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The Well Features

Here at The Well, you will find an ever-growing library of resources, news, and events to encourage and challenge you for the work of following Jesus as a woman in the academy and professions. On this page we feature our most recent highlights.

Featured Resources

		Voices: Regina Sun We caught Regina Sun as she returned to work after maternity leave and quizzed her on life, faith, work, and family.

		Making Margins, Part 2 Chrissy Jeske promised to report back on her effort to create margins in her life. How did she do?

		How to Find the Right Church After Grad School Finding the right church can be a struggle after experiencing close grad school fellowships.

		Christian Faculty in Secular Colleges and Universities: Challenges and Opportunities for Integration Professor Christy Moran Craft reports on a qualitative research study designed to look at how Christian faculty members express their faith within public institutions.

		Between the Academy and a Profession MFA grad Rebecca Rogers considers faith in the midst of endless job applications in unresponsive directions.

		Alone in a (Church) Crowd Author Diane Paddison recognizes the isolation many academic and business women have in their churches and gives suggestions for change.

		Wheat "Wheat dies so many times," writes poet and artist Stephanie Gehring as she begins this Lenten meditation.

		Dear Mentor: Transparency in the Social Sciences In social sciences, I'm often asked to explain the values motivating my research. How do I respond with the truth in an antagonistic setting?

		Giving up a Grad Student Approach to God Carrie Francis realized her relationship with God was suffering even as she filled her spare time in grad school with ministry.

		A Full Education Grad student Katelin Hansen builds relationships across racial and socioeconomic lines while lamenting the lack of diversity in graduate programs.

		Lenten Resources at The Well Find a Bible study for Lent, a retreat guide, and reflections here at The Well.

		Entering into Lent: A Retreat Guide As you enter into the season of Lent, we offer this guided study of John 11 as a tool for deepening your spiritual journey with Jesus.

		Dear Mentor: Shall I leave my PhD studies for the real world? A PhD student who does not want to end up in academia considers whether she should leave her program.

		Ten Ideas for Valentine's Day Ambivalent about Valentine's Day? Our writers suggest ten ways to make Valentine's Day memorable.

		The Art of Conversation Sharon Gartland encourages us to be willing to listen well and process communally in this election year.

		Making Margins Margins make a visual design — and a life — more appealing. But, Chrissy Jeske asks, how do we make that space?

		Remembering Helen Hynes Hill: An Interview with InterVarsity President Alec Hill As a single mother, she worked as a beloved and dedicated teacher, studied for her PhD, and raised three boys — including InterVarsity president Alec Hill. The Well interviewed Alec about her influence on his life.

		What I Wish My Pastor Knew About... The Life of a Scientist Andy Crouch, married to physicist Catherine Crouch, describes the scientific life itself as a vocation that can reflect the image of God — a vocation to be attended to and prayerfully encouraged and supported.

		An Invitation from God: Healing from Catastrophic Thinking Spiritual Director and author Adele Calhoun recounts her own experience looking for the invitation God might have for her in the midst of too much to do.

		Dear Mentor: On the job search, how can I market myself with humility? How do I sell myself on the job market and still be the humble, loving person God calls me to be?

		Advent: God's Invitations Calling advent "a very female season," Sharon Gartland considers how we hear and respond to God's invitations.

		An Indian Academic's Unexpected Path Writer Kami Rice introduces us to the story of Susheila Williams' perseverance in obtaining her advanced degrees and the remarkable work she has since accomplished.

		Living Out My Vocation as a Female Professor Sociology professor Margarita Mooney, with the help of Edith Stein, considers how women can reclaim a feminine ethos in all walks of life.

		Tending Your Relationship with God through Spiritual Direction Sara Scheunemann describes her own experience with spiritual direction and its place in deepening her relationship with God.

		Open Call for the New Amateur Film maker Lauralee Farrer advocates for a work ethic that produces profound art and profound lives.

		Trust in His Call: Wait What happens when you are unable to pursue what you believed to be God's call? Jean Geran shares from her own experience and highlights two reminders for those going through times of dryness and frustration.

		Rock Polishing Nikki Toyama-Szeto wonders why we as Christians try to look like well-polished specimens rather than enter the rock-tumbler that might actually reveal — and heal — our flaws.

		Dear Mentor: Finding an advisor in the sciences? What should I look for as I'm seeking an academic advisor for my PhD program in the sciences?

		Thoughtful Faith and Faithful Thought Jayme Yeo finds her academic work and her faith can richly inform each other and gives practical resources for work and faith integration.

		Opals English professor Angie Crea O'Neal considers the mysteries of the opal, her October birthstone, in this creative non-fiction reflection for The Well.

		I'll Be Singing Returning to graduate school and overwhelmed with the added responsibilities of being a spouse, parent, and homeowner, Chrissy Jeske found encouragement in an unexpected place.

