Year: 2015

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Stories In Focus

Rodman in North Korea: Satire and Truth Through Opera

Satire is, at its core, a means by which truth is communicated. Humor and exaggeration are used to highlight the facts of a situation, and in doing so, help an audience to understand them. Satire draws attention to the facts by presenting them with absurdity – but what do you do when you are satirizing a situation for which the facts are already profoundly absurd?

Rodman in North Korea, composed by Houghton’s Sarah Hutchings, professor of composition and theory, was presented last Saturday evening in Wesley Chapel. Most of the musicians involved were Houghton students, however, two outside professionals were hired for the two leading roles. Carl DuPont, bass-baritone, portrayed the iconic and somewhat inebriated basketball player Dennis Rodman, and Ray Chenez, counter-tenor, took the stage as the Supreme Leader himself, Kim Jong-Un. The principle cast was filled out by Houghton junior Tim McGowan, playing the supporting role of Kim-Jong Un’s assistant, Kim Won-hong.

OperaRGB_LukeLauer“I would be lying if I said that it was not intimidating,” McGowan said, “However, it was a huge honor to sing with Chenez and DuPont. The two guest artists were very kind and professional. I was able to ask them so many things about the life of a professional opera singer which truly is what makes having guest artists so valuable to aspiring student-singers like myself.”

The reality of the North Korean situation has been brought to us through numerous media over the last several years, including news coverage, and more recently in the movie The Interview. But what does the less-familiar medium of opera bring to the table when it comes to describing a situation? “There is another plane by which we can access expression and emotion when using opera,” said Hutchings. “The combination of vocal athleticism and drama that we find in opera can be very compelling when paired with the right story…A common assumption is that opera will always be dark and serious. In Rodman in North Korea, we have elements of “dark” when referring to the suffering of the Korean people, however, we bring levity to the characters and in the music to tell one of the most unusual stories in modern times.”

The libretto, or the text of the opera, written by Mark Sonnenblick, and Hutching’s score worked together to convey the seriousness, as well as the absurdity, of the situation. The opera opens with a rallying chorus of the Korean people singing to the tune of a corny melody about how “all the world loves our Marshall,” something that we as the audience know to be a lie that has been fed to them by propaganda. Kim Jong Un cares more about whether his phone is plugged in correctly (to receive a phone call from Obama, no less) than the plight of his people. When the government runs out of chicken for a banquet, the chorus solidly cadences on the statement “more wine!” – as if that could really be a conclusive solution to the country’s perilous food shortage.

Rodman in North Korea is unique among other dramatizations of the situation in that it went to lengths to portray the humanity of everyone involved, including not only Rodman and the Korean people, but also Kim-Jong Un himself. “I was impressed with Dr. Hutchings’ treatment of the subjects,” said graduate student Ricky Gessler. “I thought we would just be making fun of Kin Jong Un and Dennis Rodman…but she actually approached them with sympathy and compassion. That is a sharp contrast with the movie The Interview, where Un is brutally killed (or so I’m told.)”

As Christians grappling with the correct response to the North Korean situation, then, I think we can take away from Rodman in North Korea two important things about what our response should look like. First, our response must acknowledge the facts – as absurd as they might be. Second, we must respond sympathetically, as the plight of any of God’s people is the plight of our own.

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Opinions

Media Representation for Minorities

“Media cannot reflect society, if society is not reflected in the media.” This slogan for Creative Access, an organization devoted to increasing diversity in the media, is a call for greater representation of minorities in popular media.

The goal of media is broad and varied – entertainment, advocacy, education, escapism – and within media the emphasis placed on each of these goals varies. Regardless, media in all forms represent some combination of what has been, what is, and our vision of what could be. There are two versions of representation problems with minority groups in mass media: the absence of representation and the portrayal of the single story.

