天美视频 of Theology & Psychology is in the midst of (S)ending 2017, an annual season of events and conversations designed to orient the school鈥檚 graduates to life and career after Commencement. (S)ending is organized by the Office of Students & Alumni, in partnership with alumni from a variety of vocational contexts who return to 天美视频 to facilitate workshops and small groups.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a way of launching folks from the end of the grad school experience into their life as alumni,鈥� says (MDiv, 鈥�10), Alumni Programs Coordinator. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an invitation for them to reflect and intentionally move through that transition.鈥� In that way, (S)ending is a time of marking the end of a season, but it is also very much a beginning鈥攊nto which the entire 天美视频 community works to send our students. 鈥淕raduating is a threshold, moving from one space to another. You鈥檙e stepping into the thing that you were here for.鈥�
The (S)ending season began in February with the annual (S)ending Retreat, an opportunity for graduating students to reflect on their time together at 天美视频, to share their gratitude and hope for the years ahead, and receive practical skill-building and training from alumni who have gone before them.
鈥淕raduating is a threshold, moving from one space to another.鈥�
Earlier this year the Office of Students & Alumni also hosted Alumni Week, an annual opportunity for 天美视频鈥檚 staff and faculty to meet with alumni in the contexts of their workplaces, with the intention of gathering stories and data about their experience, offering encouragement and support, and inquiring about alumni vocational experiences and development since completing their graduate training from 天美视频. The 2017 Alumni Week, organized by Alumni Outreach Coordinator , featured five gatherings involving 12 alumni, 15 faculty and staff, and two current students who are nearing graduation.
Though (S)ending continues unfolding throughout the year with Portfolio Groups, Symposia, and other events, it reaches a culmination of sorts in June as the academic year comes to a close. As students complete their clinical internships, and students share the projects that serve as a capstone of their time in graduate school at the annual Integrative Project Symposium. This year鈥檚 Integrative Project celebration also included a special event and gallery opening, 鈥淔rom Trauma to Resilience: Art and Poetry as Witness.鈥� The featured art, which grew from the academic work of several Integrative Projects, included stories, poetry, woodworking, and visual art.
(You can see a list of this year鈥檚 Integrative Projects at the bottom of this post, and stay tuned to our and the as we post videos of the presentations throughout the year.)
Finally, the entire 天美视频 community will gather on Saturday, June 24, for . Alumni, faculty, staff, current students, friends, and families will all convene at Town Hall Seattle to celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2017. Commencement marks the official transition from student to alumni, when 85 graduating students will join a community of more than 1,100 alumni throughout the world who are continuing to wrestle with text, soul, and culture in their personal and professional contexts.
Each year at Commencement, the graduating class and faculty select one student from each program as a speaker, and one student to offer a special vocal selection. The 2017 student speakers are Carrie Cates (MDiv), Mary DeJong (MATC), and Beau Denton (MACP). They will speak around the theme of the Hero鈥檚 Journey, and the vocal selection will be offered by Julie Hall (MACP).
In all of this, the heart of (S)ending is rooted in 天美视频鈥檚 ongoing commitment to equip students to practice their calling in creative, courageous, and sustainable ways long after they leave our classrooms, and to continue to refine who we are and how we operate based on their experiences and perspectives.
鈥淲hile any conversation about transition holds its share of anxiety and exhaustion,鈥� says Paul Steinke, Dean of Students and Alumni, 鈥渨e hope to offer each of our graduates something of a respite鈥攁 time and space to stop and breathe, celebrate their labor, and playfully lean into the stories waiting to be written as they become alumni.鈥�
2017 Integrative Project Titles and Presenters
Deserts and Dragon Skins: Embracing Divine Silence and Otherness as a Balm for the Modern Soul
Emme Amble
Exposing Evil In Everyday Life
Cody Bormuth
Restoring the Soul
Demetrius Cooper
Found Hope:Developing a Theology of Trauma Engagement Through the Visual Arts
Sam Davis
Poiesis: What Poetry Can Teach Us about Healing, Hope and the Imagination
Brittany Deininger
A Trinitarian Imago Dei: How Reimagining Genesis Informs an Integral and Functional Creation Theology
Mary DeJong
Crafting The Table: Participation in the real through work and eating: a sacramental vision
Jordan Dowell
Spiritual Neglect: Anxiety and Depression and its reception in the American Evangelical Christian Church
Molly Erickson
Toward a Spirituality of Liberation: Reimagining Difference through a Theology of the Racialized Body
Jessica Hoekstra
Prayer, Poetry, and Pain: Learning to Lament
Hillary Kimsey
Idolatry of the Couple: Breaking the Idols that Ostracize Single Women in the Christian Community
Emily McBroom
Jesus and Buddha Kissed: Spiritual Promiscuity as an Enlightening Path for Christianity
Chris McPeak
Tracking Dirt in the Sanctuary: Restoring Authenticity to the Church
Maggie Parker
Exploring the Heart of Hungarian Identity: Trauma, Memory and Hope
Emeshea Petty
Looking for Hope: A Study of Humanity Through the Lenses of Identity, Vocation, and Community
Kenzi Roberson
Personhood, Intimacy, and Relational Flourishing: Implications on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Bodies
Matthias Roberts
Hinterlands of Meaning: Metaphor, Mediation, and Scripture
Elisabeth Schyberg