College of Religious Education at BYU

[Archaea]

is not an Academic Department.

Interestingly, if you click onto Academic Departments, it doesn't list the College of Religious Education as an Academic Department. Somebody more familiar than I with university organizing of its component parts can tell me what the significance of a college is, but it seems a college is bigger than a department. And it seems BYU recognizes its Religion College is NOT oriented like Harvard or UNC or Duke's Divinity Schools, which are academically based. http://departments.byu.edu/

But rather, the purpose of the college is,

The mission of Religious Education at Brigham Young University is to assist individuals in their efforts to come unto Christ by teaching the scriptures, doctrine and history of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ through classroom instruction, gospel scholarship, and outreach to the larger community.

What's strange about the approach is it is one primarily designed to promote faithful membership in the Church, while claiming to rely in small part upon academic discipline, which of course it does not do.

In reality, it's a church institute, with a grander title. And if we were more direct about that, that would be cleaner, IMHO.

For example, if grades were shifted to pass/fail, and we made no pretense to be teaching history, as it is traditionally taught at the academic level. A more descriptive term would be religious tradition, not history in a classic sense. Religious tradition doesn't critically examine the merits of historical claims but rather teaches the tradition of the faith regarding certain events.

And any time "scholarship" is invoked, the mind turns to academic evaluation and review, not clerical familiarity with religious doctrine and tradition. BYU Religion promotes more religious clericism than scholarship.

It has taken me a while to see clearly what the mission of the College of Religious Education, as I had mistakenly wanted a traditional divinity college, not a seminary for promoting the faith. My mistake. Instead, the College is a device for strengthening the bonds to the faith. Yes, folks, I'm slow to see it in that light.

[MikeWaters]

I think it is somehow organized through the CES system.

I don't know if the religion faculty actually get things like tenure and full professorship.

It is essentially Sunday School through professional teachers.

One idea I have is allowing students to personalize their religious instruction...for example, if a student wants more of a historical thing, they could take Utah history classes.

I don't know if I've ever met a BYU student that truly liked those religion classes. But my sample is biased, because I probably only talked about them to people who were sympathetic to not liking them.

[Archaea]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

I think it is somehow organized through the CES system.

I don't know if the religion faculty actually get things like tenure and full professorship.

It is essentially Sunday School through professional teachers.

One idea I have is allowing students to personalize their religious instruction...for example, if a student wants more of a historical thing, they could take Utah history classes.

I don't know if I've ever met a BYU student that truly liked those religion classes. But my sample is biased, because I probably only talked about them to people who were sympathetic to not liking them.

I liked a few of my instructors, but the classes were mostly of little use.

I am surveying the field of instructors there, and one instructor seems misplaced. He has a Phd and everything, so him being hired somewhere doesn't sound particularly out of line, except that perhaps he should instruct somewhere other than his alma mater.

Examine if you will,



Dong Sull Choi

whose resume shows some qualifications at the international level,

Taught at BYU since 1987. B.A. from Korea University in English Literature and Language (1987); M.A. in International and Area Studies (1984) and Ph.D. in American History (1990), both from Brigham Young University. He and his wife, Kyung Ae Choi, have two sons.

He is listed in the "Church History" division, yet teaches "Gospel and World Religions."

Strange organization.

I can see he might have an understanding of eastern religions, with his fluency in Korean, a Korean degree, and Japanese and Chinese language capacities.

And then loads of the instructors are seminary or institute instructors.

[Archaea]

and yet, they have some whom have studied under Bart Ehrman, such as this guy,

http://religion.byu.edu/sing_fac.php....&l=Judd,%20Jr.

Frank F. Judd, Jr.

his credentials are mostly BYU but,

Born and raised in New Jersey. Served full-time mission to Sacramento, California. Married Jill Fillmore in the Salt Lake Temple. Five daughters—Megan, Carrie, Lisa, Amanda, and Emily. B.A. and M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU. M.A. and Ph.D. in New Testament and Early Christianity from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Full-time teacher at BYU since 1999.

[Archaea]

The manner in which some promote themselves is a bit humorous.

I will protect the individual from his own naivete,

one wrote,

I joined the Ancient Scripture faculty in June of 2000 after completing a Ph.D. in New Testament Studies at the Claremont Graduate School. Since coming to BYU, I have worked on several projects on the life of the Savior and the historical time period of His ministry. I am also involved in studying the manuscript tradition of the New Testament and what light it sheds on modern revelations such as the Joseph Smith Translation of the Bible. This work has helped me get involved in digitizing the Freer manuscript of the Gospels and Paul. I am currently serving as the Bishop of my home ward.

