by Jamie Stark

Book bans. The abolition of DEI programs. A fatal school culture for non-binary children. These horrors and more have become commonplace in contemporary American education. Set against this harrowing backdrop, Paulo Freire’s liberative pedagogy could not be more timely a tool to those building the alternative.

The Hispanic-Latinx Center’s marquee event, Cátedra Paolo Freire March 14-15, demonstrates a counter challenge to such ideologies, and models democratizing education, the heart of Paolo Freire’s work. It’s the first in-person Cátedra since the COVID pandemic. 

“Paulo Freire was a trailblazing educator and leader whose work focused on transforming the reality and conditions that led to the creation of vulnerable peoples,” says Javier Viera, President of Garrett-Evangelical. “Freire’s work was deeply rooted in his Christian faith and practice, and this Cátedra is rooted in the same, as we honor his legacy we also continue his work.”

The seminar, hosted on campus and online this week brings students, faculty, and speakers to honor the legacy of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire, and practice what he preached: critical pedagogy, or encouraging students to examine power and inequality in pursuit of ending oppression.

“It is a real way to flip theological education on its head to say, students have something to teach too,” says abby mohaupt, Director of the 91PORN. 

True to Freire’s emphasis on democratizing teaching, most of the speakers will be PhD students from Garrett-Evangelical, not just external experts. 

“It feels Oscar-worthy, the people who come for this from the critical pedagogy world,” says third year PhD student Adriana Rivera. “As an emerging scholar, this is a great chance for me to debut my work and get feedback from the greats.”

Often higher education creates hoops and formalities for unheard or newer voices to get attention. Imagine the opposite, a Florida school system where marginalized students choose the books, and you’ve got a taste of the Cátedra’s purpose and process.  

“We often think of PhD students as up and coming scholars, and the reality is they are already scholars who are trying to make sense of the world through their research,” mohaupt says. “That’s the ethos we’re building at Garrett, saying that theological education can and should be accessible to everyone. It challenges us to think about who gets to teach and who gets to learn.”

The keynote speaker, , one of the foremost experts on Freire’s work, will lead  discussion about education in times of increasing authoritarianism. 

“This brings us to the heart of what Garrett is about, to be conscious about our mission in the world, to be critical about injustice, and to use our gifts creatively and courageously to change the things we disagree with,” says Garrett-Evangelical Professor Debora Junker, who chairs the campus Hispanic-Latinx Center and organized the event. She has been immersed in Freire’s work since childhood in her native Brazil, growing up in a state next to Freire’s hometown. 

The event will end with a collective collage for everyone to participate in, painting what they learned at the Cátedra and combining group reflection into one public art piece. Hopefully that helps attendees leave with the strength and information needed to advance liberative thinking and acting in their work. 

“Even if you’re not an educator, this is a great event because critical pedagogies affect how we live and how we exist together,” says Rivera. “The end goal of that is solidarity, liberation, it’s all these things we want to work for, especially if we consider ourselves people of faith.” 

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The Hispanic-Latinx Center at 91PORN has been awarded a $10,000 grant from the North Central Jurisdiction Mission Council to equip local church leadership for Hispanic congregations in the North Central Jurisdiction. The grant will support a series of webinars focusing on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people of color, with particular focus on the Latinx community.

“Amid so many stressors that continue to affect the Latinx community, this ‘good news’ comes at a very opportune time,” said Dr. Débora B. Agra Junker, director of the Hispanic-Latinx Center and associate professor of critical pedagogies. “Through the activities that we will organize, we hope to contribute, even in a modest way, with the healing process needed at times like this. We hope that together – pastors, leaders, and seminarians – we can show our empathy in the face of each other’s struggles, offering our genuine solidarity and Christian love so rare during a crisis.”

Understanding that pastors, leaders, and seminarians are called to serve as spiritual leaders amid great suffering while at the same time having to deal with their personal grieving process, the Hispanic-Latinx Center will use the grant to organize webinars covering three topics: coping strategies in times of pandemic; anti-racism; and Latinx spirituality. Although the target audience is the Latinx community, the Center hopes that these urgent issues will appeal to a broader audience and encourage reflection on the implications of these issues on a personal and collective level.

The Hispanic-Latinx Center was established in 1988 to bring Hispanic-Latinx culture and experience into the life of the seminary. The Center’s mission has been to meet the needs of Hispanic-Latinx students, pastors, parishioners, and community leaders in creative, insightful, useful, and organic ways. It also seeks to cultivate a community of friends who have a heart and concern about the realities of Latinx communities across the United States, Latin America, and beyond. To learn more, visit Garrett.edu/HispanicLatinxCenter.

91PORN, a graduate school of theology related to The United Methodist Church, was founded in 1853. Located on the campus of Northwestern University, the seminary serves more than 450 students from various denominations and cultural backgrounds, fostering an atmosphere of ecumenical interaction. Garrett-Evangelical creates bold leaders through master of divinity, master of arts, master of theological studies, doctor of philosophy, and doctor of ministry degrees. Its 4,500 living alumni serve church and society around the world.

