In his recent book, “The Chaos Machine”, Max Fisher describes the dark side of social media. It is a frightening history. The reader is left uncertain of an answer to the management of this powerful technology.
One answer is my yearly January educational experience! I look forward to January of each year specifically because I get to hear new voices and perspectives of our faith and healing. It is called the “January Series” from Calvin University. It is a gift!
I look for themes among the diversity of presenters. For this year, I would suggest that “disability” was a strong theme. Here is my list of favorites in that group:
Dr. Sara Hendron “What can a body do?”
Dr. Amy Kenny, “My body is not a prayer request”
Dr. Kate Bowler, “Life after perfect”
What was most impressive technically was the ability to provide remote presenters, across “time zones” flawlessly as if the presenter was present in the auditorium. Nate Mook, “The urgent pursuit to nourish the world” did his presentation from Ukraine!
Lastly, I would recommend the presentations by Dr. Efosa Ojomo on the creation of markets as as a response to poverty and the educational vision of Calvin University by its Provost, Dr. Noah Toly, “Learning together, living together: What the world needs from Christian liberal arts education”. These are some of the faithful visions of redemption in our world.
All of this happened with the latest technology but more importantly with the people that have worked hard to bring thousands of learners into this “hybrid” virtual educational space. They have learned how to engage an intergenerational audience into this growing educational reality. As I mentioned, this has been a wonderful gift!
Thank you,
Marvin
References:
Fisher, M. (2022). The Chaos Machine. Little, Brown.
Calvin University - January Series
https://calvin.edu/january-series/
2023 January Series Presentations:
Dr. Sara Hendren, “What can a body do?”
https://calvin.edu/directory/series/sara-hendren
Dr. Amy Kenny, “My body is not a prayer request”
https://calvin.edu/directory/series/amy-kenny
Dr. Kate Bowler, “Life after perfect”
https://calvin.edu/directory/series/kate-bowler
Nate Mook, “The urgent pursuit to nourish the world”
https://calvin.edu/directory/series/nate-mook
Efosa Ojomo, The Prosperity Paradox: How Innovation Can Lift Nations Out of Poverty https://calvin.edu/directory/series/efosa-ojomo
Dr. Noah Toly, “Learning together, living together: What the world needs from Christian liberal arts education”https://calvin.edu/directory/series/noah-toly
