APU Presents 23rd Annual Common Day of Learning

AZUSA, CA— Azusa Pacific University presents the 23^rd annual William E. and Ernest L. Boyer Common Day of Learning (CDL) on Tues., Feb. 24, on West Campus, located at 701 E. Foothill Blvd., in Azusa. This campus–wide multidisciplinary conference dedicated to the commemoration and celebration of academic discovery features scholarly seminars with faculty, students, and guest presenters. The theme for this year’s conference is “To Know as We are Known” (1 Cor. 13:12). The public is invited to attend the free daylong event.

Keynote speaker, Mary Poplin, PhD, a professor of educational studies at Claremont Graduate University, delivers her address entitled, “Jesus, Who Do You Say We Are?” Poplin earned her doctorate in education from the University of Texas, and began her career teaching elementary school and special education. She later became a professor at Claremont Graduate University, where she served as director of the Teacher Education program for 10 years and later dean of the School of Educational Studies for 4 years. From 1995-2000, Poplin worked with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India. She authored two books: Is Reality Secular? Testing the Assumptions of Four Global Worldviews (2013), and Finding Calcutta: What Mother Teresa Taught Me About Meaningful Work and Service (2008).

Notable lectures include:

• “Social Media and Professionalism”

  Speakers: Ryan Montague, PhD, Department of Communication Studies, Lambda Pi Eta; Dori Eisenthal, Avalon Wade, and James Dearborn, undergraduate communication studies

• “Our Brain on God: The Science of Our Relationship with the Divine”

  Speakers: Lori Lacy, PsyD, University Counseling Center; Caroline Carter, MA, University Counseling Center, Department of Graduate Psychology

• “Panel Discussion: Portrayals of Women in Entertainment”

  Speakers: Thomas Parham, PhD, Department of Cinematic Arts; Lauri Deason, screenwriter/playwright; Susan Isaacs, actor/comedian/writer; Sarah Smick, actor/writer/director; Rita Bakelaar undergraduate cinematic arts, and Chloe Crouso, undergraduate screenwriting

• “Suffering, Disability, and the Helping Professions: A Spirituality of Advocacy and Action”

  Speakers: Paul Shrier, PhD, Department of Practical Theology; John Swinton, PhD, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, director of Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability