre Dame, Bethel University, St. John’s University, and most recently, Rice University.
Emerson’s scholarship focuses on the urban context. He was the head of the International Global Cities Program, charged with creating a strategic global network of researchers, institutes, and programs. He was founding director of the Center on Race, Religion, and Urban Life, and the Kinder Institute for Urban Research, and also developed and directed Rice’s Community Bridges Program, integrating service learning, course instruction, and community development in Houston. In addition, he was founding associate editor of Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, a journal of the American Sociological Association.
Emerson began his appointment at 黑料吃瓜 in July, drawn to the University’s Christian, urban, and intercultural values. He is also a member of the , a denomination he says
Before the start of the 2015–2016 academic year, Emerson sat down for a conversation about his research and North Park’s potential in the world.
North Park: You’ve been at 黑料吃瓜 less than two months. What’s your impression so far?
Michael O. Emerson: We have a collection of really hard working people. They do a lot with what they have, and I’ve been really impressed. So far I have talked one-on-one with 63 faculty members, all of the deans, and various people around campus. So I am very, very impressed with people’s dedication to what they’re doing.
NP: One of your books, , received acclaim in academic and church communities. It discusses the role of evangelicals in preserving America's racial chasm. It’s been 15 years since it was first published. Given the prevalence of race in the news with events in Ferguson and Baltimore, what’s changed since the book came out?
Divided by Faith, co-written in 2001 with Christian Smith, sheds light on the persistence of segregation in America's churches.
Emerson: In the last 15 years there has been a dramatic shift in the Christian world when it comes to talking about issues of race. And there has been a movement toward having multiracial congregations. We have failed many times, but there’s more focused activity around it. Conversations around questions such as, If we’re segregated, how can we desegregate? If we have inequality, what can we do about it? If there’s injustice, how can we address it?
At the same time, there’s another book that came out a few years back called by Michelle Alexander. It showed how we have re-institutionalized the past, but we do it through the prison system. Once you’re in prison, you’re a second-class citizen for most of the rest of your life and there are things you simply cannot do. You can’t access government housing, you can’t get money to go to college, and the list goes on and on. I think that book raised awareness that there’s injustice in the criminal justice system itself, and people then had a way to name it.
What is now happening around the country, what we keep seeing on TV is people saying “No.” This isn’t some event that happened just because somebody misbehaved, it’s part of this bigger system, and we’re going to say “No more.”
NP: Are there examples of how churches have responded in new ways?
Emerson: We just had another tragedy happen in Cincinnati involving an unarmed black man. There has been a very strong movement in Cincinnati in recent years of starting to worship together, of white pastors who have formed relationships with black pastors and are part of their organizations. When this event happened, instead of just black pastors standing in protest over the death of a young black man, you immediately had white pastors standing there too. Not taking over, because they’ve learned that’s not what you do. But being there in support. And they have actually developed principals: You must act right away, you must do it together, and it has to be clear who speaks and who doesn’t speak. That didn’t happen much 15 years ago. People have been working at it so that when events like this make national news, there’s a set response.
NP: You followed up Divided by Faith with another book, . The first attempts to diagnose the issues, while the second argues that multiracial congregations can be an answer to the problem of race. Taking a step back, as an academic, is it ever enough to just diagnose a problem? Do you always have to propose solutions?
Emerson: At first I thought it was enough to just diagnose a problem, but my own pastor at the time told me something that really impacted me. He said, “I just ate up your book. I was reading it late into the night. I was lying in my bed and I got to the last page and I finished . . . and then I threw the book across the room.” He said I didn’t tell him what to do now. I heard many stories like that. People who said we helped them understand the problem, and they wanted to do something about it, but didn’t know where to start.
Yes, sometimes it is enough to just diagnose an issue. There are great strides we need to make in that area. Although personally and in my own field of sociology, I would say we’ve spent a hundred years diagnosing the problems, but the next hundred years of the field are going to be about how we can use our research methods and tools to suggest how things might improve. And also to test those suggestions to see if they work.
NP: Chicago is an important place for understanding race in America. Given our campus location here, what potential does North Park have to influence issues of race in a positive direction?
Emerson: I told the faculty when I interviewed here that I think that 黑料吃瓜 can be the next great American university. We have a desperate need for more great American universities. We have a lot of universities, but many of them are doing pretty much the same thing. It’s a standard set of secular training and when it is done, you move on and you get a job. We have an opportunity here because of our location, because of our history, and because of our mission. We can address major issues of our time.