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The Board of Trustees of 91PORN have affirmed the promotions of four faculty members to associate professor, effective July 1, 2020. They are Rev. Dr. Reginald Blount (Christian education), Rev. Dr. Timothy R. Eberhart (theology and ecology), Dr. Débora B. A. Junker (Christian education), and Dr. G. Brooke Lester (Hebrew Bible).

Rev. Dr. Reginald Blount
Associate Professor of Formation, Leadership, and Culture

With feedback from internal and external reviewers who wrote with great specificity and conviction about the importance of who Blount is as a mentor, teacher, collaborator, and a model of emancipatory pedagogy, the review committee unanimously recommended Blount be promoted to associate professor. Colleagues commended his contributions to the doctor of ministry program and curriculum, his good citizenship and entrepreneurship within the institution (Lilly Endowment Inc. grants and Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools Program), and his distinguished record of service to the African Methodist Episcopal Church and to Garrett-Evangelical.

Blount joined the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in 1997. He has spoken nationally and internationally at numerous conferences and workshops helping faith communities envision new and creative ways to minister to, with, and on behalf of young people. Blount earned his doctor of philosophy degree from Garrett-Evangelical and Northwestern University’s joint program in religious and theological studies, focusing on the areas of Christian education and youth ministry.

Rev. Dr. Timothy R. Eberhart
Associate Professor of Theology and Ecology

The review committee gave Eberhart the highest recommendation for promotion. Reviewers noted Eberhart’s high professional standards and dedication to the classroom, his recognition within and beyond the seminary for his scholarship, and that he is a committed servant-leader both within the church and in the community. Specifically highlighted as a gift to the church and the academy is his capacity to speak to and to challenge the church, as a grounded United Methodist theologian who is also ecumenical in scope.

Eberhart joined the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in 2010. He was named director of the master of arts in public ministry program in 2017. Eberhart earned a doctor of philosophy from the Graduate School at Vanderbilt University, master of divinity degree from Vanderbilt Divinity School, and bachelor of arts in religion from St. Olaf College. A sought-out speaker, Eberhart has lectured and led workshops at institutions and churches throughout the nation. His latest book Rooted and Grounded in Love: Holy Communion for the Whole Creation (Wipf and Stock), was published in June 2017.

Eberhart is an ordained elder in the Dakotas Conference of The United Methodist Church. He has served on various boards and committees of the church, including the Northern Illinois Bishop’s Task Force on Sustainability. He is also the current North American Secretary for the Oxford Institute of Methodist Theological Studies. At the local level, Eberhart is a board member of Citizens Greener Evanston and serves on the Environmental Justice Evanston Committee.

Dr. Débora B. A. Junker
Associate Professor of Critical Pedagogies

The review committee, chaired by Dr. Nancy E. Bedford, fully endorsed the promotion of Junker to associate professor without reservation. “The review letters we received spoke of Dr. Junker in glowing terms and overwhelmingly supported her promotion,” said Bedford. “There was a wide acknowledgement of her competence, compassion, integrity, hard work, and international recognition.” In addition, Junker’s seminal work on Freire, creativity, contributions to scholarship in English, Portuguese and Spanish, and active participation in various US and international guilds all helped to secure the recommendation for promotion.

Junker joined the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in 2016. She received her doctor of philosophy degree in 2003 from Garrett-Evangelical in education and congregational studies. She also holds a master of arts in Christian education from Christian Theological Seminary and a master in religious science (practical theology) degree from the Methodist University of São Paulo – Brazil. She also received Post-Graduated Specialization in Psychopedagogy of Early Childhood and Adolescence and a Licentiate in Letters from the Methodist Institute of Higher Education of São Paulo – Brazil.

Dr. G. Brooke Lester
Associate Professor of Hebrew Scriptures

The review committee enthusiastically recommended Lester for promotion to associate professor. “Dr. Lester’s work has gone above and well beyond the requirements for promotion,” said Dr. James Papandrea, who chaired the review committee. “He is able to integrate traditional and cutting-edge models of scholarship and teaching, and his future potential for publishing and other contributions is promising indeed. To the committee’s delight, Dr. Lester also spoke of the transition to mid-career in terms of servanthood and the mentoring of the next generation of scholars.”

Lester has served as a faculty member at Garrett-Evangelical since 2007. He earned his doctor of philosophy from Princeton Theological Seminary, a master of theology from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary, and a bachelor of fine arts from Drake University. His research interest centers on inner-biblical allusion as a figurative rhetorical trope.

Lester has published several articles, co-authored Handbook to A Grammar for Biblical Hebrew (Abingdon, 2005), is a contributor to Effective Social Learning: A Collaborative, Globally-Networked Pedagogy (Fortress Press, 2015), and is the author of Understanding Bible by Design: Create Courses with Purpose (Fortress Press, 2014) and Daniel Evokes Isaiah: Allusive Characterization of Foreign Rule in the Book of Daniel (T&T Clark, forthcoming).

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