“Responses to adolescence”
A panel of youth spirituality experts discussing the religious education needs of adolescents and responsible ways of meeting those needs
Annie Lockhart-Gilroy
Annie A. Lockhart-Gilroy is a womanist Christian educator and practical theologian that focuses on liberative educational practices, adolescent spirituality, and youth culture. She is Associate Professor of Christian Education and Practical Theology at Phillips Theological Seminary in Tulsa, OK. Annie is an ordained UMC deacon in full connection with the Northern Illinois conference, author of Nurturing the Sanctified Imagination of Urban Youth. and co-editor of From Lament to Advocacy: Black Religious Education and Public Theology.
Carmichael Crutchfield
Carmichael D. Crutchfield is Chair of Church and Ministry Professor of Christian Education, Spiritual Formation and Youth Ministry at Memphis Theological Seminary (MTS) General Secretary of Department of Christian Education and Formation for the Christian Methodist Episcopal (CME) Church. Also, he is pastor of Mother Liberty CME Church in Jackson, TN.
He holds the B.S. Degree in Business Administration (Accounting) from the University of Tennessee Martin and the Master of Science Degree in Operations Management from the University of Arkansas Fayetteville. He earned his Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry from MTS and a Ph.D. in Christian Education and Congregational Studies from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary (GETS). Crutchfield is an ordained elder in the CME Church and has served in church ministry for over 30 years in the denomination.
Elsa Lau
Dr. Lau has served as a secondary school teacher, on the subject panel of Ethics and Religion, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, and EDD co-supervisor at the Education University of Hong Kong, part-time Assistant Professor and MA theses supervisor, member of the Curriculum Development Institute of Hong Kong Education Bureau, and the Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. Dr. Lau received the Certificate of Appreciation of School-based Curriculum Project Scheme of Education Department, HKSAR (2000), the Inaugural Caring Teaching Award of Faculty of Education and Human Development (2021), Award for Excellent FE Supervision (2021-22 Semester I) at the Education University of Hong Kong. Her courses include Structure and process of Schooling, Values education, Teachers’ ethics, Positive education, mindfulness education, General studies and Liberal studies, etc.
Her research interests include transnational meditation in Chinese communities, religious education, spiritual health, values education, mindfulness education, moral and ethics education, and inclusive education, etc. Dr. Lau has started teaching and research projects on mindfulness, mind-body-spirit health and positive education for undergraduates, pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers since 2007. She publishes academic papers in international journals and academic publishers. She also reviews academic papers for numerous academic journals, including Mindfulness, Religions, International Journal of Children’s Spirituality, etc.
Mubina Kirmani
Dr. Mubina Hassanali Kirmani is professor of education and an award winning author. She brings multicultural perspectives with her unique background being born in Kenya, East Africa with an ancestry from India. She studied at the University of Nairobi and at Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. She was consultant with the World Bank, Washington D.C. in the Women and Development department where she worked to address issues on gender inequities in education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since she joined academia in 1994, she has worked and written vastly to promote multicultural education, and is also author and co-author of several publications and books, including two recently published children’s books, Wandering Wind and Bundle of Secrets: Savita Returns Home that won the Children’s Africana Book Award for Best Children’s Book 2014. Her children’s books are beginning to be used as literacy examples for National Core Curriculum Standards. Her book, Oral Literature of Asians in East Africa, is a recommended text for elementary and secondary schools in Kenya. She recently retired from Towson University, Maryland where she trained pre-service and in-service teachers and students across all disciplines to prepare them for diverse professional settings. She has been Chair of the College of Education Diversity Committee and co-directed the University-wide Multicultural Conference. She is often invited to conferences in the United States and internationally to present on the subject of teaching and learning in diverse societies. She was awarded 2015 President’s Diversity Award.
Moderated by Sarah Farmer
For the most recent updates, please refer to the REA schedule on the website