Monday, September 11, 2006

1 weekend down

Well, the 1st weekend block of my 2 weekend class, Into. to Grad Studies is behind me. The work however, looms above my head...I have a wide range of emotions about the whole thing. It was way more intense than I imagined, but at the same time invigorating because it was intense. I came to an interesting conclusion while at ACU this time. Things have changed, dramatically. And, either I coasted through Undergrad Bible or they have up-ed the anti. Actually, I know I did not coast, so it must be the latter. And here is one reason, I believe. I think with the Association of Theological Schools accreditation came some scholarly improvements. I believe at the time I got the best Undergrad preparation that any of "our" schools had to offer but things have still improved. The library (oops, Learning commons) is a whole new world - one that includes a Starbucks, and amoeba shaped community learning desks with all sorts of technology. The Theology holdings have grown tremendously. The library is actually a fun place to be. The other change I see is a Bible faculty that is more specialized with training from world renowned institutions. No longer is a professor who teaches ministry one semester, also teaching Old Testament another. The GST has gathered together a team of area specialists and so the result is expectations from students that requires research to go deeper and broader. ACU has always had its scholarly legends: Ferguson, John Willis, Osborne, Lightfoot, Humble etc and in later years: Thompson, Foster, Allen. Alongside those have been the ministry legends Wray, Siburt etc. But there is new host of professors that were students while I was studying and working there like Childers, Churchill, Aquino, Flanders etc. It is a fabulous time to be there - even for an old codger like me!

5 comments:

Amy S. Grant said...

Arlene, that is great you are going back to ACU for grad work! I will look forward to reading about your experience. You are blessed to live close enough. I would love to even get to audit some of those teachers you named.

John Grant said...

Aren't you glad ACU doesn't require white Africans to jump any more? It is pretty cool to have a Starbucks in the library!

Frank Bellizzi said...

Arlene, I went to grad school for fifteen years; part-time credit for what often seemed like full-time work. My baptism of fire came in the first semester, starting in January of '87: New Testament Introduction with the legendary Jack P. Lewis. I got a "B" mainly (I think) because with my term paper I did my best to beat up Ernst Haenchen. (I got the distinct impression that Dr. Lewis didn't think much of Haenchen's approach to the historicity of Acts).

Many years later, one of my professors was a fifty-something lady who was single and not looking. When she wasn't sleeping, she was reading and writing, conducting all kinds of research. When you turned in a paper, every citation was looked up and read. Sometimes her notes suggested that I hadn't gotten the nuanced meaning of what I thought was an obscure, out-of-the way (safe-to-cite) journal article. It was like reporting your research, ala Job, to the Almighty.

Anyway, just keep plodding and praying. You'll do more than make it, I'm sure. The programs at ACU certainly do look rich. Best wishes.

5 Johnson Kids said...

Howdy! I did not know you were crazy enough to go to grad school and parent at the same time. . . no wonder we enjoy each other, we're both clinically nuts.

I hope you have fun. Really. I decided I enjoyed school the second time around much more than the first time because I just wasn't so stressed out about it. It was intense and demanding, but I knew it was a privilege and an honor. In undergrad I think I took myself too seriously and also felt college was somehow due me.

I think it's rather pathetic how cool the campus is getting now. Doesn't anybody appreciate poverty and dingy surroundings anymore?

Amy S. Grant said...

I hope you're coming to Zoe this weekend. If so I'd love to grab some coffee and chat with you.