Professor Smit (Religion) plans extensive visits to Reformed academic communities in Kenya, Indonesia, Korea, and Japan in 2021 and 2022. She hopes to participate in several seminars and conferences, including the Seminar on Theology and the Arts with Jeremy Begbie, Global Jonathan Edwards Conference, Leuven, Belgium, ECO National Gathering, and others. She will experience, listen, and discover new ways of thinking about beauty within the Reformed tradition, ways that one cannot see from one’s own, narrow perspective. For more resources, please visit her website at http://laurasmit.com/

Professor Vos-Camy (French) traveled to Cȏte d’Ivoire in May 2020 and was hosted by the Department of Anthropology and Sociology at the Alassane Ouattara University of Bouak. She participated in the conference, “Migrating by Sea or Desert: Forms of Recourse to Religion in the Migratory Dynamics in Africa,” and collaborated with Dr. Bony Guiblehon, principal organizer of the conference and guest of the Nagel lnstitute’s Prophet’s Chamber, spring 2019.

Professor Lee’s (Religion) Nagel Fellowship allowed him to make the final push toward the last three tasks to complete The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Korea, a premier reference work on Korean biblical interpretation.

Professor Vander Woude’s (Speech Pathology & Audiology) grant aided the next phase of an ongoing study of the effects of religious and cultural change on the welfare of Chinese children with disabilities and their families by involving Chinese Christian churches in parent-support networks. Through needs assessment and data collection, educational materials for Chinese Sunday School teachers and families were prepared utilizing Calvin students; two of whom were fluent in Mandarin.

Professor TenHuisen (Spanish) undertook the initial phase of this long-term project to examine early modern Augustinian missions and evangelization with a survey and assessment of the archives and libraries of four colonial convents in Arequipa, Peru, as well as the Archiepiscopal Archives of Arequipa and Cuzco during summer 2018. The research was used to complete an annotated bibliography and an inventory of archival material available for the long-term study.

Having worked in China since 2013 with over thirty Calvin students, Professor Vander Woude (Speech Pathology & Audiology) continued in May 2017 to design and implement needs assessments for four cities in the Henan province, an area of China that contains one of the largest networks of Christian churches. The aim of the needs assessment was to study how the church can be source of support and connection for persons with disabilities.

Professors den Dulk (Political Science) and Williams (Sociology), leveraging Calvin’s study-abroad programs as field sites, guided students in these programs into some photographic research and audio recorded reflections on how their experience of faith and citizenship compared to what they saw Christians doing in these international settings.

Professors den Dulk (Political Science) and Williams (Sociology), leveraging Calvin’s study-abroad programs as field sites, guided students in these programs into some photographic research and audio recorded reflections on how their experience of faith and citizenship compared to what they saw Christians doing in these international settings.

Professor Kuperus (International Development) conducted a research on her topic while in Ghana directing Calvin’s semester abroad program there, and then traveled to South Africa for more research. She worked with two student research assistants to investigate how the Christian Councils of Ghana and South Africa have responded to religious and political challenges.

Professor Sandberg conducted interviews with religious leaders about human trafficking in Ghana, and wrote a documentary drama on the topic that her students (in Ghana and Grand Rapids) had performed.

During Interim 2016, Professors Buursma and Van Reeuwyk engaged thirty-five Calvin students with Indonesian community and arts leaders from diverse traditions in an arts-based dialogue and inquiry. The students then created new works of art which were exhibited in the Center Art Gallery at Calvin.

During Interim 2016, Professors Buursma and Van Reeuwyk engaged thirty-five Calvin students with Indonesian community and arts leaders from diverse traditions in an arts-based dialogue and inquiry. The students then created new works of art which were exhibited in the Center Art Gallery at Calvin.

During Interim 2014, Professor Hoekema led Calvin students as they conducted interviews with Christian community leaders in northern Uganda about the social and political roles of the churches in their region’s recent time of troubles.

This project was created for Calvin students to identify and describe culturally sustaining practices and beliefs among Christian educators in several schools in Zambia. Students observed and engaged in education in Zambia in order to recognize the value of culturally relevant pedagogy.

This project was created for Calvin students to identify and describe culturally sustaining practices and beliefs among Christian educators in several schools in Zambia. Students observed and engaged in education in Zambia in order to recognize the value of culturally relevant pedagogy.

Tracy Kuperus (International Development Studies), along with colleague Amy Patterson (Political Science, University of the South), conducted fieldwork during the summer of 2013 with two grassroots Christian organizations – JL Zwane Centre in South Africa and Jubilee Centre in Zambia. Their fieldwork included interviews and analysis of organizational documents of the JL Zwane Centre and the Jubliee Centre, both of whom are engaged in citizen mobilization.