Sylvia_quoteFailure to represent a minority is preemptive erasure. It implies that people of this minority group simply do not exist or worse, are somehow unworthy of acknowledgement. Minorities who do not see their identity represented by people they interact with in their daily life stand to benefit the most from media representation. Representation is essential for aspects of identity that are easy to conceal such as gender identity, sexual identity, or religion. Similarly, even if racial minorities, people with disabilities, and age minorities are not isolated from other individuals of their minority group, they may turn to the media for representations of people in their minority group with relatable ambitions.

Lack of representation is an issue, for example, in popular superhero films. Superheroes are models of human ideals that have been magnified and made larger-than-life. They are utopic, god-like champions of good. Yet if film portrays superheroes almost exclusively as white, straight, cis-males, it implies that these characteristics are somehow necessary to the message – that they are part of the ideals being portrayed.

The problem of the single story, as it is described by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, is the acceptance of the representation of an individual or culture by a single trait. “The consequence of the single story is this,” Adichie said, “It robs people of dignity. It makes our recognition of our equal humanity difficult. It emphasizes how we are different rather than how we are similar.” The single story is a narcotic, offering one dimension to placate our desire to understand someone while shutting our eyes to their complexity.

Sylvia MorrowAs a result of the Chapel Hill murders, social media and some news outlets have revived discussion of long-standing concerns about the single story the media portrays about Muslims. Fariha Naqvi-Mohamed of the Huffington Post wondered if the reason the media did not call the murders a hate crime was because the victims did not represent “the burly, secretive, conspiring and dangerous image of Muslims so commonly thrust around in the media….European media did a better job of covering the events then American media. That in itself speaks volumes.” Balanced representation is essential because it is powerful: it will either polarize or unite. Despite social media, mass media still holds many of the volume controls determining whose voices are heard across the nation.

Admittedly it is about as effective to throw accusations at ‘the media’ as it is to jump out of the path of a tsunami, but all of us are to some degree in positions to affect change by being conscientious. Writers, artists, and musicians are primary contributors to popular media and, therefore, have the greatest responsibility. However people in all fields – business, communications, political science, history, psychology, etc. – will in all likelihood at some point be influential in how representation is handled. Sometimes the task is as simple as choosing images for a presentation, but it is situations like these, where the images used are not the primary focus, where we are most likely to resort to a corrupt default, an imitation of flawed mass media.

More importantly, we are all media consumers. It is ineffectual to sit back and wait for mass media to change. Media content changes in fits and starts that must constructively accumulate to affect large-scale changes. Searching out multi-dimensional representations of minorities can be a challenging but rewarding task. Supporting creators and media outlets that offer better representation leads to greater quantities of balanced media being produced.

We live at a time when so much media content is available that we can easily consume large quantities of media without ever encountering a perspective that challenges us; as such, we must be deliberate.

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Opinions

LGBQ Inclusion: Community Covenant Amendment

The words “homosexual behavior” need to be taken out of the Community Covenant. Placing “homosexual behavior” within this context equates it to premarital sex and adultery. It is a vague statement which singles out lesbian, gay, bisexual, and questioning (LGBQ) students.

Houghton College’s Statement of Community Responsibilities reads: “We believe that Scripture clearly prohibits certain acts, including drinking beverage alcohol to excess, stealing, speaking or writing profanely or slanderously, acting dishonestly, cheating, engaging in occult practice, and engaging in sexual relations outside the bonds of a Biblical understanding of marriage, including premarital sex, adultery and homosexual behavior” (emphasis added).

Luke_QuoteEquating “homosexual behavior” with premarital sex and adultery hyper-sexualizes LGBQ students’ lives. Recent Graduate, Wynn Horton, said, “By condemning homosexual behavior alongside these others we denigrate it in certain ways,” pointing out that it makes it sound only lustful and foolish. Premarital sex and adultery are both explicitly sexual acts, but “homosexual behavior” is not exclusively about sex. There is much more to a “behavior” than sex.