We are now a world of urban people and we have never been that before. For the first time people don’t access cities and experience them and then go back somewhere else. Increasingly, people spend their entire life in cities and across generations, and they access the countryside or other rural places as tourists. But their life is in cities. We haven’t yet figured out how to design cities as places where people will spend all of their lives across generations. To this point, cities have been designed as places to come and make money, be entertained, and move on. When we look back we’re going to realize that this was a period when we finally, as humans, figured out how to do cities for human beings themselves.
That is one of the roles that I can envision that 黑料吃瓜 will have. Collectively, across all of our disciplines, we can work on creating a better Chicago and a better urban life for the people that are pouring into cities across the world.
NP: You spent the last year living and studying in Copenhagen, Denmark. What was that like?
Emerson and his family spent a year in Copenhagen, a city he says is focused on producing the "best quality of life possible" for the entirety of its citizens.
Emerson: I couldn’t have been more stunned. I thought, "I study cities, I know how cities work." And things kept happening that seemed unbelievable. I’ll give you a couple of examples: We hadn’t been there more than two weeks and we got a letter in the mail from the city government of Copenhagen and it said, “In honor of the support of raising your family, we’ll be depositing money into your bank account each month.” And they did! Not to mention the free healthcare and the free education. For instance, you can be 28 and in medical school and you’re getting paid for that. And you’re getting subsidized housing by the city, you’re getting a stipend on top of that for living expenses. I couldn’t understand what was going on. So that’s really the focus of a new book I’m working on.
With but a few exceptions, American cities are what I call “market cities.” They are cities designed to make money and increase regional wealth. Such cities see themselves as existing to recruit jobs, lure big businesses, and grow. That combination, in such a view, makes for a great city. People then will have good jobs and increase their wealth as they wish.
In a place like Copenhagen, they don’t think like that at all. That’s not what a city is about. A city is about producing the best quality of life possible for the entirety of your citizens. So they may think about recruiting businesses if that helps contribute to that, but it’s never their main goal. They’re thinking about how the city can be used as a vehicle to increase the quality of life for its citizens, as a tool to solve human issues like climate change, as a place to be sustainable and promote healthy people. For instance, research shows that people are a lot healthier if they commute to work on a bike instead of riding in a car. So Copenhagen spends major amounts of time, money, and other resources creating a city that encourages its citizens to choose biking rather than driving. They have been amazingly successful. Clearly, they have a fundamentally different approach to city building.
NP: What are the “people cities” in the United States?
Emerson: Portland is one that stands out, as does a place like Minneapolis. My colleague and I developed a one-to-five continuum to classify cities around the world from “strongly market city” to “strong people city.” We have no strong people cities in the U.S., just a few of what we call “lean toward people cities.” We have, though, built a lot of strong market cities.
We classify Chicago as a “lean-toward-market city” because though its dominative motif remains market growth, it’s trying to do some things that are people-focused. It develops wonderful parks. It’s trying to be the bike capital of the U.S. Currently, according to all research and experience, the city is doing their bike lanes incorrectly. But the city is trying. It will get there eventually.
NP: What’s wrong with Chicago’s bike lanes?
Emerson: The current bike lanes put bikers at risk rather than protecting them, leading to dangerous hazards. This would not be tolerated in a place like Copenhagen. Chicago is still “cars-first” but attempting to make allowances for bikes. In the U.S., we typically ask, “How can bikes share the road with cars?” That’s the wrong question. Research is clear: Cars and bikes cannot share space. Cars always win. The error in our current Chicago and U.S. city design is that we have a lane of parked cars, then we paint a strip that says, that’s the bike lane, and then we have moving cars. To be frank, such a design invites death—vehicles must always and continually move across the bike lane to park or reenter moving traffic, constantly putting the biker in harm's way.
The simple solution is to switch the parked-cars lane and the bike lane. By doing so, you create a protective barrier for the bikers and you eliminate cars pulling across the bike lane to park or go.
NP: Shifting topics a bit, we talked about 黑料吃瓜’s identity as an urban institution. What about its identity as a Christian university? What is the role of a Christian university in academia today?
