- Fellow joins scholars at 20th anniversary national conference
2003 Valparaiso University alumna Jennifer Miller Oct. 11, 2010 — Jennifer Miller, who graduated in 2003 with a double major in English and German, has returned to her alma mater this fall after being named one of three Lilly Fellows in Humanities and the Arts, a prestigious program that prepares future educational leaders at church-related colleges and universities.
“Now I’m the one teaching English and guiding students through the texts that I experienced 10 years ago,” said Miller, who holds a doctorate in English from the University of Minnesota.
Miller, who moved back to the area with her husband and fellow Valpo alumnus, Adam, and two children, says her Valpo education helped to influence the kind of scholar that she is today by learning that faith and scholarship go hand-in-hand.
“The most important thing that I took away from my time as an undergraduate at Valpo was that scholarship and faith are complementary parts of my life, rather than parts that exist in opposition to each other,” Miller said. “Instead of having to see myself as either a Christian or a scholar, I had professors who modeled what it meant to be both, and not only that, but also showed how they were both better Christians and scholars because of the interaction of these two parts of their lives. This has helped me to think about my work as a teacher and scholar as not just a job, but as a calling that helps to shape who I am.”
Keynote speakers
(all talks open to public):• Oct. 14 – John Fea, former Lilly Fellow and author of "The Way of Improvement Leads Home,” will discuss the challenges and the benefits that come from "rooting" one's vocation in a particular community and place. 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Christopher Center Community Room.
• Oct. 15 – Gretchen Buggeln, Duesenberg Chair in Christianity and the Arts at Valpo. Buggeln writes and teaches about the intersection of Christian belief and the material world, and currently is working on a book about the ubiquitous, modern-style, suburban church of the post-World War II United States. 4 to 4:45 p.m., Harre Union Ballroom.
• Oct. 16 – Gerardo Marti, author of three books, including "A Mosaic of Believers: Diversity and Innovation in a Multiethnic Church" and "Hollywood Faith: Holiness, Prosperity, and Ambition in a Los Angeles Church." His interests include worship and the arts, racial and ethnic diversity, religious innovation and congregational responses to social change. 8:30 to 9:30 a.m., Harre Union Ballroom.
• Oct. 16 – Vincent Miller, author of "Consuming Religion: Christian Faith and Practice in a Consumer Culture" and currently working on a book about how globalization is affecting religious belief and communities. 1:15 to 2:15 p.m., Harre Union Ballroom.
Besides learning her new role as teacher, Miller is priming her dissertation “From Water Margins to Borderlands: Boundaries and the Fantastic in Fantasy, Native American, and Asian American Literatures” for publication as a book and also will start work on her next book project that deals with faith and science in fantasy literature.
“In my dissertation, I look at the intersection of fantasy literature with Asian American and Native American literature – how supernatural elements such as ghosts, dream visions, dragons, etc., appear in all of these groups of literature,” Miller explained. “I then argue that these supernatural elements highlight the way that race is portrayed in complicated and contradictory ways and that they provide a way to challenge long-held, stereotypical assumptions about race and difference.”
This weekend, Miller will join current and former Lilly Fellows and Senior Fellows, along with other scholars from the 93 colleges and universities that are members of the Lilly Fellows Program National Network, for the organization’s 20th anniversary national conference at Valpo. The Lilly Fellows Program and its residential Lilly Fellows are based at Valpo.
“I am really looking forward to meeting other conference attendees from faith-based institutions and learning how their approaches to integrating faith and scholarship compare to the approach here at Valparaiso University,” said Miller, whose long-term goal is to work at a college, such as Valpo, that values the Christian scholarly tradition and close interaction between students and faculty.
"Face to Face in Time and Place: Perspectives on Place in Higher Education," taking place Oct. 14 to 17, will feature theological, sociological and architectural perspectives on questions involving place and its effects on colleges and universities in the 21st century.
For more information about the conference, visit
www.valpo.edu/christcollege/conference/index.php.