I suppose he is also intent upon using his TR as a credit reference.

[Archaea]

another's creds are

Born and raised in Australia. Participated in the Jerusalem Study Abroad in Fall 1987. Came to BYU as a student in 1989. Earned a B.A. and M.A. in Near Eastern Studies and a Ph.D. in New Testament at the Claremont Graduate University.

I don't know why but a lot seem to get their Phd from Claremont Graduate University.

[Archaea]

another has something from University of Chicago.

Born in Coeur d'Alene Idaho, raised in Pocatello, ID and Sandy, UT. Served full-time mission in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh Mission. Married Erin Pinney in 1997 and currently have three children: Emma, Jack and Sam. Received B.A. in International Relations from BYU; M.A. in Ancient Near Eastern Studies from BYU; M.A. and Ph.D. in Northwest Semitics from the University of Chicago. Worked as a part-time instructor before becoming an Assistant Professor in 2007.

Strange that BYU is requiring some academic credentials, without allowing them to act like academics. With the exception of few, it doesn't look like most of them publish.

[Archaea]

and then you get this, which is a strange resume for an academic hire,

Born in Provo, Utah. Raised in Utah, Texas, and California. Served a mission to Argentina Rosario. Married in 1978. Five children, two grandchildren. Bachelor's degree in Psychology; Masters degree in Counseling; Ph.D. in Family Studies. He has practiced for over twenty years as a Marriage and Family Counselor. Served in the Church as Bishop, member of the High Council, Counselor in Mission Presidency, Young Men's President, and Gospel Doctrine Teacher.

[Archaea]

Compare for example the resume of a random Chemical Engineering Professor, no nobody we know.