		Beginning Well: Advice for New Grad Students Here are helpful articles to help you survive and thrive in grad school.

		Living into the Promise of Graduate School Graduate student Jayme Yeo describes the opportunities and obstacles for spiritual, personal, and professional growth in grad school.

		Fight, Flight, or Flourish? ABD. Grace Chiu considers how to respond to this challenging time in the life of a graduate student.

		Hide-and-Seek God Do you experience the joy of God's playfulness? Carmen Acevedo Butcher finds evidence of it in the literature she studies and in her life.

		Resting In God: A Lesson in Giving Up the Control I Never Had Writer Sharri Bockheim Steen wonders how we can possibly feel secure in this insecure world.

		How Does Your Garden Grow? Sharon Gartland recognizes the need for a master gardener to tend her flourishing but sometimes unruly life.

		Home — The Heart's Deep Longing Where is home? For writer Priscilla Lasmarias Kelso, having lived in several countries, the question is real. But the question and the longing for a permanent address apply to us all.

		The Little Way Grad faculty staff Kathy Tuan-MacLean considers if we are really to bring good news to the academy, perhaps we needed to embody the opposite.

		Dear Mentor: Should I change my name? I'm getting married and wondering whether to change my name. What should I consider professionally and personally?

		Heading East Join writer Kami Rice as she takes a second trip to India, eager to explore questions touched off by her first visit. The Well borrows this blog post from the Emerging Scholars Network (ESN).

		Growing Connections in Business: Sandra Diaz Taking seriously the question, "What are God's priorities for your background, skills, education, experience, and networks?" Sandra Diaz begins a start-up for Latina entrepreneurs.

		Women in the Academy & Professions 2010 Survey Results Who is reading The Well? Find out in this summary and see which articles fellow readers are recommending.

		Dear Mentor: Should I take on a large debt for grad school? Does God ever ask us to take on significant student loan debt to enter a graduate program?

		On Tutorhood Freelance writer Adele Konondyk sees tutoring an adult literacy student as an act of kindness as much as it is an act of teaching.

		Make Peace with Your Whole Crazy Family Sharon Gartland longs to have her academic friends meet Jesus, but wrestles with introducing them to her fellow Christians.

		The Spiritual Discipline of Indifference Passionate about almost everything, the call to indifference takes Kathy Tuan-MacLean by surprise.

		Unlikely Witnesses Jo Kadlecek considers why women were called to be the first observers of the resurrection and what we can learn from their story.

		I'd say I've found my footing Focused on completing a PhD, Stephanie Magdalena White grieves the choice she's put on hold.

		Voices: Angela Prater Community college professor Angela Prater encourages Christians to confront issues of workplace discrimination.

		Making Space for God in a College Classroom Writing professor Heather Holleman invites students into her home and into her life.

		The Wheels Are Coming Off! Sharon Gartland reflects on creating a life with margin in the midst of family, job, and life stresses.

		To Do What I Am Able Diana Mao co-founded Nomi Network to use education and enterprise to help put an end to human trafficking.

		Compulsive Comparisons Comparing oneself to others can reach new heights when the comparison is based on the progress of a dissertation.

		Investment Values Sarah Pechan calls readers to not contribute to poverty production with their funding and gives resources for socially responsible investing.

		Wrestling with God A fighter and questioner by nature learns to love asking questions about her faith.

		God Said "No" With her own experience in mind, author Chrissy Jeske rejects self-pity and bitterness and considers the window God provides.

		Singularities Poet Luci Shaw shares the delight of the creative process, "when that random pebble of an image discovers its true home."

		Dear Mentor: How do I deal with a difficult advisor? Dear Mentor: I am working with a very difficult advisor and wondering if I should leave my program.

		Finding Life In-between Jamie Noyd gives examples from literature, the Bible, and her own work of lives changing in "liminal" moments.

		Broken For You When Jamie Yeo is asked to serve communion at her church, she is terrified of being called out, "Hey, who let you in? What do you think you're doing?" until her thought is claimed by another idea.

		Navigating Singleness: Finding Love That Will Not Let You Go Amid the cacophony of advice from well-meaning friends, writer Grace Chiu finds the most difficult counsel she's had to wrestle with is from God himself.

		You Are Not Alone Whether single or married, the experience of loneliness occurs, but that does not mean we are alone.

		The Gift of Discipline Graduate student Jenn Anderson finds in her new discipline of running, lessons for engagement and challenge in all areas of her life.

		Clinker Bricks A professor of the history of Christianity learns to tell the truth about the giants of the faith and about herself.

		Voices: Susan Cross A professor of social psychology shares her interest in her field and its application to the church.

		Finding God in Literature Though living hundreds of years apart, T. S. Elliot and Julian of Norwich both affirmed that in Christ, "all shall be well and all manner of thing shall be well."