There are straight students kissing, holding hands, and snuggling around campus. Whether these public displays of affection are desirable is besides the point. The point is they are happening and no “rules” are broken. What does this mean for LGBQ students? The vagueness of this brings many questions. What does “homosexual behavior” mean? What about two men dating on campus, a lesbian student with an off campus fiancée, or, perhaps in the future, a married lesbian or gay couple enrolled on campus? Additionally, how will lesbian or gay alumni couples feel about returning for homecoming and reunions? In an attempt to answer some of these questions, Michael Jordan, dean of the chapel, said, “I want to be clear that the Community Covenant by itself does not restrict LGBQ dating behavior that is not explicitly sexual.” The issue, however, is that the language of the Community Covenant does not adequately communicate this and so these questions still raise doubts in the minds of LGBQ students.

The college’s Same-Sex Attraction: Our Community Voice document outlines community beliefs, acknowledges differing views, and says how people should be treated. It states “… we ask for [LGBQ] students to respect our perspective for the sake of our communal life together. This would mean being especially sensitive to public displays of affection.” While this document is progress, this passage further perpetuates the view that LGBQ students must hide in the “closet,” while their straight peers do not.

LukeWhile the intention may not be to single out LGBQ students, it nonetheless does. By saying “homosexual behavior” and not mentioning heterosexual “behaviors,” the Community Covenant alienates LGBQ students from their peers. Jordan pointed out, “Statements about celibacy and chastity are of course problematic for all 18- to 22-year-olds, no matter their sexual orientation.” Yes, this is true, if the statement were about only chastity or celibacy. However, within their context, these two documents seem to be prohibiting more than just sexual relations, even if that may not be the intent.

The passage in the Community Covenant should be rewritten. Horton said the “passage could easily be rewritten to serve the college’s purpose while maintaining its loyalty to a Christian heritage.” He suggests changing the last part to “‘…and engaging in sexual relations outside of the bonds of marriage.’” This simpler, condensed version still maintains the essential meaning, but does not single anyone out.

According to Kim Cockle, student life administrative assistant, to make such change to the

Community Covenant, requires it to be brought to the Student Life Council as a policy change, then taken to the faculty, and ultimately to the Board of Trustees. To stand in solidarity with their LGBQ peers, students should bring this amendment proposition to the Student Life Council, in the form of a petition or in person at a council meeting. It would still condemn illicit sexual relations for Houghton Students, but diminish the hyper-sexualization, clear up the vague language surrounding the issue, and improve the climate for LGBQ students on campus.

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Opinions

Poverty Does Not Discriminate

2013: My senior year of high school. The year 45.3 million people were living in poverty. The year my family qualified for welfare. The year I was fully submerged in microaggressions when people realized I was poor.

‘College is really expensive, Dani.’ ’You know you’ll have to work, right? Students don’t get welfare.’ ‘Can you afford a school like that?’ Peers, teachers, and advisors thought they were just ‘looking out for me.’ They meant no harm, they were just trying to prepare me for the real world, right? Wrong. Every reference to my socio-economic status and recommendation for an ‘affordable community college’ was laced with an implied assumption of failure.

DaniThough the ‘American dream’ has been the motto for success, America was built by and for the privileged. While there may be some exceptions, most, if not all of our founding fathers were college educated, and from middle and upper class families. Society has continually changed, however, poverty has not. It has come to be seen as the black plague of modern America; the illness one no one wants to contract, yet so many are infected with.

One specifically horrific side effect of such an ailment includes the use of government assistance. People are so afraid of this symptom that they are going hungry to avoid it. They are ashamed, ashamed at the prospect of humiliation and judgment. Shame is defined as a painful feeling of humiliation or distress caused by the consciousness of wrong or foolish behavior. Poverty is not shameful; what is shameful is making people feel as though it should be. Defining who people are based on their socio-economic status is shameful. Treating the poor as if they are lepers is shameful. And accepting government assistance when you have no other way to provide for your family is most certainly not shameful.

