SPU Volleyball is offering a 20% discount (code: SPUSTAFF) on their Intermediate (7th–11th grade) and Lil’ Falcs (4th–7th grade) youth summer volleyball camps. More details can be found here!

Students in the multimedia journalism class will debut their Blakely Island Field Station Website Presentation on Tuesday, June 4, at 1 p.m. in Eaton 112. They are rebuilding and updating the Blakely Island website. Each group will present some of their stories and the new look of the site, which hasn't been updated since 2018.

The SPU Art Department is pleased to present the 2024 Senior Visual Communication Design exhibition titled, "Mosaic." This culmination of design work features projects by students Erin Carty, Micky Flores-Nieves, Charlie Hill, Grace Horn, Brianna Ingram, Cole Johnson, Gloria Lee, and Sophia Ochs. By definition, mosaics are “different pieces that come together to make something bigger than themselves," By bringing their unique perspectives, strengths, and talents, they were able to create something truly magical. When their skills and designs were put together, they became Mosaic.  Look at the students work on their class website spu.edu/viscom24 or follow them on Instagram @spuviscom24/.

The exhibition runs through Friday, June 7. 

The Music Department presents a Chamber Music concert on Wednesday, June 5, 7:30 p.m., in Nickerson Studios. The concert will feature multiple student-led ensembles in a variety of genres under the direction of Dainius Vaicekonis, associate professor of piano, and Jan Nelson, assistant professor of music.

The 10th of each month is the last day to make changes to your upcoming payroll check. Do you need to add or remove your spouse and/or children from your health care plans? If so, contact Human Resources (HR) to complete the appropriate form. Changes might include events that are expected to impact your benefits and deductions, such as your spouse or children gaining or losing coverage due to employment, birth, marriage, etc.

Additionally, any changes to your 403b account may take up to seven days to be provided to SPU for processing, so please contact Transamerica by the first of the month prior to your requested change. For changes to your 403(b) account, contact Transamerica Retirement Solutions at 1-888-676-5512 (5 a.m.–6 p.m. PST), or 1-800-755-5801. If you have any other benefits-related changes, call Cherylin Shdo in HR at 206-281-2816.

After Commencement, the Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published every other week during the summer. The next deadline is Thursday, June 6. The next issue will be published Monday, June 10. The following issue will be published Monday, June 24.

If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible with an image or graphic to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity.

A new article by Matthew Benton, associate professor of philosophy, titled "The Epistemology of Interpersonal Relations," was published in the journal Noûs. The article is on how to think about the epistemology of knowing other people relationally. It also was featured in a write-up on New Work in Philosophy, a blog showcasing recent scholarship in philosophy.

Professor of Art History Katie Kresser was featured in the most recent issue of Advance, the official magazine of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. She was interviewed for the article "Resisting Reductionism in a Fragmented Age." Katie was also recently featured in Christian Teacher's Journal, published by Australia's National Institute for Christian Education, writing on the topic of consumer trends among students. Finally, Katie was recently interviewed on the Purposeful Lab podcast, discussing the topic "Why do we need art?"

Sara Shaban, assistant professor of communication, will be among the featured presenters at an online workshop titled "Teaching Toward Diversity and Justice in Christian Higher Education" on July 7. The workshop will be facilitated by Peg Achterman, associate professor of journalism, and is hosted by the Christianity & Communication Studies Network. Following their individual presentations, the contributors will participate in a roundtable discussion about their experiences and insights as diverse faculty at Christian universities.

A new book by Al Erisman, executive in-residence emeritus in the School of Business, Economics, and Government, titled Living with Purpose in a Polarizing World: Guidance from Biblical Narratives, was recently released. In the book, Al and co-author Randy Pope look carefully at the lives of 12 biblical characters who also lived in “challenging times” for guidance in navigating our post-Christian world. Rejecting assimilation, withdrawal, anger, fear, and power-seeking, we are challenged today to live with humility, influence, and grace. 

An essay by Alberto Ferreiro, professor emeritus of European history, titled “Visigoths, Sueves, Vandals and Alans: Shifting Attitudes toward Barbarians in Sources of Late Antique Hispania and Gregory of Tours," was published in Visigoths, Goths, and Early Medieval Barbarians in Popular Culture, Visigothic Symposium 5. Networks & Neighbors (2024) 40-68. The essay begins with Bishop Hydatius of Chaves (c. 400-469) since he was one of the earliest commentators about the initial entry of the barbarian tribes into Hispania. At the other end, Bishop Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636) offers a view that had developed later about these tribes, notably the Visigoths. He is supplemented with the writing of John of Biclar (c. 540-post-621), the acts of the Third Council of Toledo (589), and Bishop Leander of Seville’s (c. 534-600) homily delivered at that same council. The words of Bishop Gregory of Tours (c. 538/39-594), too, have been included for two reasons: one, to offer an external view of the barbarians that settled in Hispania, and secondly, because he had knowledge of many events in Hispania. Read together, these writers reveal changing attitudes about the nonindigenous people that settled permanently, some more than others, in Hispania beginning in the fifth century. This essay is part of a collection of essays that traces these changing attitudes across the Middle Ages to the present day events in current popular culture.