(BA Cedarville College, MA Western Kentucky University, PhD Temple University) is Professor of Philosophy emeritus at Geneva College in Western Pennsylvania. In addition to her appointment as Senior Scholar with 天美视频 for Theology and Psychology, she is a Fujimura Institute Scholar, an Associate Fellow with the Kirby Laing Center for Public Theology, and a member of the Polanyi Society.

Her books include Longing to Know: The Philosophy of Knowledge for Ordinary People (Brazos, 2003); Loving to Know: Introducing Covenant Epistemology (Cascade, 2011); A Little Manual for Knowing (Cascade, 2014); and Contact With Reality: Michael Polanyi鈥檚 Realism and Why It Matters (Cascade, 2017). Her forthcoming book is Doorway to Artistry: Attuning Your Philosophy to Enhance Your Creativity (Cascade, 2023).

The appointment of Dr. Meek as our inaugural Senior Scholar at 天美视频 recognizes the profound value of her philosophical thought and formalizes years of ongoing collaboration. Her books are regular texts in our core curriculum: students and alumni of our school are familiar with Dr. Meek鈥檚 writings, including her call to explore a covenantal epistemology that centers loving at the heart of knowing. She has shared her philosophical scholarship with 天美视频 community on a number of occasions, including at the 2018 Stanley Grenz Lectures when she spoke on how we know what we know and why it matters.

President and Provost of 天美视频, Dr. J. Derek McNeil, explains this appointment: 鈥淓sther鈥檚 ideas about epistemology, or how we know, uniquely fit and aid our work at the school: her sense of embodied thought bridges the gap between theology and psychology, offering a nexus point of deep resonance with our interdisciplinary journey. In these uncertain times, her philosophical work redirects us towards the real and challenges us with the centrality of knowing relationships in the work of integration.鈥�

Dr. Meek is glad to contribute and collaborate to the mission of 天美视频: 鈥溙烀朗悠� distinctively realizes that philosophy is foundational to all our efforts as human persons in the world. They build this astute professionalism into their core curriculum. And this is rare: many people and institutions in our antiphilosophical Modern Age fail to understand how we live out philosophical commitments we may not even be aware of.鈥�

鈥淚f you want to accomplish transformative engagement, it isn鈥檛 only psychological, social, and spiritual approaches you must attend to. You must address and re-form your deepest-level philosophical orientation. You need a transformative, integrative, philosophy of engagement, as 天美视频 understands.鈥�

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Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school had been exploring ways to build infrastructure and capacity to offer online and hybrid offerings to learners not able to be physically present at its Seattle campus. This grant enables the school to move more rapidly into this space and toward becoming not only a local and regional graduate institution but a national one.

鈥淚 am pleased and excited that the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust has agreed to fund our proposal. As you all know, we have been building towards developing our capacity to be online even before the pandemic. By receiving this grant we have the opportunity to increase the personnel we need to be effective and expand our capacity to offer a quality learning experience online,鈥� said , President of 天美视频.

How the school will continue to offer its graduate programs and additional training opportunities will continue to evolve in the coming year, both out of necessity due to the global impact of COVID-19 as seen during its rapid transition to a fully online campus this past March, but also due to the changing needs of learners across the country. A larger number of students enrolled in the school鈥檚 2020 cohort are from out of state, or in some cases out of the country. This necessitates a new way of making courses and content accessible for learners unable to move to the Greater Seattle Area for the time when higher education institutions are able to gather on-campus.

鈥淭he crisis of the pandemic has presented us with unique opportunities to reimagine our how. The what鈥搊ur mission鈥搑emains a steadfast guide as we navigate changes with perseverance and, as these grants demonstrate, with a vote of confidence from others,鈥� said Dr. McNeil.

Over a three-year period, the grant will enable the school to support its faculty and staff as they consciously create hybrid learning spaces that meet the needs of all learners. The grant aims to build the long-term sustainability of the school by increasing student accessibility and developing low-residency graduate, certificate, and other programs.

Reimagining theological education for online spaces is no small feat for a highly-relational institution, but 天美视频 has proven itself able to pivot and adapt with great success, as shown by its record enrollment for Fall 2020. The school is also committed to continuing to build partnerships, both locally and nationally, to foster collaboration as it steps into a new realm of learning.

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鈥淚n this season, we are all grieving our ability to be together, and we are anxious to return to campus. This is a season of much uncertainty, and even when we are able to re-open our campus, not all of our returning students, incoming students, and participants may be comfortable traveling to school or be physically and financially able to relocate to Seattle. We are first committed to your safety and also with providing a rich and quality education that reduces the barriers to access the learning experience,鈥� said President J. Derek McNeil in communication to staff and faculty.

In addition to moving all classes online for Fall Term, there will also be the option for incoming students in all three graduate degree programs to complete their entire first year online. The Certificate in Resilient Service, in addition to The Allender Center鈥檚 and II, , and , will also be offered online this academic year.

鈥淲e do not come to this decision lightly. While we grieve not being together, we know that students needed clarity in this season. Having Fall term classes online allows students to make good choices on behalf of their education and allows us to focus on developing a robust virtual campus to support the community, connection, and belonging that are at the core of who we are as a learning community,鈥� said Dr. Misty Anne Winzenried, Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning.

The school continues to follow guidance from the Governor鈥檚 office regarding Washington State鈥檚 , which has not yet provided a clear date to be able to re-open campus. In the meantime, the school is actively preparing for community events and gatherings that can be held remotely, while also creating opportunities for some small group in-person engagement with social distancing when we are able to do so safely.

鈥淲e have a commitment to welcoming our students, faculty, and staff back on campus as soon as we are safely able to do so. We are important to each other, and I recognize there is a sense of loss in these decisions. In this season, we are surviving to thrive. I have deep trust in our ability to do this together,鈥� said President McNeil.

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