APT at AAR 2016: "Practical Theology for Politically Charged Situations"

The Association of Practical Theology is pleased to announce details for our session at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion in Atlanta, Georgia. Please share these details with all who would be interested. We look forward to a terrific program.
Practical Theology for Politically Charged Situations
Friday 20 November, 3:00-6:00, Marriott Marquis Room M101
Presider: Boyung Lee, Pacific School of Religion
(1) Presenters: Reginald Blount, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and Virginia Lee, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary: “We Who Believe in Freedom Cannot Rest: Pedagogies of Justice”
During the summer of 2015, Dr. Reginald Blount and Dr. Virginia Lee will lead a course, at the Children’s Defense Fund Proctor Institute for Child Advocacy Ministry at Haley Farm, for seminary or divinity/theological school students who wish to engage and cultivate necessary prophetic voices with communities on the margins of theological education—in particular, those communities contending against systemic injustices perpetuating the intersectionalities of racist and economic struggles that directly impact children and youth. We will share our learnings and insights from this experience about how this type of contextual learning can help to form public leaders who can facilitate organizing/reorganizing of churches and theological schools as justice-making communities.
(2) Presenters: Mai-Anh Le Tran, Eden Theological Seminary, and Leah Gunning Francis, Eden Theological Seminary
“Taking it to the Streets: Practicing Theology at the Intersections of Ferguson and Faith”
Just as fifty years in the aftermath (“after-burn”), this nation asks what lessons Selma teaches, fifty years from now, a new generation will ask, “What did Ferguson teach?” If practical theology is invested in interpreting situations, then what new questions and answers might the events of Ferguson pose for the grounding of theology in rain-/blood-soaked streets like Canfield Drive? We will offer vignettes from Ferguson, including interviews with local clergy activists, and present implications for practical theology’s pedagogical tasks.
Business Meeting: Tom Beaudoin, Fordham University