The SPU Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development was founded in 2002 to promote scholarship and to assist faculty in their work as teacher-scholars. The Center’s mission is to encourage the best Christian thinkers of our day to engage the culture and change the world. By supporting cutting-edge scholarship, teaching, and mentoring, the Center serves SPU faculty and students, the wider academy, and the Christian community.
History | Friday @ the Center | Center Staff
History
Beginning with the inaugural Day of Common Learning in October 2002 featuring Stephen Carter and the theme of “Integrity,” the CSFD has contributed to a campus climate in which research, writing, creating, teaching, and learning are understood and valued as Christian vocations, with programs such as the Day of Common Learning, major campus lectures featuring both SPU and visiting speakers, and support for undergraduate research.
The Center’s university-wide faculty development programs include opportunities, resources, and support in four areas: teaching, scholarship, mentoring, and grant writing. The Center also serves as the home for various academic programs funded by outside grants, recently including the Hewlett Capstone Project, the Lilly PTEV SERVE Program, and the Lilly Fellows Network Mentoring Program.
Friday @ the Center
Friday @ the Center is a weekly e-newsletter distributed to all SPU full-time and adjunct faculty members each Friday during the academic term. It contains teaching tips, notifications of grant opportunities, upcoming lectures and workshops, and other news related to the work of the Center. These archives highlight items of perennial rather than time-bound interest.
Center Staff
Director of the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development:
Susan VanZanten, Director of SERVE, Director of The Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development, and Professor of English
Library, Suite 306 | 206.281.2152 | vanzan@spu.edu
Susan holds a B.A. in English from Westmont College 1978 and an M.A. in American Literature in 1981 and a Ph.D. in American Literature in 1982 both from Emory University. She has worked in faculty development for the past twelve years, both with the CCCU and at SPU as the Director of the New Faculty Seminar.
Her publications include Literature Through the Eyes of Faith, with Roger Lundin (1989); The Story of South Africa: J.M. Coetzee's Fiction in Context (1991); Postcolonial Literature and the Biblical Call to Justice (1994); and Truth and Reconciliation: The Confessional Mode in South African Literature (2002). Susan has been at SPU since 1993.
Administrative Assistant of the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development:
Anna Miller , Administrative Assistant, CSFD
Library, Suite 306 | 206.281.2003 | amiller@spu.edu
Anna has been the Center's Administrative Assistant since August 2007. Prior to this she served as Administrative Assistant to the Dean in the School of Theology for two years. Before joining the SPU staff she was Administrative Assistant to two Vice Presidents in the Victoria's Secret Beauty New York Corporate Office and Office Manager of the vintage clothing showroom, What Comes Around Goes Around. She earned her B.A. in Music, Vocal Performance, and minor in Christian Scriptures from SPU, and is currently pursuing a Master's of Divinity at SPU. When not coordinating scholarship and faculty development she can be found studying, serving at The Church of the Undignified and performing with her husband, Eric Miller.
Grant Writer of the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development:
Laura Lundahl, Academic Grant Writer
Walls Advancement Center | 206.281.2589 | lundahl@spu.edu
Laura has been on staff since March 2007. Prior to this Laura served as a consultant for SPU since 2003. Laura has been in the nonprofit industry since 1999. She has experience reviewing and allocating applications for private and federal funding, and has successfully secured many grants, both as an employee of the Secretary of State and various nonprofits, and as a consultant. Laura teaches grant writing in an annual workshop for the national Center for Nonprofit Success. She earned her B.A from Washington State University, and attended the University of Northern Iowa for her M.A., where she studied nonprofit administration. Laura currently serves in volunteer capacities at International Rescue Committee, Seattle branch.