Dani_QuoteRecently I saw a photo that was supposed to be a comparison between the refrigerator in a middle class home and a jobless home. The fridge in the jobless home was filled to the brim with name brand foods and drinks. The middle class fridge, however, was nearly empty, containing just a few items. The sharing of this photo on social media and online forums contributes to the stream of stereotypes surrounding government assistance. These stereotypes provide perceived justification of microaggressions.

Poverty does not discriminate. Despite popular belief, it does not just affect the lazy, the drug addicts, or the alcoholics. America is a prideful nation, we do not like to admit failure. Poverty is perceived as failure; failure to succeed, failure to provide, and failure of fulfilling dreams. The constant reminder of failure through microaggressions is painful. Imagine if you needed a tutor to pass a class and people subtly reminded you on a daily basis that you needed someone else’s help in order to succeed.  You would probably feel offended and hurt. This is exactly how people living in poverty feel when they’re subjected to microaggressions.

Poverty is not a disease. Poverty, like any trial presented in one’s life, is an opportunity to glorify God. The poor are not exempt from God’s love, so why does society treat them like outcasts? No more. No more shaming. No more reminders. No more judgment. Jesus did not avoid the poor, he did not cast them out, and he did not make them feel poorly about their financial status. He dined with them, he prayed with them, but most importantly, he loved them.

So be conscious of what you say. Words, judgements, and stereotypes can be sharper than knives, and just as damaging.

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News

Enrollment Team Builds Relationships in India to Grow Student Diversity

With recruiting connections to India in development, Houghton will try and continue its strong global history and diverse student body.

Alumnus, Carmen Mckell, who is currently working on the Data Science Program process at Houghton with BaseMetrics, approached Enrollment Management about venturing into an opportunity to recruit students from India. BaseMetrics specializes in predictive analytics and visualization and has worked on over 300 projects in four countries, including India.

Eric Currie, Vice President for Enrollment Management, believes this connection to India will be beneficial because of Houghton’s popularity status. “We are small, we aren’t as well known, so it is difficult to break into new markets when people have no idea who we are,” said Currie.

India_CMYKLast October, Currie went to India to visit both public and private schools, to connect with several universities for potential partnerships, and establish relationships with potential students. As a result of the visit, three applications were submitted which was encouraging, but also surprising to Currie. “I didn’t expect that to be honest, the first time you go you are trying to engage and develop relationships,” said Currie. Two of the three applicants have already been admitted.

A decline in demographic in Alleghany County is one of the main incentives for pursuing the recruiting opportunity in India. Houghton has always had a strong global history and it is part of its “DNA” according to Currie. He would like to continue the tradition of the college’s diverse student body, and thinks the opportunity in India is worth the effort. “India has a significant population that hungers higher education so we feel that this is an option that we need to pursue,” said Currie

Another incentive for Currie and the enrollment management team to materialize the connection is the prospect of making international students discovering Houghton less random.

In first year student Amy Abraham’s case, finding Houghton happened “by chance.” Abraham, who is from Kerala, India, was searching colleges online when she came across Houghton. She had never heard of it before, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to know more.

Although there have already been a few applicants, Currie is not getting ahead of himself. “We are still very much so I would love to have people at Houghton from my home.”

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News

New Honors Program for Transfers and Second Years

This fall Houghton College will introduce a new Honors Program specifically targeted at second year and transfer students. Called Scholastica, the program is aimed at transfer and second year students. The rigorous program will combine the Bible and Theology requirements to form one intensive course that aims to challenge students. Scholastica is intended to provide the “same sort of challenge and radical development that is the purpose of our first year honors programs,” said Benjamin Lipscomb, director of honors.

The committee in charge of designing Scholastica chose Bible and Theology as the disciplines to pair together because they are disciplines that “community college students, even those that come in with an A.A., haven’t satisfied when they got here” according to Lipscomb. According to Jonathan Case, professor of theology, this specific pair of disciplines is also a natural fit because the lessons learned about interpretation “has application value far beyond the boundaries of this course”.

