Christian professors in pluralistic universities who are open about their Christian convictions in the classroom are likely to be accused of indoctrinating students. Indoctrination is typically understood as being the opposite of a liberal education, and thus an immoral form of teaching. How might Christian professors respond in such circumstances?
On Thursday, 17 February 2022 at 1400 UTC/GMT, Prof. Elmer Thiessen, retired professor of philosophy at Medicine Hat College in Alberta, Canada, will contend, drawing upon his own teaching experiences, that neutrality in the classroom is impossible, but that professional and ethical constraints limit what should be done by way of evangelizing students in the classroom. The purpose of this webinar, is to help Christian professors think about what they are doing in the classroom as they seek to both educate students and live out their Christian faith.
In preparation for this webinar, read through the introduction and chapter 9, “Evangelism in Professional Life: The Academy,” of his book The Scandal of Evangelism: A Biblical Study of the Ethics of Evangelism (Cascade, 2018) or this review of the book. You can also view Prof Thiessen’s outline here.