Keynote Speakers

Daniel M. Bell, Jr.

Daniel M. Bell, Jr. has a PhD from Duke University and is an ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church. He currently teaches theology and ethics at Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary in Columbia, South Carolina where his work focuses on the social-political-economic form that Christian convictions take in the world. His publications and presentations range across a spectrum of topics and issues from theological economics, justice, forgiveness, and liberation, war and peace, to marriage and sexuality. He is the author of Liberation Theology After the End of History: The Refusal to Cease Suffering which addresses the oppressive logic of capitalism and seeks out Christian modes of revolutionary practice from within the Church. Dan also leads the annual Honduras Journey, working with an impoverished Honduran village in conjunction with Proyecto Heifer Internacional, an internationally renowned organization committed to grassroots development.

He will be giving his lecture, "Practicing a Community of Friendship in a Competitive World," on Saturday April 8th.

Click here to read Daniel Bell's article, "What is Wrong with Capitalism? The Problem with the Problem with Capitalism," in the Other Journal.

D. Stephen Long

D. Stephen Long was baptized by the Anabaptists, educated by the evangelicals, ordained and pastorally formed by the Methodists and given his first position as professor of theology by the Jesuits. That makes him either ecumenically inclined or theologically confused. He is associate professor of systematic theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Before coming to Garrett-Evangelical in 1998, Steve was assistant professor of Theology at St. Joseph's University. Prior to that he was director of continuing education at Duke Divinity School and received the Ph.D. from Duke University. He is an ordained United Methodist Minister in the North Indiana Annual Conference and has served churches in the North Carolina Annual Conference and in Honduras in the Caribbean Council of the Methodist Churches. The more well known of his published works are Divine Economy: Theology and the Market, The Goodness of God: Theology, Church and Social Order, and John Wesley’s Moral Theology: The Quest for God and Goodness. His current research project is called Speaking of God: Theology, Truth and Language where he explores how we can truthfully speak of God today without assuming that every truthful utterance must be subordinated to claims for power. Although not quite a Luddite, Steve finds bicycling preferable to driving any day and regularly commutes by bicycle to work. He is married to Ricka Brady and they have three children, Lindsey, Rebecca and Jonathan.

His lecture, "A Vocation for all Vocations: How The Virtues of Justice and Love understood in the Christian Tradition must Transform Everything, from Work to Rest" is the forum's opening lecture on Friday April 7th.

Click here to read Stephen Long's article, "The Theology of Economics: Adam Smith as 'Church' Father," in the Other Journal.

Pamela D.H. Cochran

Pamela D. H. Cochran has a MA from Dartmouth College and an MA and PhD in religion from the University of Virginia, where she is on the faculty. Her courses focus on women in religion and evangelicalism and are offered through the departments of Religious Studies and Studies in Women and Gender. Dr. Cochran is also the Communications Director at the Center on Religion and Democracy, where she was formerly the Associate Director from 2000 to 2002. Her research interests are in the areas of religion and culture and the history of women in religion. She is the author of Evangelical Feminism: A History (New York University Press, 2005), which addresses the changing nature of religious authority in contemporary American religion and culture. She has a chapter entitled "Feminism, Sexuality, and Scripture" in Christian Theologies of Scripture just released (Spring 2006) by New York University Press. Her articles have appeared in The Hedgehog Review, The Other Journal, Sightings, and INSight. Professor Cochran is currently at work on a textbook on the history of feminist theology and a book on the inroads of feminism in conservative women's religious organizations. She has given papers and lectures on topics dealing with homosexuality in the church, the question of authority in American evangelicalism, contemporary biblical feminist hermeneutics, evangelical boundaries, and the development of womanist Christology.

Pam is giving her lecture, "Reconciling Differences: Forgiveness as seeking Hospitality and Communion with the Other," on Saturday April 8th.

Click here to read Pam Cochran's article, "The Family, Evangelicalism, and Civil Society," in the Other Journal.

Panelists

Roy Barsness holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology - Los Angeles, a Masters Degree (M.A.) in Theology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA, and a Postgraduate Certificate in Family Studies from the Los Angeles Family Institute. He has completed an intensive training program in Psychoanalytic Theory from the Northwest Alliance for Psychoanalytic Studies. He is currently the Vice-President of Academic Affairs at Mars Hill Graduate School and Professor of Counseling Psychology. Dr. Barsness taught at Fuller Theological Seminary, and was Director of Clinical Training at Seattle Pacific University prior to coming to Mars Hill. Dr. Barsness also holds a Clinical Associate Professor appointment at the University of Washington in the Department of Psychiatry and the Behavioral Sciences. His primary interest is in the intersection of psychoanalytic thought and theology. He is a member of the American Psychological Association; the Christian Association of Psychology, the Center for Object Relations and the NW Center for Psychoanalytic Study. He also enjoys forays into acting and recently played the part of Creon in Oedipus at Colonus.

Doug Downing has taught economics at Seattle Pacific University since 1983, after receiving a PhD and BS from Yale. He serves as undergraduate chair for the School of Business and Economics and coordinates the school's study abroad program in China.

Colin Greene hails from the Celtic fringe where he spent most of his formative years in N. Ireland. Before joining Mars Hill Graduate School as Scholar in Residence in 2005 he was for two years Dean of the School of Theology and Professor of Systematic Theology at Seattle Pacific University. From 1996-2003 he was Head of Theology and Public Policy for the British and Foreign Bible Society. His innovative work in the area of cultural engagement earned him a reputation as one of the leading thinkers about gospel and culture issues in Britain today. He has published two books, the most recent being Christology in Cultural Perspective. He has written numerous articles, book chapters and has been theological consultant to highly acclaimed media projects. He is an ordained Anglican minister who has served in five Anglican parishes, taught in two theological seminaries, one Christian University and worked for two Christian charities. He is a committed globe traveler, rugby enthusiast and ecumenist who in all his writing, teaching and speaking naturally gravitates to the intersection between theology and contemporary cultural concerns.

