Since losing his publisher, Senior Associate Professor of Education Steve Arndt has re-written and self published three of the original five books in his Roads Less Traveled series. Since Fall semester began, Steve has re-released Roads Less Traveled in Northeast Oregon and Roads Less Traveled in Northwest Oregon II. By August, Steve is expecting to re-release Roads Less Traveled in Northwest Oregon I. In June, Steve will be traveling to Harney and Malheur Counties to photograph and research the Roads Less Traveled in Southeast Oregon. Steve will be speaking to numerous civic groups this summer including the Multnomah Chapter of the DAR and delivering the keynote address at the Oregon Gardens to the 200 member Oregon Miata Club. In July he will represent Warner Pacific and Roads Less Traveled at the Oregon Steam Up in Brooks, the Jefferson Historical Society’s Annual Frog Jumping Contest and Jacob Conser Day Celebration, the Marion County Fair, and will once again be an invited guest at the Author’s Table in the Jackman-Long Building during the Oregon State Fair.
During the 2010-2011 school year, Dr. Stephen S. Carver (Chapman Chair of Biblical Studies) focused on three main areas of scholarship. First, in the fall he taught a three session series for the Chapel program at Warner Pacific titled "The Influence of Wisdom Literature in Ancient & Modern Communities of Faith". In this series, Dr. Carver discussed the books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and he indicated how concepts in these three books of wisdom literature can be applied today.
Second, in the spring, Dr. Carver taught another three session series for the Chapel program at Warner titled "Biblical Metaphors for Righteousness”. In this series, Dr. Carver introduced the idea of biblical metaphors as related to the concept of righteousness, and then assigned various biblical texts which were analyzed by those who attended. Participants were challenged to create metaphors of their own that reflected the concept of righteousness as it was presented in the various texts. Each session concluded with a discussion of how the metaphors developed could be understood and applied in today’s world. Third, Dr. Carver recently was informed that his paper titled: “The Confluence of Wisdom, Law, and Prophecy: An Examination of Behavior Modification in Ancient Israel “ has been accepted for presentation at the Pacific Northwest Regional Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature. This conference will be held at Gonzaga University in Spokane, Washington in May of this year.
Dr. Elizabeth DuPriest, Assistant Professor of Biology, is in her second year of teaching at Warner Pacific. She has continued her research on the effect of maternal low protein diet on offspring adipose tissue dysfunction in collaboration with her former graduate advisor at Oregon Health & Science University. She will be presenting two abstracts at the Seventh World Congress on Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, to be held in Portland, Oregon in September. In addition, these abstracts and other data are being prepared as three manuscripts for submission to the Journal of Physiology and other journals. Beth has also served as the faculty advisor for the WPC Pre-Health Science Club and as an unofficial mentor for this year’s Murdock Research Scholar, Bryce Rasmussen. She attended the Oregon Academy of Sciences annual meeting, the Northwest Undergraduate Research Conference and two Murdock Research Scholar events in support of Bryce and as a representative of Warner Pacific.
Associate Professor of Education Bill Flechtner led a mentor training workshop for the national Journalism Education Association at a convention in April, 2011 and in November, 2010. As a mentor trainer, Bill was responsible for introducing new mentors to the various aspects of working with high school publications advisers. He works with new publications advisers throughout the Portland and Southwest Washington area. As an extension of this program, Bill is actively involved in the restructuring of the scholastic journalism programs in Oregon and represents the mentoring program on that committee.
Bill is the chair of the Department of Education. The department is conducting the first Co-Teaching workshop on May 10 on the WPC campus to train classroom mentor teachers in this new approach to student teaching. This all day workshop will bring together the mentor teachers and their teacher candidates to build collaborative skills and approaches to this experience. This follows several month of recruiting of classroom teachers for this program. Approximately 25 mentor teachers will be in attendance, along with their teacher candidates and supervisors.
In addition, Bill is the chair of his church congregation and is actively involved in his denomination’s Vitality program, which is focused on ways to assist congregations to be more healthy and missional. This year he has attended national and regional workshops sponsored by the denomination to train leaders in this program.
Professor of Educational Psychology Dr. Lou Foltz was an invited speaker to the annual Lilly International Conference on College and University Teaching for a third year in a row. This year’s presentation: “Cognitive Choreography: Inviting Students to the Dance”. The workshop instructed professors in the application of recent brain research to the construction of emotionally safe and intellectually curious course lessons. A snapshot of the material was given to Warner Pacific College faculty in a noon workshop sponsored by the W.P.C. Social Science Department. As a result of Lilly participation, Dr. Foltz was recruited to assist in the screening of proposals submitted by professors from institutions in the U.S. and abroad for inclusion in a variety of Lilly-sponsored conferences.
