APM – Association of Professors of Mission
Meeting Announcement and Call for Papers
2014 Annual Meeting
June 19–20, University of Northwestern, St. Paul, Minnesota
Transforming Teaching for Mission: Educational Theory and Practice
CALL FOR PAPERS
Deadline: February 15, 2014
The Association of Professors of Mission extends an open call for paper presentation proposals for its annual meeting. Anyone interested in presenting at APM should submit a proposal title with a 150-200 word abstract and a 30 word bio to Ben Hartley at bhartley [at] eastern [dot] edu. Please see paper submission guidelines and dates below.
INTRODUCING THE 2014 CONFERENCE THEME
After the APM’s establishment in 1952, the first theme addressed at the 1954 gathering of the Association of Professors of Mission was described simply as “syllabus sharing” and involved an informal discussion of teaching issues as missiologists. In the sixty years since that first gathering there have been a number of annual meetings which have had a similarly broadly-encompassing topic for consideration.
The 2014 Annual Meeting of the APM will again explore this topic with a particular focus on how the teaching of missiology engages with educational theorists and teaching methods which include but also extend beyond missiology’s cognate fields of history, biblical studies, anthropology, and theology.
The teaching of missiology has benefited from a number of different movements and individuals from related fields which have constructed and critiqued educational theory. The “scholarship of teaching and learning” has grown considerably in the past two decades and now includes its own professional society (The International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning) and a number of academic journals. The Society for Intercultural Training, Education, and Research (SIETAR) shares similar goals to the APM, and some missiologists contribute to this professional society. The method of “shared inquiry” in the discussion of classic texts made popular by the Great Books Foundation also merits further investigation as missiologists discern together which texts are most generative for the teaching of key themes in mission. Among individual contributors to educational theory, Ivan Illich (1926-2002) stands out as perhaps the most controversial critic of missionary practice, but his writings on the philosophy of education most famously articulated in Deschooling Society (1971) continue to be influential. Other leaders in adult education such as Paulo Freire, Parker Palmer, Susan Daloz Parks, and Ted Ward have likewise made important contributions in educational theory and practice and have, in different ways, transformed the teaching of mission.
Our conference on June 19-20 at The University of Northwestern in St. Paul, Minnesota will explore the connections between the above areas of inquiry as well as the history and current practice of mission education in colleges and universities, seminaries, churches, and other venues. All participants in this year’s conference are invited to bring (or have electronic access to) at least one syllabus for informal “roundtable” sharing of teaching practices organized around particular types of classes (mission theology, online mission education, intro to mission, evangelism, history of world Christianity, anthropology for mission, etc.)
CALL FOR CONFERENCE PRESENTATION PROPOSALS
The Association of Professors of Mission extends an open call for paper presentation proposals for its annual meeting at the University of Northwestern on June 19-20 2014 in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Deadline: February 15, 2014
Anyone interested in presenting at APM should submit a proposal title with a 150-200 word abstract and a 30 word bio to Ben Hartley at bhartley [at] eastern [dot] edu by February 15, 2014. Papers accepted for the conference may be made available (with permission) to the members on-line as The Proceedings of the Association of Professors of Mission, 2014.
While papers may focus on any topic of missiological relevance, preference will be given to those that focus on the conference theme “Transforming Teaching for Mission: Educational Theory and Practice.” Presentations will be loosely grouped around the following sub-themes; these sub-themes, however, are by no means an exhaustive list of the possible topics which may pertain to our theme. In keeping with the conference theme presenters are encouraged to employ creative and interactive teaching methods in the presentation of their topics.
- Educational Theory for Mission Education. What educational theories, practices, or movements in related fields are most helpful as interlocutors in mission education? What makes such theories especially suited to (or problematic for) the work of mission education? What quantitative or qualitative research methods are most useful for evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of various instructional innovations in mission education?
- Theological and Historical Perspectives on Mission Education. What theological metaphors or models for excellent teaching and learning are most generative for thinking about educational theory and practice in the field of missiology? What historical, biblical, or theological factors seem to be contributing to the changes one observes in mission education in our postmodern and postcolonial context? How have developments in other academic disciplines (such as the growing popularity of world history, anthropology of Christianity, or postcolonial studies) influenced how we teach mission?
- Curricular and Instructional Innovations for Mission Education. What changes in one’s own teaching or in an institution’s curriculum have been most effective for promoting excellence in teaching and learning in mission studies? Why have these changes been effective? What case studies or other instructional methods best promote teaching and learning? How have wider curricular changes such as the continued growth in online education affected (negatively or positively) the teaching of mission in a particular institution?
- Anthropological Considerations for Mission Education. How do different cultural contexts and related constructs (e.g. conceptions of the self, face, power-distance, etc.) affect teaching and learning for mission? What strategies are most effective in working with such differences in any given teaching context or in a multicultural classroom? How might the APM as a professional society better serve mission educators outside of North America?
- Other subjects. Topics of particular interest to APM contributors but not directly related to the conference theme may still be submitted and will be considered by the conference organizers.
PANEL PROPOSALS
The APM encourages persons to submit self-organized thematic panel proposals on any subject to bring colleagues together to discuss current research and to advance a particular area of interest. Interested panel convener(s) should contact Ben Hartley at bhartley [at] eastern [dot] edu as soon as possible and no later than February 15, 2014 with a brief description of the proposed panel. APM will provide additional information about panel schedules and assist with meeting arrangements and online panel promotion.
SUBMISSION AND PRESENTATION REQUIREMENTS
Paper abstract and panel proposal deadline: February 15, 2014
Notification of accepted papers and panel proposals: February 28, 2014
Submission of completed papers and confirmation of meeting attendance: June 2, 2014
For the purposes of online publication of presentations, submitted papers may be up to 5,000 words in length including notes and references (about 20 double-spaced pages) and should conform to the style guide of the journal Missiology: An International Review, available at: http://asmweb.org/assets/pdf/Style-Guide-2011.pdf. The full text of all papers approved for the conference will be made available to the members of APM online as The Proceedings of the Association of Professors of Mission, 2014.
Presentations at the meeting will be limited to 15 to 20 minutes (about 5-7 pages of text if read) plus additional time for discussion depending on the number of presentations accepted.
Please direct all submissions and questions to Ben Hartley at bhartley [at] eastern [dot] edu.