		Dear Mentor: Advice for the Single Life Dear Mentor: I see a lot of writing at The Well about balancing life with family and children, but I am single. This isn't my choice, but it is where I am. Do you have anything to say to me as a single woman?

		Spiritual Difficulties on the Job Market A PhD grad shares her experience searching for an academic position in the humanities.

		Voices: An Update from Andrea Van Wyk A medical resident shares how her life has changed and wrestles with what will be the next step in her career.

		Seeking Environmental Justice in Southeast Asia Laura Yoder's experience with small scale tropical farmers and their political environment has transformed her practice and her teaching.

		Great Expectations Data indicates happiness is declining for women worldwide, even in the face of greater opportunity and freedom. Halee Gray Scott suggests how Christian women might respond.

		Voices: Lucy Aguirre PhD student Lucy Aguirre works with the fundamental building blocks of life.

		The Thousand Gifts What difference might it make to record a list of God's gifts? Author Ann Voskamp found it life-changing.

		Do I Measure Up? Chrissy Jeske recognizes the pressures of being "measured," whether for grad school, jobs, or in relationships.

		A Grad School Experience: From Disillusionment to Renewal A postdoc in the sciences describes the challenges of her grad school career and her path back to hope and passion.

		At a Loss for Words: Finding Prayer Through Liturgy, Silence, and Embodiment At an unaccustomed loss for words, Tish Harrison Warren discovers prayer in liturgy, silence, and embodiment.

		Keepin' It Real Author Margot Starbuck challenges women in leadership to set others free from false ideas of beauty by "keeping it real" themselves.

		Dear Mentor: Coping with grief during grad school? How do I deal with the pressures of grad school while grieving the death of my mother?

		Of Acts Ongoing An anthropologist of religion describes her experience with new believers in Zambia and how, as in the book of Acts, conversion brings a reexamination of culture.

		Considering a Christian College Calling The question of calling doesn't end with what the career will be. Where you pursue your calling is nearly as significant.

		The Commuting Life Susanna Childress describes her experience dividing life between a teaching position in Indiana and a home in Michigan.

		2010 Survey of Readers at The Well Add your voice to the 2010 Survey for The Well and Women in the Academy & Professions.

		Dear Mentor: Have I missed my calling? I believe God has given me intellectual gifts, but I have had a hard time settling into the right place to engage them.

		Print Resources to Know Check out these books we think would interest readers at The Well.

		Voices: Janine Giordano Drake Meet US history scholar and ESN blogger Janine Giordano Drake.

		Good Brothers: Suitable Accommodations Professor Nick Balster's modifications to a university teaching lab help graduate women with young children stay active and engaged in their research programs.

		Re-imagining Hope What purpose does art have in the church and in our world? Artist Bobbette Rose travels to Africa and back considering the question.

		Chasing Superwoman: A Working Mom's Adventures in Faith and Life Lawyer and mother Susan DiMickele introduces her book, Chasing Superwoman, as she describes her life, seeking to serve God in the home and the marketplace.

		A Tree Grows on Campus Biblical imagery of the tree is particularly relevant to the work and presence of Christian professors on campus.

		Reflection: Why I Teach A biology professor sees a garden as she cultivates her students' growth and delights in their bloom.

		Daily Bread Angie Crea O'Neal reflects on her time at last year's Faculty Conference at Cedar Campus, remembering that what we really need is often lost in lives of so much gain.

		The Stair-Runner Halee Gray Scott finds her calling making connections between the colonnade and the cathedral.

		Reflection: Poured Out Is what you've done good enough? What do you do when you feel all your hard work has been for nothing?

		Good Brothers: Whatever Is Necessary Steve Turley plants himself proudly in the professional shadow of his gifted wife, encouraging her success in specific ways.

		Mud Is Joyful Author Christine Jeske finds joy in the mud and muck of life and calls us to enter in.

$a section from He Qi\'s \$		Arts: Being Still Reflect on the call to stillness through poetry and painting.

		Dangerous Truths and True Dangers: Can — and Should — Christians Read Novels? English professor Laura Veltman finds Truth in fiction and gives some suggested readings.

		Damascus through Jerusalem A graphic artist reflecting on her journey of faith discovers even the pieces that don�t ﬁt, ﬁt.

		Taste of Urbana 09 Sharon Gartland connects readers with compelling presentations from Urbana 09.

		Goodbye, Internet! Carmen Acevedo Butcher describes her plans to step away from a daily dance with the Internet and hunker down in the quiet of Lent.

		Living Water: The Examen Ann Boyd leads us through this sixteenth century spiritual discipline making us more sensitive to the work of God in our lives.

		Return of the Ezer Carolyn Custis James' study of the Hebrew word ezer changed how she thinks of herself and how she understands God's call to women.

		Living the Christian Year: Time to Inhabit the Story of God In his recently published book, GFM director Bobby Gross calls us to let the liturgical year give shape to our devotional life.