Taught by Case and Sarah Derck, professor of old testament, the program will take the form of a six credit class, which will meet five days a week. The class will proceed chronologically through Biblical and Christian history. The program is structured around the history of statements of faith and scriptural interpretation, both in Jewish history and Christian history, Lipscomb said.

The goal of the class is to allow students to “go deeper into the interaction between scripture, history, and theological reflection than they would ordinarily have the chance to do in either Biblical Literature or Introduction to Christianity,” according to Case. This will include extensive reading of the primary sources.

According to Case, Derck will be the primary teacher for the first part of the class, taking the lead in teaching from “ancient Israel… to the primitive Christian movement.” Case will be the primary instructor from the primitive Christian movement until the present. However, Case stated, there will hopefully be “a lot of interaction in the classroom” between the two professors.

Scholastica has been designed to be a “very intense program,” Case said. Current students interested in applying to join the program should be interested in taking “the opportunity to go deep, and to go through this together” with a group of other students interested in the same topics.

The idea for the program was the realization that transfer students are an increasing proportion of students entering Houghton. Lipscomb, saw a need for a program targeting these students as well as second year students who “maintained a 3.5 [GPA] or above their first semester at Houghton; people who came and showed that they can do really excellently”.

The application and selection process will be as rigorous as the rest of the class. Recruitment for the program has already begun. For this introductory year, students waitlisted from last year’s honors program will be given the opportunity to join the program. According to Cindy Austin, Admission Counselor in charge of transfer students, they hope to interview about 50 students, and hope to have “the first cohort be 20-25 students”.

One of the major sources for students in Scholastica is expected to be community colleges, like Monroe Community College (MCC), that already have a strong relationship with Houghton College’s Admission Office. MCC in particular has a “really thriving honors program for their students,” who hopefully will be interested in continuing that challenging academic curriculum at Houghton.

Scholastica is expected to be a program that will allow transfer students entering Houghton as well as high-achieving current students to have a “rigorous and communal experience” that will make their Houghton career “as good as it can be,” Lipscomb said.

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News

Ebola Cases Decline in Africa

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola virus disease, formally known as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, has taken approximately 9,700 lives since the first outbreak in 2014.  Due to the high mortality rate, it is now classified as a “Risk Group Four Pathogen,” in accordance with the WHO pathogenicity standards.

Ebola_Virus_(2) In regard to geography, the majority of cases are confined to countries in West Africa—namely Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Guinea— with exceptions of a few minor cross-cultural outbreaks.

However, in recent news, reports are showing a drastic decline in case numbers.  Last week, WHO reported only five new cases in Liberia. This improvement has led the government to reopen schools for the first time in months, according to CNN news.

But not all Liberians are keen this immediate step towards “recovery,” and instead deem it as merely fostering a “relapse.”

To get a better understanding of this discrepancy, a personal interview was held last week with Liberia-stationed worker, Armando Costabile, to get a first-hand insight on the problem.

Costabile stated how he fears that the reopening of schools may have some adverse effects on the country. Moreover, he believes safety and caution should come first.

“While the thought of reopening schools appears as a positive landmark, I am weary of the backfire it could have, being this soon.”

Costabile continued his statement by referring to the “cycle of disease” he has witnessed over the years, “Ebola is not new to the Liberians. Outbreaks have occurred in cycles for over a decade.”

He further described the framework of this ‘disease cycle’ in his next statement, “A disease hits, people go into panic, help comes, the hype dwindles down, and people go right back to unsafe contact as if it did not happen.”