W. Tali Hairston was born and raised in the cultural and economically diverse community of the Rainier Valley in South Seattle. After graduating from the University of Washington with a B.A. in History, he left his corporate insurance career to become the youth outreach director of an urban outreach program called Exodus. With this
experience, he began training and advising other Seattle and Tacoma leaders in urban youth culture, organizational community development, race and ethnicity, justice and reconciliation, and grass roots leadership development. Hairston contributes to strategic organizational partnerships and community-based programming. Hairston also speaks,
advises, and trains churches, schools, development organizations, and universities. He has traveled throughout South Africa and Vietnam exploring the implications of reconciliation theology on ethnicity and culture, economics, leadership, and education. Hairston came to SPU in 2001 as assistant director of campus ministries advising urban engagement programs. Now as the Director of the John Perkins Center, he leads Seattle Pacific in a comprehensive initiative born out of a dream and a partnership between SPU President, Phillip Eaton and John Perkins, President of the John M. Perkins Foundation for Reconciliation and Development of Jackson Mississippi.

Don Holsinger is professor of history at Seattle Pacific University where he has taught since 1990. A graduate of Bethel College (Kansas), he taught English in Algerian secondary schools for two years. He received his Ph.D. from Northwestern University in African and Middle Eastern history after conducting dissertation research on a Muslim community of the Algerian Sahara. Holsinger taught at George Mason University for ten years prior to moving to the Pacific Northwest. He has published in the fields of African history, Middle Eastern history, world history, and history pedagogy. A frequent lecturer on topics related to Africa, the Middle East, and Islam, Holsinger has completed three terms as scholar-lecturer for the Inquiring Mind Program of the Washington Commission for the Humanities and has served as a Middle East affairs analyst for television and radio stations in Seattle. In the summer of 2000 he participated in a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank, observing the conflict in the divided city of Hebron, traditional burial site of Abraham.

Jeff Keuss brings a wealth of scholarly and ministerial experiences as Associate Professor of Christian Ministry and Theology at Seattle Pacific University. A distinctly interdisciplinary thinker and practitioner, he draws on over 15 years of ministry, research and teaching in the Church, Christian Higher Education, Healthcare and Youth Social Service Agencies in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. Dr. Keuss has been a member of the Faculty of Arts and Divinity at the University of Glasgow, Scotland where he served as a Senior Lecturer of Practical Theology and Director for the Centre for the Study of Literature, Theology and the Arts. During his tenure in Scotland, Dr. Keuss has additionally served as Associate Minister of the Glasgow Cathedral and on the National Mission Board for Youth and Urban Priority Areas for the Church of Scotland. He continues to teach as Visiting Professor of Theology at Fuller Theological Seminary, Bakke Graduate University, and Mars Hill Graduate School as well as the University of South Africa (UNISA) through Schloss Mittersill Study Center in Austria. Dr. Keuss’ published works include A Poetics of Jesus (2002); The Sacred and the Profane: Current Demands in Hermeneutics (2003); and the upcoming Radical Mission: The Mission of God and Cultural Theory at the Crossroads.

Kevin Neuhouser received his Ph.D. from Indiana University, after doing his undergraduate work at Taylor University. He is the author of Modern Brazil (1999) and numerous articles. Dr. Neuhouser has done extensive on-site research in an urban Brazilian squatter settlement (where he had lived for three years), paying special attention to gender roles, and he has also led four SPU student SPRINT teams (short term missions) to Brazil for which students received credit for a course in "Community Development." In 2002, he was selected to present the annual faculty Weter Lecture on Christian responsibility in a global world. Dr. Neuhouser was also a member of the SPU's Men's A-League Intramural Basketball Championship team in both 2000 and 2001.

Mícheál D. Roe, Ph.D. Dr. Roe is Professor of Psychology and Dean of the School of Psychology, Family and Community at Seattle Pacific University. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow in Psychology at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. Of particular relevance to this forum are his studies of inter-group forgiveness in settings of ethnic violence. More personally, Dr. Roe is a homemaker--husband of over thirty years and father of birth, adopted and foster children (now grown). He identifies with the Mennonite expression of the Christian faith.

Kimberly Segall is an Assistant Professor at Seattle Pacific University. She has recently published an article in Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, titled: "Stories and Song in Iraq and South Africa: From Individual Trauma to Collective Mourning Performances." And in Winter 2005, her article "Pursuing Ghosts: The Traumatic Sublime in JM Coetzee's Disgrace" was published in Research in African Literatures. She is currently revising a book project on traumatic performances in South Africa, titled Over My Dead Body: Acting out Trauma in "Post"-Apartheid South Africa, which is based on her PhD dissertation from Northwestern University.

Karen Ward has been a Lutheran Pastor for over fifteen years. She is the abbess of apostleschurch.org in Seattle's Fremont district, an emerging, church community of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia and Northwest Washington Synod (ELCA). She has studied at Trinity Lutheran Seminary in Ohio, Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and abroad in Germany. Karen has served on the North American Academy for Liturgy and the Advisory Board for the Revised Common Lectionary. Karen also serves as an adjunct faculty member at Fuller Seminary She and currently sits on the board of the Fremont Arts Council. For fun Karen enjoys travel, film, Belgian beer hunting, Macintosh computer geekery, hanging out with friends, and blogging about church and culture at www.submergence.org