Ruel Mannette, a specialist in Christian philosophy as well as Christianity and European thought, has joined the Southwestern College faculty as a Visiting Scholar of the Institute for Discipleship (IFD).

Each academic year IFD provides a $20,000 stipend and housing to a near-completion Ph.D. candidate in religion. Mannette will spend the next two years on campus as he completes his Ph.D. in comparative philosophy from the University of Hawai'i at Manoa. His on-campus duties will include teaching undergraduate courses, participating with the faculty in the Division of Social Sciences, and engaging in an aspect of on-campus ministry.

"We are pleased to welcome Ruel to the Institute for Discipleship, Southwestern College, and Winfield," says Dr. Cheryl Rude, executive director of the Institute for Discipleship. "The philosophy and religion faculty are eager to work with him and incorporate his voice in the classroom."

Mannette's degrees include a bachelor's degree with a double major in philosophy and religious studies from Stetson University, and two master's degrees from KU Leuven in Belgium, the highest-ranked and oldest university in Belgium.

"For the past few years, I became the go-to person who teaches the philosophy of religion classes for the University of Hawai'i," Manette says. "I have found that for today's world the philosophy of religion is an extremely important topic. I saw the positive impact it made on my students, and I am very much looking forward to continuing as a scholar of religion at Southwestern."

Mannette has produced significant research on Eastern religions, taking research trips to Taiwan, South Korea, Nepal, Japan, and Hong Kong, and studying one semester at the well-regarded Chinese University of Hong Kong. He points to cross-cultural dialogue as an important basis for strengthening faith.

"Ignorance, I find, tends to make one's understanding brittle while it has been my experience that dialogue leads to depth. For me, cultivating interfaith relationships of respect and understanding is extremely valuable," he adds.

A graduate of Goddard High School, Mannette looks forward to connecting with the Winfield community as he returns to Kansas.

The Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship is based at Southwestern College, a United Methodist-affiliated college in Winfield, Kan.  It manages and supports a variety of educational programs — both online and in person — that increase discipleship and Christian leadership skills.