Dr. Foltz presented two “break-out” workshops at the 2011 annual meeting of the Western Area Regional Ministerium of the Church of God: “The Development of Spirituality” and “Finishing Well”. He was honored to deliver an exegetical sermon at Lynchwood Church of God on the topic of the road to Emmaus. Last fall semester activities which are yet to be reported include facilitating Sunday School series for two Church of God congregations and a WPC/ADP faculty in-service addressing the manifestation of curiosity
He is in his third year of mentoring students from Ukraine and Kazakhstan who are studying “servant leadership” through the Co-Serve International foundation started by President Emeritus Marshall Christensen. The teaching is done electronically and (fortunately, says Dr. Foltz) in English.
In the fall Robin Gordon, Assistant Professor of Speech and Drama, directed Sophocles’ Antigone in a version by Bertolt Brecht. Cross-curricular dialogue about the play and performance was established when the Humanities faculty adopted Antigone as a topic for discussion or activity in their courses. Contemplations on war in the Fall semester were balanced by questions of love in this semester’s production of John Cariani’s Almost, Maine. Students presented scenes from the play at an alumni event, in Chapel, and in classes. Members of the production company spoke with alumni, board members and friends of Warner at a dinner and theatre event last month.
In addition to directing and producing plays and teaching Speech and Drama courses, Robin continues to lead renovation projects to improve the drama facilities on campus. For instance, the McGuire Theatre now has a working control booth and a multi-purpose green room with dressing area and makeup stations. Storage spaces will receive attention this spring and summer.
In an effort to engage our minds in the city, Humanities faculty and Drama students recently attended a production of Jordan Harrison’s futura at Portland Center Stage and discussed the play’s significance and relevance in our society and community. Faculty and Drama students also attended a lecture by internationally acclaimed theatre director Anne Bogart.
Religion Professor Dr. John Johnson led two sessions at the 2011 annual meeting of the Western Area Regional Ministerium of the Church of God: “Preaching from the Lectionary” and the “Lost Art of Disciplemaking.” Dr. Johnson was the kick-off speaker for the 2011-12 Faith Promise Convention at the Vancouver First Church of God. He has also recently preached at the Mt. Scott Church of God, his home church. Dr. Johnson has been co-teaching an adult Sunday school class at Mt. Scott for a number of years. This class uses the lectionary as the basis of their study.
In May 2011 Dr. Johnson will be leading a group of four students to Myanmar with Missions@WP to participate in the leadership training conference for Burmese pastors and lay leaders. In June Dr. Johnson’s chapter, “The Power of Story” will appear in a new Warner Press book entitled Discipleship that Transforms: A Wesleyan Approach to Christian Education.
As a presenter for the Warner Pacific Faith and Scholarship Forum on January 25, 2011, Assistant Professor Lori Shea Kuechler discussed her 2008 presentation given to the Stanford University Graduate Liberal Studies Joint Symposium titled “The Very Grace of Otherness: Oral History and the Relevance of the Phenomenological Hermeneutics of Paul Ricoeur”. Drawn from her master’s thesis titled, “The Mercy of the Soil: The Relevance of Phenomenological Hermeneutics to Oral History”, Lori generated conversations about both the limitations as well as potentialities of meaning for the oral recording of first-person historical experiences. Within the context of the Warner Pacific community, Lori suggested that strategically gathering oral historical narratives from underrepresented individuals will only improve and enhance the urban historic record of our locale, regardless of the risk of factual variations or inaccuracies. Lori is an Assistant Professor in the Adult Degree Program.
With her husband, Adjunct Professor Wayne Kuechler, Lori co-created and co-taught the new WPC Urban Studies course: SS/URB 403 Grant Writing & Fundraising for Faith-Based Programs. The focus of this course is to consider the nature and role of grant writing and fundraising within the context of urban faith-based programs, non-profit organizations and churches. Special consideration is given to strategic planning, budget preparedness, grant prospects, the letter of inquiry, and grant proposal artisanship. Students write one actual grant and conduct one mission-driven presentation on/for a faith-based program or non-profit organization within the urban Portland area.
Associate Professor Phyllis Michael will be returning to The People’s Republic of China in May, along with her husband Rand Michael, George Fox University Graduate Department of Counseling, to continue teaching in their Marriage and Family Training Program. The second cohort of students is completing their third year of training. The Michaels will also travel to Beirut, Lebanon, Aug. 1-15 to begin a 3-year lay counseling program among the churches there. Prof. Phyllis Michael is active in writing curriculum for both programs. The Michaels have a non-profit ministry organization, TELOS international, inc., through which they offer mental health services to underserved places in the world.
Dr. Thomas Miller, Professor of Music directed the Warner Pacific Alumni Choir concert held during Homecoming , February, 2010 and he adjudicated at the following OMEA/ACDA qualifying (for State contest) 2011 Choir Festivals during Spring semester: the OMEA District II Junior High/Middle Choral Festival in Portland, the “Mt Tabor” High School Choral Festival (Sponsored and hosted by Warner Pacific College) and The OMEA District II Solo and Ensemble Contest, held at Parkrose High School, Portland in February, the OMEA/ ACDA District IX Choral Festival at Albany in March, and he adjudicated at the Sky-Em League Choral Festival in April.
