JOEL LENARD FROM
HOME
ADDRESS
(306) 756-2847
e-mail:
thefroms@sasktel.net
OFFICE
ADDRESS
Arts
and Science Division
(306) 756-3203
Fax: (306) 756-5500
e-mail:
jfrom@briercrest.ca
EDUCATION
Ph.D.
Philosophy, 1990. Emphasis in Political/Social Philosophy
MS Philosophy of Education,
1990.
BA Philosophy, 1982. summa cum laude
GPA: 3.85/4.0; Class Rank:
14/519
BRE Biblical Studies, 1981. summa cum laude
(Honors)
GPA 4.0/4.0
BRE Biblical Studies, 1980. summa cum laude
GPA 4.0/4.0;
Class Rank: 1/192
AREAS
OF ACADEMIC SPECIALTY
Political Philosophy, particularly early-modern and modern
Social
Philosophy, particularly eighteenth and nineteenth-centuries
Intellectual History of
Post-Revolutionary American Religion
AREAS
OF ACADEMIC COMPETENCE
History
of Philosophy
Modern Intellectual History
Interdisciplinary Studies, particularly within the
Humanities and Social Sciences
Social Sciences, particularly
sociology
AREAS
OF RESEARCH INTEREST
Intellectual history of
social/political philosophies, theology, and religion
The relation of social/political philosophy and ecclesiastic
practice and theory
The concept of indirection in liberal arts education
RESEARCH
IN PROGRESS
My
most recent paper on evangelical political theory in the early American
republic has been sent off for editorial review by a leading political theory
journal. It explores the contribution made by American evangelicals to theories
of public life in the period after 1800.
I
am currently working on an essay on evangelical purposiveness. This feature,
with its current embodiment in the “purpose-driven” movement, has a long
history in evangelicalism and western voluntarism. This paper, along with my
articles in Fides et Historia and Christian Scholar’s Review,
provide foundational material for a monograph on the intellectual sources
of American religious practices.
My
research is supported by an electronic database consisting of some 8100 primary
and secondary scholarly quotations. Currently, this database is organized under
some 4070 key words.
PUBLICATIONS
“The
Business of Government is Already Anticipated:” Evangelical Political Theory in
the
“The
Uniform Operations of Grace: Nature, Mind, and Gospel in Early
Nineteenth-Century Evangelicalism,” Fides
et Historia 38:1 (Spring 2006): 137-50.
“Antebellum
Evangelicalism and the Diffusion of Providential Functionalism,” Christian
Scholar’s Review 32:2 (Winter 2003): 177-201.
“The
Moral Economy of Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Activism,” Christian Scholar’s Review 30:1 (Fall 2000): 37-56.
“Engineering
Education as Schooling: Curricula, Data, and the Emergence of a Profession,” Proceedings of the World Conference on
Engineering Education,
“Review
of James Penning and Corwin Smidt, Evangelicalism: The Next Generation.
“Review
of Robert Webber, The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New
World,”
“Review
of Stephen Webb, Taking Religion to School: Christian Theology and Secular
Education,”
PRESENTATIONS
“The
Uniform Operations of Grace: Nature, Mind, and Gospel in Early Nineteenth
Century Evangelicalism.” Presented to the
“The
Uniform Operations of Grace: Nature, Mind, and Gospel in Early Nineteenth
Century Evangelicalism.” Presented to the Canadian Evangelical Theological
Association, in conjunction with the Congress of the Humanities and Social
Sciences,
“The
Moral Economy of Nineteenth-Century Evangelical Activism.” Presented to the
Annual Congress of the Canadian Philosophical Association,
“A
(Brief) Intellectual History of Programmatic Ministry,” Public Seminar,
“Up
(
“Engineering
Education as Schooling: Curricula, Data and the Emergence of a Profession,”
World Conference on Engineering Education,
“An
Intellectual History of the New Age Movement,” Chautauqua Institution,
PROFESSIONAL
ACTIVITIES AND MEMBERSHIPS
Society of Christian Philosophers
International Society for Intellectual History
ACADEMIC
AND OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCES
Professor of
Philosophy and Humanities
August
2006–present
Chair
Arts and Science Division
August 2004-present
Associate
Professor of Philosophy
January
1997–July 2006
Chair
Division
of General Education
September
1996–May 2002
Assistant
Professor of Philosophy
Division
of General Education
August
1995–December 1996
Postdoctoral
Fellow
September
1994–July 1995
Briercrest Seminary (ATS
accredited)
Permanent
Adjunct Faculty
September
1994–Present
Briercrest
Seminary
Visiting
Adjunct Faculty
July
1991–September 1994
HONOURS,
DISTINCTIONS, AND AWARDS
All-University Fellow of Syracuse
University, 1984–1986
Scored at the 96th percentile on the
GRE Advanced Test in Philosophy, 1982
National Dean’s List, Inducted 1981
Leading Scorer,
Semi-Finalist, Canadian Collegiate Hockey Championships,
1980
Honor Society of the AABC, Inducted
1980
Saskatchewan Government General
Proficiency Award, 1977
Nominee for Governor General’s
Award, 1977
Senior Proficiency Award,
Leading Scorer,
Three-Time
Valedictorian
PHILOSOPHY OF
EDUCATION
The Christian Liberal Arts: My
Educational Philosophy
Christian liberal
arts education is first of all Christian;
it acknowledges and demonstrates the governance of Christian belief over all
aspects of life. It refuses to accept a dichotomy between Christian belief and
what can be known about the world. Contrary to a popular notion, Christian
liberal arts education cannot simply approach its educational task as a matter
of “integrating” faith and reason since both faith and reason have been
continuously shaped by each other and their surrounding intellectual culture
throughout their histories. Part of the task of the Christian liberal arts is
therefore to elucidate the features and scope of their prior integration and mutual influence. Neither Christian nor
so-called secular thought encounters the other as wholly independent, related
only on the occasion of their “integration”.