While Costabile claimed there are multiple factors playing into this problem, he subsequently highlighted the issue of culture,“I think one of the problems lies with cultural mindsets. This is a culture that lives the moment. While this has great aspects to it, it can often lead to forgetting everything of the past a little too quickly…”

Melissa MacLean GreyCostabile also described the issue with quarantines, and how there are “always one or two tribesmen who were missed and retreat to the bush.” Thus, the cultivation for a relapse begins. In other words, the disease “hides for a few years in the Bush, slowly leaks back into the city, and eventually outbreaks once again.” He states that it is the “nature of a virus.”

On a brighter note, in comparison to past outbreaks, Costabile is a little more hopeful this time with the new enactment of U.S. screenings. According to Costabile, this is the “most orderly and effective screening” he has ever witnessed.

Additionally, on February 8, 2015, WHO released another statement with news of a projected mass vaccination to counteract the crisis.  Though the program is currently undergoing clinical trials, it is said that it will be fully decided on in August of this year.

Costabile is set to return to Liberia within the next month.  Follow up interviews will be conducted to chart the progress, and/or demise. Only time will tell if the Ebola virus is truly concluding its existence.

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News

Track and Field Goes to Nationals

The track and field team started February break early, traveling to Cedarville, Ohio on Feb. 19 for the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) indoor track nationals. This meet concluded the indoor season that began in mid-December with a competition in Brockport. Arriving last Thursday afternoon, the team had an opportunity to practice on Cedarville’s track and explore the campus, cafeteria, and coffee shop over the long weekend.

TrackThe meet began last Friday night for Houghton with high jump, hurdles, the distance medley relay, 55 meter dash, the 4 by 200 relay race, and the 5K. Marshall Brady placed 16th in the high jump, Brady and Josiah Evans placed tenth and 15th in the 55 meter hurdles, and Enrico Sukhedo placed 13th in the 55 meter dash. The women’s 4 by 200 placed 12th with the team of Nikki Garns, Savannah Doviak, Kate Taggart, and Fiona Daloia. The men’s 4 by 200 meter relay team also placed 12th with Jordan Cady, Enrico Sukhedo, Terry Krangar, and Dan Becker.

On the distance side of the team Cara Davenport (17th place) and Austin Groff (20th place) competed in the 5K. Both the men’s and women’s teams ran a distance medley relay (DMR). A DMR is comprised of a 1200 meter, 400 meter, 800 meter, and 1600 meter leg. The DMR placed 14th, and the women’s DMR placed fourth with the team members of Rebekah White, Savannah Doviak, Nikki Garns, and Joanna Friesen. Rebekah White described the relay as “the highlight of my weekend. The opportunity to compete with such great athletes was amazing. I am so proud of how we did, and even happier I can share that with three of my teammates.”

On Saturday, the highlight of the day was Andrea Melhorn in the weight throw, placing fourth with a throw of 15.11 meters. Jordan Cady also placed tenth in the triple jump with 12.59 meters. Nikki Garns placed 13th in the 400 meter dash, and the women’s and men’s 4 by 400 meter relay teams ran as well, placing 11th and 14th.

Savannah Doviak commented on the meet in general, “Whether they were running, throwing, or on a relay, everyone performed the best they could. I wouldn’t have wanted to end my last indoor season any differently.”

Although Cedarville didn’t offer much of a change in pace from “Houghton weather” the gracious hosts did give a pint of ice cream to every athlete at the closing ceremony. The team traveled late into the night back to Houghton, and dispersed to relax and train over February break. This week marks the beginning of a new season of competition and training, culminating in the NCCAA outdoor nationals hosted by Shorter University in Rome, Georgia.

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Stories In Focus

From Houghton to the Bahamas

Philosophy professor takes a leave of absence to head up a preeminent grant organization in his field.