Tracy Kuperus (International Development Studies), along with colleague Amy Patterson (Political Science, University of the South), conducted fieldwork during the summer of 2013 with two grassroots Christian organizations – JL Zwane Centre in South Africa and Jubilee Centre in Zambia. Their fieldwork included interviews and analysis of organizational documents of the JL Zwane Centre and the Jubliee Centre, both of whom are engaged in citizen mobilization.

Pearl Shangkuan (Music), along with members of the Calvin Women’s Chorale, addressed the role of music in the struggle for freedom in South Africa and its acknowledged emerging role in the reconciliation. During Spring and May 2012 interim experiences, the choir visited high schools and universities, interacting with the South African students by sharing music with them and their leaders, and visiting key sites of the freedom movement.

Won Lee (Religion) received funds to support the writing of a major article on “Korean” biblical interpretation for The Oxford Encyclopedia of Biblical Interpretation. Professor Lee traveled to Seoul Korea for library research and to interview at least five Korean professors on the history of Korean biblical interpretation.

Mark Fackler (CAS) and Levi Obonyo (Daystar University) conducted interviews with Kenyan editorial cartoonists, their editors, and others associated with media influence and political change to examine the role of visual media, specifically editorial cartoons, in Nairobi media from the early years of independence (1963), the Daniel Moi years (1976-2002), and the present era of a Second Constitution and a more open political and religious climate.

Mark Fackler (CAS) and Levi Obonyo (Daystar University) conducted interviews with Kenyan editorial cartoonists, their editors, and others associated with media influence and political change to examine the role of visual media, specifically editorial cartoons, in Nairobi media from the early years of independence (1963), the Daniel Moi years (1976-2002), and the present era of a Second Constitution and a more open political and religious climate.

Joel Navarro (Music) worked with Melba Maggay (Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture), to choose and translate into English the most widely-sung hymns from ISACC’s pre-existing hymn collections, and enlist Philippine composers and congregations to submit hymn and anthems for consideration into “Songs from a Distant Shore: The Samba Hymn Collection,” a worship resource for emerging multi-ethnic and multicultural Christian congregations across North America.

Joel Navarro (Music) worked with Melba Maggay (Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture), to choose and translate into English the most widely-sung hymns from ISACC’s pre-existing hymn collections, and enlist Philippine composers and congregations to submit hymn and anthems for consideration into “Songs from a Distant Shore: The Samba Hymn Collection,” a worship resource for emerging multi-ethnic and multicultural Christian congregations across North America.

Susan Felch (English) collaborated with Dr. Song Min (Beihang University) and Xing Ling (Yunnan University) aiming to convert a course based on multiple English translations of eleven Bible stories into a textbook for use in upper-level secondary and university classrooms.

David Dornbos (Biology), and Leonard De Rooy (Engineering) collaborated on a project, which involved Calvin students and Cambodian Christian community development leaders to try out some new rice production methods and to develop an agricultural training center.

David Dornbos (Biology), and Leonard De Rooy (Engineering) collaborated on a project, which involved Calvin students and Cambodian Christian community development leaders to try out some new rice production methods and to develop an agricultural training center.

Mark Fackler (CAS Dept.) collaborated with Levi Obonyo (Daystar University) on the research, which concentrated on the ways in which the journalists of East Africa participate in the political process, and the extent to which their work can not only foster transparency and accountability in government, but actually promote civil restraint and conflict resolution.

Amy Patterson (Political Science Dept.), conducted an additional set of consultations with civic, healthcare and religious leaders in southern Africa to complete work on her book, The Church, Politics, and AIDS in Africa.

Ruth Groenhout (Philosophy Dept.), collaborated with Yu Zhenhua of the East China Normal University to plan a conference, “Cultures of Knowledge, East and West.” Funding for her project has been provided by “Science, Philosophy and Belief,” a joint initiative of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the Nagel Institute, and a network of scholars across China, and supported with a grant from the Templeton Foundation.

Mariano Avila (Calvin Seminary) conducted a research concentrated on practices and theologies that inform Pentecostal approaches to worship and their relation to native religion and magic in Peru, Brazil, and Mexico. Dr. Avila was also interested to see the extent to which these theologies and practices have some origins or effects in North America.

Diane Slager (Nursing, Calvin) conducted a research on the role of faith communities in HIV prevention in West Africa, particularly among African Instituted Church (AIC) leaders. This study aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes regarding HIV among pastors from mainline churches and AICs and evaluate the impact of HIV information programs they offer. She had been working with the Christian Education Foundation of Liberia, which offers training to 600 pastors annually from more than 200 denominations. Prof. Slager helped the Foundation develop improved training materials for combating HIV/AIDS in Liberia.