The Impact of ESN

A Grad Student
Survey Research and Methodology, U. of Nebraska-Lincoln

I have been a member of ESN since my senior year of college, and now as a graduate student I continue to be blessed by its ministry. From engaging articles on work, school, and the culture that academics find ourselves in, to stimulating questions raised every week on current and relevant issues, to opportunities to engage with others like me about the struggles and opportunities we face in the academy and beyond, ESN provides a unique resource center and gathering place for Christian scholars. While many wonderful Christian organizations are in place to serve the undergraduate community, ESN is the first organization I have seen that directly meets the needs of Christians in graduate school and beyond.

Alice Brown-Collins, Ph.D.
Assoc Regional Director, Graduate & Faculty Ministry Northeast Region; Black Graduate Ministry at Harvard

ESN provides a forum where biblical ideas can be discussed, with varying viewpoints, and where the “mind of Christ” can be developed. I often read the blogs on ESN so that I can be informed of controversial issues in higher education and the influence of the scripture on intellectual reasoning and constructs.

Note: Click here to learn about InterVarsity’s Black Scholars and Professionals (BSAP). Alice has written for ESN's blog.

Josh Shiver
Graduate student in history, Auburn

The Emerging Scholars Network has been the main point of intersection between my faith and my scholarly pursuits. With the connections that I have made through the ESN and the vast amount of resources that the network has provided, I now feel far more confident about being a Christian in a largely pluralistic and postmodern profession. As a graduate student, I don't feel so alone anymore as I know that the ESN and Intervarsity are behind me. Furthermore, I absolutely cannot wait to become involved in a faculty group down the road as God calls me to be a light in a secular university. Note: Josh has written for the ESN Blog.

Marc Baer
Professor of History and Department Chair, Hope College

One of the joys in reading Paul Anderson’s Professors Who Believe is to see how many of the faculty who tell their stories recall the role of their own undergraduate and graduate-school professors in understanding a call to the academy and then encouraging these young scholars in the transition from one side of the podium to the other. Because I believe that from an eternal perspective I have no higher calling than helping my students discern their calling, the work of the Emerging Scholars Network represents one of the most important developments in Christian higher education in a very long time. Note: Marc Baer’s the author of the ESN Web post What is Calling? Check out the blog to "read up" on his book Mere Believers: How Eight Faithful Lives Changed the Course of History (Eugene: Cascade Books, 2013).

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