Houghton’s philosophy department is rather small in proportion to some other departments, a fact which is not unusual considering the Houghton’s size. However, the philosophy department is currently missing one of its key members: Professor Christopher Stewart. Stewart has been in Nassau, Bahamas on a leave of absence from Houghton since Fall 2013 in order to work for the Templeton Religion Trust as its Vice President of Grant Programs.

stewartThe Templeton Religion Trust, located in Nassau, Bahamas, is one of three organizations founded by Sir John Templeton. In addition to the Trust, there is the Templeton World Charity Foundation, also located in the Caribbean, and the John Templeton Foundation, based in Philadelphia, PA. According to Stewart, the three have identical missions, but separate funding, a strategy used by Templeton who believed that this “three-way approach would strengthen [the three foundation’s] ability to realize his vision over the long-run.” The mission of the John Templeton Foundation found of their website stated that it “serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality.”

Stewart’s opportunity to work with this noteworthy organization grew out of his previous conversations with the John Templeton Foundation, and was eventually offered a job to assist with establishing the grantmaking platform for the Templeton Religion Trust. At the time, the trust had just recently been setting up infrastructure and an office following the release of its endowment from the Templeton’s estate following his death in 2008. The decision to take this opportunity “was and remains complicated,” according to Stewart, who has ties to Houghton that span over two decades. However, on a professional level, Stewart described the opportunity as a way to “continue [his] engagement with issues and topics that [he has] been involved with for a long time, but in a new way.” Moreover, this was a chance “to help build up an organization with a compelling mission,” Stewart resonated with, and to do so with the benefit of “significant resources to help make things happen all over the world.”

The biggest part of Stewart’s job as the grantmaker is to scout out projects to fund. Developing relationships by attending conferences, “visiting campuses, and tapping your existing networks,” are ways outreach happens, according to Stewart. Unlike the John Templeton Foundation, the Trust does not have an open admissions process, instead it is Stewart’s task to extend invitations by “developing near-term strategies and program themes consistent with [the Trust’s] broader long-term mandates and serve as the gatekeeper for formal inquiries and proposals.”

The Templeton Religion Trust funds a wide array of projects with 70% of the annual payout going toward projects pertaining to what Templeton called “Humility-in-Theology” which Stewart described as meaning three things: (1) the nature of divine or ultimate reality, (2) the nature of persons and personal flourishing, and (3) fundamental structures which include not only the fundamental physical structures of the world like infinity, space and time, and quantum reality, but also “prayer, purpose, altruism, creativity, and thanksgiving, which [Templeton] sometimes refers to as ‘spiritual realities.’” In essence, Templeton’s wish was to “encourage humility about how little we know about such realities,” and to increase the level of “openness to and enthusiasm for blending the resources of theology, philosophy, and the sciences in that pursuit.”

The remaining 30% of the payout is given to a collection of other interests, with the primary two targets being “Individual Freedom and Free Markets” and “Character Virtue Development.” Respectively, the two studies are aimed toward “research and advocacy to enhance individual liberty and advance free markets,” and “programs that develop character strengths in people,” said Stewart.

The mix of projects Stewart has been involved with thus far is interesting to say the least, “all with lots of potential to impact our understanding of life, the universe, and everything, as they say on Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” said Stewart. Included among his projects is a project on religious freedom called “Under Caesar’s Sword,” which is lead by a scholar at Notre Dame and a leader of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown. “This is a three-year, $1.1 million project that will support around a dozen field studies all over the world looking at the ways particular religious communities are responding to the efforts of other groups or even governments to restrict their religious expression or activities, why they adopt these strategies, and how effective they are.” Another project Stewart has worked on is “The World Well-Being Project” based at the University of Pennsylvania and overseen by Martin Seligman. According to Stewart, “this three-year, $3.8 million project is developing tools to measure well-being of communities as small as a classroom or as large as a nation-state using “big data” mined from sources like Twitter and Facebook.  This is a field development project that will provide social scientists with powerful new tools to measure well-being and, hopefully, help find ways to improve the quality of people’s lives.”

