Christina Bieber Lake gave the opening presentation of the 17th Annual National Conference of the Lilly Fellows in the Humanities and the Arts national conference on Friday, Oct. 19, in the Neva Langling Fickling Recital Hall in the McCorkle music building. The three-day conference, the second of two, focused on the theme “Three Mirrors: Reflections of Faithful Living.”
On Oct. 18 and 19, Mercer hosted the Eighth Annual Workshop for Senior Administrators, entitled “Mentoring Faculty for Mission,” with more than 40 administrators in attendance. The University hosted the 17th Annual National Conference of the Lilly Fellows in Humanities and the Arts, Oct. 19-21. More than 118 faculty members attended the program, entitled “Three Mirrors: Reflections of Faithful Living.”
“The thoughtfulness with which Professor Richard Wilson selected the speakers and designed every aspect of the conference, combined with the gracious hospitality shown us by Mercer University, made this one of the most stimulating and pleasant conferences in memory,” said John Steven Paul, program director of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts. “We were surely blessed to be there.”
“Mentoring Faculty for Mission” featured panel discussions and presentations on “The Role of Senior Administration in Mentoring the Whole Community for Mission,” by Denise Doyle, vice president for Academic and Student Affairs at the University of the Incarnate Word in Texas, and “Cultivating Collegial Community: Becoming the Mentors We Need Our Faculty to Be,” by Caroline J. Simon, professor of Philosophy and director of General Education at Hope College in Michigan.
At the national conference, Christina Bieber Lake, associate professor of English at Wheaton College in Illinois, spoke on “Vocation through Limitation: Flannery O’Connor’s Life and Faith.” Ann Howard Jones, professor of Music and director of Choral Activities at Boston University in Massachusetts presented “Teaching America to Sing: The Legacy of Robert Shaw,” featuring a performance by the Mercer Singers, directed by Dr. Stanley Roberts. Andrew Manis, an assistant professor at Macon State College in Georgia presented “With and Without Honor: The Prophetic Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. and American Response.”
Conferees at the national conference also had the opportunity to learn more about Georgia, enjoying a banquet at the Georgia Music Hall of Fame. Some participants also visited Andalusia, the family farm of Southern author Flannery O'Connor in Milledgeville.
“I have enjoyed every Lilly Fellows conference that I've attended, but I don't remember another that so well-integrated with the arts and humanities,” said Dr. Lori Askeland, an associate professor of English at Wittenberg University in Ohio.
“Everything came together beautifully,” said Wilson, chair of the Columbus Roberts Department of Christianity. “The speakers were uniformly excellent, the vespers service was moving, our campus was hospitable, and Macon shone for our out-of-town guests. All in all the conference was a stunning success.”
