Visiting Scholars

Richard and Julia Wilke Institute for Discipleship
Visiting Scholar Program

Purpose:

• Provide a campus context for a new PhD in Religion to experience a college community which actively nurtures the call of its students exploring church vocation.
• Provide the visiting scholar with a practical experience in which they gain exposure to the holistic nature of religious education, immersed in a United Methodist College which is truly developing leaders for the Church.
• Provide the visiting scholar a year of experience with a model which supports students’ spiritual, intellectual, and emotional preparedness for ministry. Our goal is for the visiting scholar to bring religious vitality to the College or University where they later serve.
• Provide a time and place to finish their dissertation or prepare their dissertation for publication.
• Provide a network for visiting scholars to collaborate over the years.

Program Description:

Each school year, a new or near completion PhD in an area of religion is selected and is provided with a $20,000 fellowship and housing.

During the school year, the visiting scholar teaches in both the undergraduate and the online MASM graduate program, participates in campus ministry, assists with the Discipleship program and preaches/teaches with the Worship Outreach groups.

Applications are taken by February 10 of each year. Selection is made by March 1. For more information, contact Steve Wilke.

Visiting Scholar Brochure 

History:

	Abigail Woolley Cutter Dr. Abigail Cutter is the current Institute for Discipleship Visiting Scholar. Her PhD in Christian Ethics is from Southern Methodist University, and her current research interests include political theology, Judaism and Christianity, and the Sabbath.
	Wendy Mohler-Seib Wendy Mohler-Seib was the 2019-2020 visiting scholar. Wendy Mohler-Seib was the 2019-2021 visiting scholar. Mohler-Seib is now the Assistant Professor of Theology at Friends University in Wichita Kansas. Her doctoral work is in practical theology through Nazarene Theological College at the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. Her dissertation, titled “Hearing and Obeying God: Mentoring Teenagers in Practicing the Presence of God,” explores spiritual disciplines and the faith formation of adolescents.​
	Michael Beardslee Michael Beardslee was the 2018-2019 Institute for Discipleship visiting scholar. He is completing his PhD in Intercultural Studies from Fuller Seminary.
	Kirsten Guidero Kirsten Guidero was the 2015-2017 visiting scholar. She is now Associate Professor of Humanities and Theology at Indiana Wesleyan University's John Wesley Honors College in Marion, IN. Her research in theological anthropology, ecumenism, and christology informs contemporary debates with historical resources from across the Christian traditions. She is currently working on her first monograph, which applies metaphor theory to debates over deification terminology.
	Matthew Sigler Matthew Sigler served as the 2013-2015 Institute for Discipleship visiting scholar. He completed his PhD in Liturgical Studies from Boston University in December of 2014. Matthew is now teaching at Seattle Pacific University and Seminary as Assistant Professor of Wesleyan Theology/United Methodist Liaison.
	Kevin Minister For the 2012-2013 school year, Kevin Minister was our visiting scholar. He has a PhD in religion from SMU. Kevin is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA where he teaches courses in World Religions, Religion and Ecology, and Theology. In 2014, he published 6 entires in the Abingdon Theological Companion to the Lectionary: Preaching Year B. Kevin also serves on the steering committee of the Theology and Religious Reflection Section of the American Academy of Religion.
	Meredith Minister For the 2011-2012 school year our visiting scholar was Meredith Minister from SMU. Meredith is an Assistant Professor of Religion at Shenandoah University, USA where she teaches courses intersecting religion and culture. Her first book, Trinitarian Theology and Power Relations: God Embodied, was released in 2014. Her other publications include articles in The Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion and Disability Studies Quarterly.
	Stephen and Sarah Sours For the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 school years, Stephen and Sarah Sours from Duke shared the position. Stephen and Sarah Sours serve as Assistant Professors of Religion at Huntington College in Montgomery Alabama.
	We did not have a visiting scholar for the 2008-2009 school year.
	Matt Thompson Matt Thompson was our visiting scholar for the 2007-2008 school year. He is now on the humanities faculty of Trinity School at River Ridge in Eagan, MN.
	Kevin Carnahan The first visiting scholar was Kevin Carnahan who was with us for the 2006-2007 school year. He is now the Assistant Professor of Religion at Central Methodist University.