Dr. Miller prepared and conducted the 60 voice Massed Choir for the Michael W. Smith concerts in Portland and Seattle during December, 2010 and was invited to guest conduct the Massed Choir for the Hungarian Liberation Anniversary Celebration Music Festival to be held in Budapest in 2012 and to guest conduct at Carnegie Hall during the Spring of 2012 as well.
Humanities Professor Dr. Connie Phillips continues her work with the student newsmagazine Knight Times. The 12 page publication is produced twice each semester, and Vol. 2, Issue 4 will be out in late April. This semester’s Knight Times has featured student writing developed in two of Dr. Phillips’ classes--Creative Writing: Nonfiction, and Journalism Principles and Techniques. Dr. Phillips has designed a sequence of classes to help sustain the publication: Journalism Principles and Techniques, Copy Editing and Publication Design, and Newsmagazine Production.
Professor of Music Dr. Dennis Plies played two concerts the past four months on marimba in Tabor Duo with pianist, Ruth Yerden, at CherryWood Village, Portland. He also participated in the Faith and Scholarship Forum focused on teaching. His forth telling had to do with guiding students’ behavior and attention in the classroom by setting out expectations clearly for the sake of their learning. Dr. Plies continues formulating the strategy for his book concerning Faith, Improvisation and Dialogue. In it will be a trilogy of trilogies. Beginning will be narrative regarding one’s personal journey in each of those aspects. Following will be “what it is and what it is not” concerning each word of the book’s title. Thirdly will be a discussion of confluence and paradox inherent in each term. Meant as a workbook, the quest for its writing and delivery is worth the arduous process, a discovery unto itself.
Professor of English Dr. Pamela Plimpton chaired the session, “The Wit and Wisdom of Eighteenth-Century Thought” at the 42nd annual meeting of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies, March 18, 2011 in Vancouver, B.C.
Dr. Plimpton also participated in the Faith and Scholarship Forum held April 12 at Warner Pacific College. The forum focused on pedagogical techniques. Dr. Plimpton’s presentation was titled Getting Them Thinking: How do we get students to think about what we want them to be thinking about? The premises Dr. Plimpton works from are: Students must be ready to think. They must be curious about the topic. They must be able to see how their lives and/or the lives of those they care about are affected by the topic. Dr. Plimpton offered techniques she uses that invite students to think.
Dr. Plimpton taught two new courses Spring semester, 2011. Both courses resulted from the reworking of the English major curriculum.
EN/COMM 450 Ethical Theory for Reading and Writing serves seniors in both the English and Communications majors. In the course students read literary criticism by philosophers and critics from Plato to the present. The emphasis is on exploring the tension between the ethical obligations of the poet/writer to himself, to his craft and to his audience. In this respect, the students also read specifically about the ethics professionals in media professions should observe, and practice making ethical decisions through discussion of case studies.
EN 495 Senior Research takes students through the research steps they need to know to access and assess critical studies of a novel of their choice. Students then write a short, 6 – 7-page critical analysis on the novel they have researched and submit a polished essay to the journal, The Explicator for publication. Even if the student’s essay is not accepted for publication, the student has gone through the process of researching, writing, editing, and submitting an article to a peer-reviewed journal.
Gale Roid, Ph.D., Professor and Director of Institutional Research and Assessment, teamed with research colleague Dr. Mark Pomplun to update a chapter, Interpretive Strategies for the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, 5th Edition to appear in the new 3rd edition of Contemporary intellectual assessment (3nd Ed.), by Dawn Flanagan and Patty Harrison, New York: Guilford.
He is currently co-author of a nonverbal IQ test used in special education, the Leiter International Performance Scale (published by Stoelting Company of Chicago), for which he is helping to revise and re-standardize the 3rd Edition in a national data collection underway during 2011. Dr. Roid and his wife are active in their church in Vancouver, Washington.
In March of 2011, Dr. Juanita Sinclair was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor of Education, and also completed law school. “The rest of the year is a blur,” she said.
As elected chairman of the Portland Section of the American Chemical Society, Dr. David Terrell, Professor of Physical Science, was invited to participate in a national Leadership Institute on January 21-23 in Ft. Worth, TX supported by the National Science Foundation. The American Chemical Society, with over 161 thousand members, is one of the largest professional organizations in the world, and the Portland section with over 700 members is an important organization promoting awareness of the contributions of chemistry to society and the facilitation of technical communications between chemical scientists and engineers.
Assistant Professor Christine Tokonitz has been teaching in the Adult Degree Program with lower division course work in the associates program as well as upper division work in the Healthcare administration and Business Administration programs. In addition to that, he has actively been researching learning teams, focusing on what are termed as collaborate work groups in academia. With the knowledge gained, her hope is to make some changes to our learning team process in order to build higher student and faculty satisfaction. Finally, she has published two articles in the national CAAHE magazine: one on the use of Facebook in Higher Education and the other (which should come out this next month) on the concept and impact of ‘Fight or Flight’ in academia.