Christian liberal
arts education acknowledges the importance of indirection in the development of the mind and Christian character.
Preparation for life and vocation is best accomplished when little or no
attention is paid to pragmatic serviceability. Christian liberal arts education
countenances issues, ideals, and ideas which are not currently in vogue and
which appear on first blush to be devoid of immediate application. It asserts
that the best preparation for an unpredictable future with its inscrutable
categories of usefulness is to concentrate on what has best served thoughtful
people heretofore.
Christian liberal
arts education is therefore not obsessively focused on bankable vocational
skills and the pursuit of the first job. It recognizes that the competencies
and character necessary for Christian service, living well, and long-term
professional success cannot be identified with what is typically demanded in
entry-level positions. Although what is learned in liberal arts settings is not
antithetical to vocational success (quite the contrary), a curricular
preoccupation with technical or professional training blinds the learner to
those non-technical aspects, character traits, and thinking processes which
animate excellent practitioners in every field.
Christian liberal
arts education acknowledges that the best things in life can only be fully
enjoyed if the learner has been suitably initiated. It is the general testimony
of those educated in the liberal arts that tutored encounters with the best of
western and non-western culture are sources of sustained delight. Aristotle was
right: some things are worthy of contemplation in themselves. Liberal arts education seeks to introduce students
to these permanent delights.
Christian liberal
arts education insists that interaction between senior learners (faculty),
junior learners (students), and texts (broadly conceived) is central to the
development of persons. Since these interactions are educative only when they
also occur outside of formal settings and curricula, specific places are required where they can be
nurtured. Hence, a residential experience is critical since it enables and
ensures that learners converse with each other and with things, ideas, and
objects of enduring value.
UNDERGRADUATE
INSTRUCTION
Course: Number
of Times Taught:
(As of April 2006)
Introduction to
Philosophy I 10
Introduction to
Philosophy II 10
Philosophy of
Religion 2
Social and Political
Philosophy 4
Philosophy of
Education 2
Introduction to
Sociology I 7
Introduction to
Sociology II 7
Introduction to
Christian World View 4
Advanced Studies in
Christian World Views 15
Introduction to
Psychology I 8
Introduction to
Psychology II 9
Internship
Supervisions 17
GRADUATE
COURSES INSTRUCTED
Administrative Theory and Design
Seminar on
the Theology of Wolfhart Pannenberg
Educational
Ministry of the Church
Evangelical
Ministry Methods: Concepts and Practices
RECENT SERVICE
ACTIVITIES
Consultations with
Arts and Science
Divisional Chair, August 1, 2004—Present
English Proficiency
Exam Co-ordinator, August 1, 2004—Present
Arts and Science
Humanities Program Co-ordinator, August 1, 2004—Present
Presentation to BCS
Advancement Department on Liberal Arts Learning, November 5, 2004
Presentation to the
BCS Board of Directors on Liberal Arts Learning, November 19, 2004
Consultations with
Interim President of BCS regarding Institutional Assessment, Spring 2005
Member of President’s
Committee on the BCS Mission Statement, Fall 2005
Chair, History Search
Committee, 2004-05; 2005-06
REFERENCES
Mark Noll, Ph.D., McManis Professor of Christian Thought
History
Department
e-mail:
Mark.Noll@wheaton.edu
(630)
752-5865
Fred Frohock, Ph.D., Professor
Department
of Political Science
100
Eggers Hall
(315)
443-3746
(315)
443-2416
e-mail:
ffrohock@syr.edu
Department of Civil Engineering
Private
Bag 4800
phone:
64 3 3642250 ext. 7395
e-mail:
j.mander@civil.canterbury.ac.nz
Bruce Hindmarsh, D.Phil., Houston
Professor of Spiritual Theology
e-mail: bhindmarsh@regent-college.edu
(604) 224-3245