On the science side of things, Stewart has worked on such projects as that run by

a mathematician at Harvard is called “Concerning the Mathematical Nature of the Universe,” “which is exploring whether or not the universe admits of a consistent description, or more generally, whether our universe be described by mathematics?” As well as a $1.6 million grant to BioLogos for them to develop their website, a major way they seek to achieve their mission of inviting “the church and the world to see the harmony between science and biblical faith.”

Fellow philosophy professor Carlton Fisher expressed that the philosophy department has suffered a loss with Stewart’s absence, “We miss him as a friend, a colleague, and we miss the contribution that he made, both in the philosophy classroom and in the leadership roles that he was performing.” Nonetheless, the department as a whole has a “sense of pride” regarding Stewart’s significant and impressive role with the Trust. According to Fisher, “it is a pretty big deal that a Houghton College faculty member has taken on this particular role.”

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Stories In Focus

Self Defense Classes Offered in KPFH

In November of 2014, the Houghton College Athletics Department partnered with the Fillmore Dojo of Tatsu Do to offer free Tatsu Do martial arts classes with an emphasis on self-defense to the Houghton community. The classes take place in the Kerr-Pegula Field House (KPAC) Monday and Wednesday evenings from 7:00 to 8:30 P.M. in the open area by the exercise equipment. Together, instructors Brad Mosiman, 5th Dan Tatsu Do, Pam Duttweiler, a 1st degree black belt, Thom Thompson, a 4th degree black belt, and Peter Torraca, also a 1st degree black belt, lead a group of Houghton students and community members with varying levels of experience.

The classes are typically divided into three, half-hour sections. During the first half hour, the group warms up with exercises focusing on muscle tone, cardio, and stretching. Participants who are mainly interested in a good workout are welcome to stay just for this section. For the second half hour, class members practice simple blocks, kicks, and punches, which Duttweiler described as the quintessential Karate Kid “wax on, wax off” techniques. The last half hour is dedicated to self-defense, when instructors show their students practical uses for the techniques they have learned in class.

“We follow a lot of the Japanese culture, and a lot of their protocol, but at the same time we focus on modern-day self-defense,” Duttweiler said. “We learn to defend against a knife, a chain, a gun. We learn common sense ways of dealing with dangerous situations.”

Duttweiler also emphasized that no experience is necessary in order to participate in the class.

“We have some people attending that have martial arts experience,” she said, “but we also have a lot of people coming who have never done anything like this before in their lives, and they’re definitely welcome.”

She also noted that there is no commitment required for students to attend every class; rather, they are welcome to drop in when they can. Participants are asked to wear loose-fitting, comfortable clothing, although shoes are not required. In fact, most students go barefoot. Instructors do request that students remove any jewelry, since even an earring could accidentally hurt another participant. According to Mosiman, “the most important thing [students can bring], really, is a positive attitude. Everyone is a beginner, so there isn’t a person there who can look down on another.”

Students and community members alike have found the classes rewarding; not only through learning how to defend themselves, but also for a workout in a supportive setting. College student Marissa Hollinger recommends the class because it is fun and is offered in a relaxed environment. She adds that it serves as “…a great break from homework and studying.” Bretta Hixson, adjunct instructor of Biology, agreed that the environment is relaxed, noting that the class is also a marvellous stress reliever. The athletic component, she said, has helped improve her physical health.  “I like that I’m getting stronger and more flexible, and I am very happy to see positive trends in my endurance and coordination,” she said.  She credits her progress to the friendly and supportive help she receives from her instructors.

“They are very patient and not stingy with individualized instruction,” she said. “They’ll help you drill a technique or combination until it becomes second nature, and then move you on to the next thing. You won’t be a black belt overnight, but you may be surprised by how fast you learn.”

Mosiman believes that practicing martial arts and self-defense is a valuable skill for members of the Houghton community, whether or not they’re predisposed to athleticism.

“Softball and baseball careers will generally end after college,” he said. “This is something [students] can take, practice, and use for the rest of their lives. For the combined years of experience of myself and my colleagues, you can’t really beat the price.”