Nancy Lynne Westfield, Ph.D.

Nancy Lynne Westfield, Ph.D. became Director of the Wabash Center in January of 2020. As a womanist scholar of Religious Education and artist, her work focuses upon issues of pedagogy, epistemologies of hope, and justice. She incorporates into her writing and teaching the cultural and spiritual values taught to her by her southern, Christian parents and grandparents. Nancy’s first book was a children’s book entitled All Quite Beautiful: Living in a Multicultural Society. Her book entitled Dear Sisters: A Womanist Practice of Hospitality was written for a scholarly as well as church audience. Her books written in collaboration include: Being Black/Teaching Black: Politics and Pedagogy in Religious Studies and Black Church Studies: An Introduction.

Select an item by clicking its checkbox

God is unknowable.  So, the things of God cannot be learned – they must be revealed. What does it mean to teach our students to wait for the revelation, to be aware of the revelation, to find joy in the revelation, to trust in the revelation?  In what ways might students ...

Please indulge this low-grade rant. I believe the notion of “safe space” in adult classrooms is un-interrogated and oversubscribed.  The question is … Safe for whom?  Well-intentioned teachers, in wanting students to attempt deep conversation, wrongly presume adult students need to feel safe in order to effectively learn. Rarely is it ...

The projects have, at sometimes, crashed and burned.  There have been the occasional minor derailments.  In several instances there were irreconcilable differences and un-repairable circumstances.  Once I declared utter, dismal failure.  On the other hand, there have also been profound insights; reports of experiences of magic and awe – accounts of ...

“Learning on the fly,” a phrase used by seminarian Phil Salter, is still on my mind.  I am taking a different tact from my previous ponderings …. The inclinations, proclivities and aspirations to fly are abundantly evident in literature – folk, pop, euro-classical, and American Black.  Several generations have marveled at the ...

Phil Salter, a current student and muse of this Blog, in describing himself as a seminarian, said, “I am learning on the fly.”  Intrigued by this notion, I have been thinkalating … Habakkuk has come to mind….Recorded in Habakkuk (v. 2 & 3 Recorded in Habakkuk (v. 2 & 3), “Then the Lord answered ...

Wabash Center