Since September I have been trying to figure out how to make everything fall into alignment - how do I make my PhD bring benefit to (1) my work as a pastor, (2) my background in linguistics and TESOL and (3) introduce an original contribution to the academy.
On Oct 2 I ran out to the TESL Canada Conference because it was in my backyard (well technically in Banff but I have a pretty big backyard). The keynote for the day was Dr. Bonnie Norton. She presented on Identity and Language Learning. It was amazing! She was answering questions I was trying to formulate on multiculturalism and the multiple identities L2 learners hold. One of the thinkers she referenced was Homi Bhabha from Harvard. I have spent the week working through articles from Norton and Bhabha. Both authors talk a lot about the Third Space that gets created when cultures come together - in a society (Bhabha), in a classroom (Norton), or in church (c'est moi).
I finally have a sense of what my research will look like. I want to look at the way that we 'translate culture' in a third place context such as a ethnically diverse congregation. The leadership question is how we architect this third place so we don't default to the hiving tendencies of multiculturalism which can create as much ethnocentrism as it dispels (kinda like a fridge creates cold but puts off a lot of heat to do so). I will look at the role of the teacher/pastor in this as well as the unique people that will 'sign on' for this kind of community. One of the benefits of studying at Eastern is that they have a number of top notch scholar/practitioners. Among them is Dr HeeWon Chang (she has done a lot of work on autoethnography in education) and I am looking forward to studying with her in the next on-site as she brings a strong anthro background into the mix. As I dig up more resources I will post on them. I am genuinely, academically, ecclesiologically excited about this research!!
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