http://www.et.byu.edu/cheme/faculty/hecker/resume.html

Most significant recent publications, he lists

1. K. Puduppakkam, M.W. Beckstead, and W.C. Hecker, "Combustion Modeling of Butanetriol Trinitrate with Detailed Kinetics." Paper AIAA-2005-3770, 41st AIAA/ASME/SAE/ASEE Joint Propulsion Conference, Tucson, AZ, July 2005.
   D. Zeng, M. Clark, T. Gunderson, W.C. Hecker, and T.H. Fletcher, "Swelling Properties and Intrinsic Reactivities of Coal Chars Produced at Elevated Pressures and High Heating Rates," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute , 30, 2213-2221 (2005).
   W.C. Hecker, P.M. Madsen, M.R. Sherman, J.W. Allen, R.J. Sawaya, and T.H. Fletcher, "High Pressure Intrinsic Oxidation Kinetics of Two Coal Chars," Energy and Fuels 17 (2), 427-432 (March 2003).
   R.E. Terry, J.N. Harb, W.C. Hecker, and W.V Wilding, "Definition of Student Competencies and Development of an Educational Plan to Assess Student Mastery Level," International Journal of Engineering Education 18 (No. 2), 225-235 (2002).
   P.M. Madsen, T.H. Fletcher, and W.C. Hecker, "High Pressure Intrinsic Char Oxidation Kinetics of a Lignite Char," ACS Preprint, Div. Fuel Chem. 46 (No. 1), 318-320 (April 2001).
   J. Hong, W.C. Hecker, and T.H. Fletcher, "Modeling High Pressure Char Oxidation Using Langmuir Kinetics with An Effectiveness Factor," Proceedings of the Combustion Institute , Volume 28, pp. 2215-2223 (2000).
   E.B. Washburn, M.W. Beckstead, W.C. Hecker, J. Howe and C. Waroquet, "Modeling Condensed Phase Kinetics and Physical Properties in Nitramines: Effects on Burning Rate Temperature Sensitivity." 37th JANNAF Combustion Meeting CPIA-PUB-701-VOL-1 (2000): 309-318.
   J. Hong, W.C. Hecker, and T.H. Fletcher, "Improving the Accuracy of Predicting Effective-ness Factors for m-th Order and Langmuir Rate Equations in Spherical Coordinates," Energy & Fuels 14 ( 3 ), 663-670 (May 2000).
   R.J. Sawaya, J.W. Allen, W.C. Hecker, T.H. Fletcher, and L.D. Smoot, "Kinetics of High Pressure Char Oxidation," ACS Preprint, Div. Fuel Chem. 44 (No. 4), 1016-1019 (Aug 1999).
   Feng Guo and W.C. Hecker, "Kinetics of NO Reduction by Char: Effects of Coal Rank," Twenty-Seventh Symposium (International) on Combustion, The Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, pp.3085-3092 (1998).
   Feng Guo and W.C. Hecker, "Effects of CaO and Burnout on the Kinetics of NO Reduction by Beulah Zap Char," Twenty-Sixth Symposium (International) on Combustion, The Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, pp.2251-7 (1996).
   W.C. Reade, K.W. Morris, and W.C. Hecker, "Modeling the Effects of Burnout on High-Temperature Char Oxidation." Coal Science and Technology 24, Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 639, 1995.
   F. Guo and W.C. Hecker, "Kinetics of NO Reduction with Beulah Zap Char: The Effect of CaO," Paper #95- F9, WSS/CI, Stanford, Oct.1995.
   W.C. Reade, K.W. Morris, and W.C. Hecker, "Modeling the Effects of Burnout on High-Temperature Char Oxidation." Coal Science and Technology 24, Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, pp. 639, l995.
   F. Guo and W.C. Hecker, "Kinetics of NO Reduction with Beulah Zap Char: The Effect of CaO," Paper #95- F9, WSS/CI, Stanford, Oct.1995.
   R.F. Cope, C.B. Arrington, and W.C. Hecker, "Effect of CaO Surface Area on Intrinsic Char Oxidation Rates for Beulah Zap Chars," Energy & Fuels 8 (5), 1095 (Sept/Oct 1994).
   C.H. Bartholomew and W.C. Hecker, "Catalytic- Reactor Design: Keep the Catalyst in Mind from the Beginning," invited feature report in Chem.Engin. , pp. 70, June 1994.
   R.F. Cope, C.R. Monson, G.J. Germane, and W.C. Hecker, "Improved Diameter, Velocity, and Temp. Measurements for Char Particles in Drop Tube Reactors." Energy & Fuels 8(4), 925 (July/Aug 1994).
   P. B. Rasband and W. C. Hecker, "Catalyst Characterization Using Quantitative FTIR: CO on Supported Rh." J. Catalysis 139 (No. 2), (1993).
   W.C. Hecker, K.M. McDonald, W. Reade, M. Swenson, and R.F. Cope, "Effects of Burnout on Char Oxidation Kinetics," 24th Symposium (International) on Combustion, The Combustion Institute, Pittsburgh, 1225 (1992).
   W.C. Hecker, M.D. Wardinsky, P.G. Clemmer, and P.B Rasband, "Molybdena, Ceria, and Niobia Addition to Supported Rh Catalysts: Effects on NO Reduction by CO," Progress in Catalysis, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Studies in Surf. Sci. Catal. 73, 211 (l992).
   K. M. McDonald, W. D. Hyde, and W. C. Hecker, "Low Temperature Char Oxidation Kinetics: Effect of Preparation Method." Fuel 71, 319 (1992).
   M.D. Wardinsky and W. C. Hecker, "The Effect of Molybdenum Addition to Rh/SiO2 Catalysts: Appearance of a Second Rhodium-Dicarbonyl Species," J. of Phys. Chem. 92 (No. 9), 2602 (l988).
   W. C. Hecker and R. B. Breneman, "The Effect of Weight Loading and Reduction Temperature on Rh/Silica Catalysts for NO Reduction by CO," Catalysis and Automotive Pollution Control, Elsevier, Amsterdam, Studies in Surf. Sci. Catal. 30, 257 (l987).

The jumbled format is the software here, not the good doctor's. How'd he sneak in there, he looks like a real academic.

[Archaea]

or another randomly selected chemical engineering professor,

Co-author on 1 book and 1 book chapter • 42 peer-reviewed publications
• Advisor on 6 M.S. Theses and 2 Ph.D. Dissertations
• 83 presentations at national or international technical meetings
Major Coal-Related Models Developed
• Chemical Percolation Devolatilization (CPD) model for coal pyrolysis (1992)
• Pulverized Coal Gasification and Combustion in 2-dimensions (PCGC-2) (1983)
Professional Organizations
• The Combustion Institute
• ACS Division of Fuel Chemistry