About Our People
Gary Tandy (Professor of English and Chair of Language and Literature Department) recently presented his research on C.S. Lewis’s rhetoric and style in Mere Christianity at a meeting of the Inkling Folk Fellowship (IFF). Gary’s presentation argued that Lewis’s distinctive rhetorical theories and prose style were largely responsible for the success of the book and its ongoing influence as a classic work of popular Christian apologetics. The IFF is an online group of scholars and fans of the works of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, Dorothy Sayers and their circle of friends.
Don Powers (Biology) teamed with five colleagues to publish an article, “Domestic egg-laying hens, Gallus gallus domesticus, do not modulate flapping flight performance in response to wing condition,†in Royal Society Open Science, an open journal committed to publishing high-quality research across all of science, engineering and mathematics. This study is a product of Don’s collaboration with the Harlander lab at Guelph University in Ontario, Canada.
Rhett Luedtke (Theatre) directed Merchant of Stratford by Maury Zeff at Theatre 33 in Salem this July and August. Theatre 33 is a professional new play development company that helps Oregon/Northwest playwrights develop their new scripts from an initial workshop performance (lights, sound, props, set, costumes, and fully blocked with scripts in hand) to a world-premiere full production.
Paul Anderson (Christian Studies) was the keynote speaker for Indiana Yearly Meeting in July, and he preached at Reedwood and Spokane Friends churches earlier this summer. He presented a paper, “John: The Mundane Gospel,†at the international Society of New Testament Studies conference in Leuven, Belgium (virtually), and his essay, “Balderdash! A Dozen Critically Flawed Biblical Scholarship Views Destined Deservedly for the Dustbin – Part II,†was published in The Bible and Interpretation (April 2021). In addition, his essays, “The Light of the World – The Witness of Jesus and His Followers†and “Answering ‘That of God’ in Everyone,†were published in Quaker Life recently, and he presented the following academic papers nationally and internationally: “John: The Mundane Gospel†(SNTS, Catholic University of Leuven, July 2021); “Quakers and the Nobel Peace Prize – Antecedents and Continuing Peace Work†(FAHE, Earlham College, June 2021); and “The Dialogical Autonomy of the Fourth Gospel – An Overall Johannine Theory,†Glasgow University Postgraduate New Testament Seminar (May 2021). Finally, his interview by the Creative Society on “The Way of Jesus as the Christ†was televised in 45 languages, drawing over 1 million viewers (March 2021).