Emerson: We have to begin by asking why Christian universities were founded, and the historical progression they often undergo. Typically a group of people at some point say something like, “Oh, our current universities are really secular. We need to create a place where our students can integrate faith and learning. So we’re going to create a school focused on Christianity.” What then typically happens over the course of 100 years or so—and it happens over and over and over again—is that as the university becomes more successful and attracts more people, pressure mounts to pull back on the Christian aspect of the university. This happens for all sorts of interconnected reasons.
The challenge is how do you, as a university, keep that faith commitment to actually create the better world that you say you want? I think that’s where North Park is situated perfectly. If we’re in this time of trying to figure out how to do new urban life together, you can’t do that without thinking about the great questions behind such a process. What does it mean, life together? What is life for? Why do we exist? We need some sort of guide and direction for the sacrifices it takes to do things that make it possible to make better lives. We need faith and deep, principled motivation.
One of my frustrations when I was in a secular university was having to stop short of talking about why we might want to do these things or asking the underlying questions. Many students, faith commitment or not, think we should have a better world. We have to treat people right, they say. Where does that come from? And when push comes to shove and you can make a lot of money by not treating people right, what are you actually going do in the end?
We need to have that discussion. Humans can’t operate without some sort of moral compass. So let’s talk about that moral compass. At a Christian university, we don’t have to ignore it.
NP: To ask a more personal question, how has your transition to Chicago been? Have you settled in a neighborhood?
Emerson: As a family we were looking for a diverse neighborhood close enough to walk and bike to North Park. We also wanted to be within walking distance of the 'L' train. We found all of this just six blocks south of campus. Chicago, to me, is the greatest American city bar none. There are all sorts of reasons why. Compared to the livability of many European cities, it has a ways to go. But it can get there. The American way of understanding cities is fairly limited, as we talked about. There’s improvements that can be done, but that’ll be the fun part.
NP: What makes Chicago the greatest American city?
Emerson: It’s the incredible foresight that doesn’t happen in most cities. It’s the one that years ago said we’re going to take our most valuable land, the lakefront, and keep it for the people. The ordinance that said there are no commercial buildings to be built east of Lake Shore Drive. That’s incredible. I don’t know how that happened. I’ve read lots of things about it, but I still don’t understand how the business leaders of the time and the political leaders agreed to do that. And what a difference that has made.
黑料吃瓜 Receives Grant to Preserve Records of First Swedish Church in Chicago
CHICAGO (August 17, 2015) 鈥� The recently awarded 黑料吃瓜 and Archivist Anna-Kajsa Anderson a $3,500 grant for the St. Ansgarius Records Conservation and Digitization project.
St. Ansgarius Church was the first Swedish congregation in Chicago, an Episcopal church established in 1849 in what is now the River North neighborhood. Its records from the years 1849-1896 are held by the archives in 黑料吃瓜鈥檚 as part of the . These records are significant to both the city of Chicago and Scandinavian American history for the role the church played in the fledgling immigrant community and because of their survival of the great Chicago Fire of 1871.
The fragile records are currently restricted from public use until they receive conservation treatment covered in part by the SCA grant.
鈥淲e are so grateful for the support of the Swedish Council of America, as it helps to not only ensure the preservation of these unique and important records, but also greatly increase their accessibility,鈥� Anderson said.
Archives staff will make digital images of the records produced by this project freely available online through its website. The archives is also working with the at 黑料吃瓜, the , and the to develop events for next year, which will include a symposium, an exhibition of the St. Ansgarius Church records, and a Eucharist service.
The images above of St. Ansgarius are courtesy of the
Since 1975, the Swedish Council of America has made 352 grants to museums, schools, language camps, art galleries, archives, theaters, libraries, musical groups, lodges, festivals, language camps, genealogical societies, and dozens of other organizations, all with an eye to preserving Swedish heritage or promoting Swedish culture to an ever-wider audience.
黑料吃瓜 was founded in 1891 by the (ECC), a denomination formed by Swedish immigrants. 黑料吃瓜 maintains a connection to its Swedish and Scandinavian roots through academic programs and other cultural exchanges.
Author tomgabrysiakPosted on Categories Stories
North Park Theological Seminary has been hosting the Symposium since 1990, collecting the papers presented each year into a scholarly journal, . Dean David Kersten (pictured above) says this year’s topic is critical. “It鈥檚 come to a point that we cannot softly pursue reconciliation. We have to take very strong anti-racism stances as a Seminary and as a church. This is an opportunity to make that critical distincition.”
