Seeking a speaker for your district teachers’ in-service, your congregation or youth group, a science class, a business luncheon or an upcoming workshop?
Our Concordia University Chicago faculty and experts can address the needs of your group. To contact a speaker, email the Office of Marketing Communications at pr@cuchicago.edu or call (708) 209-3111. If you’re looking for a speaker on a specific topic not listed, please contact us and we’ll assist you.
Below you’ll find speakers who cover these topics and more:
FACULTY SPEAKERS AND THEIR AREAS OF EXPERTISE:
Name: Karin R. Anderson, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Psychology and Counselor Education
Expertise: Family relationships, identity, family relationships, relationships, single adulthood
Topics: “Cultivating women’s identity development in the midst of (and despite!) our most intimate relationships;” “Five things single women hate to hear … and how to deal with them;” “How to stay sane in a family that isn’t;” “It’s not just for teenagers anymore;” “Who am I? Identity development across the lifespan”
Name: Alton Clark Dubois, Ph.D.
Title: Professor of Social Work and Gerontology
Expertise: Death, elderly, social work
Topics: Death and dying; elder abuse; gerontology; social work
Name: The Rev. Michael Eschelbach, Ph.D.
Title: Professor of New Testament Studies and Greek
Expertise: The Bible; Christianity; Lutheran education; marriage; relationships
Topics: “Christian apologetics”; “Male/female relationships–marriage studies”; “Matrix matters: A study on media and faith”; “Lutheran education: Fundamentals and funding”; “Catechetical studies and confirmation”; “Predestination: Who is chosen and why?”; “Principals of Biblical interpretation”; “Revelation to St. John and end times”; “Studies in Paul and the law”; “The Christian in society”
Name: William Duey, Ph.D.
Title: Professor of Human Performance
Expertise: Christianity; exercise; Feed My Starving Children; the human body; wellness
Topics: “Current killers and stress management: An undeniable relationship exists”; “Energizing the body”; “Exercise and the role it plays in reducing chronic disease”; “Exercise and weight control”; “Fit–2–Serve: Gospel-centric model promotion wellness and wholeness”; “Osteoporosis and exercise”; “Stewardship of—not obsession with—health”; “Team building with strengths”; “Truth, lies, and weight management."
Name: Debra Herman, M.F.A.
Title: Assistant Professor of Art
Expertise: Art education, book art
Topics: “Discipline-based art education”; “Improving literacy through the book arts”; “Paper and the book arts”
Name: Carol Jabs, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Social Work
Expertise: Careers; family; grief; marriage
Topics: “Careers in social work”; “Ethical issues in clinical practice”; “Family life cycle transitions and changes”; “Loss and grief”; “Marital and family counseling”; “Marital and family issues”
Name: Ursula Ricketts, Ed.D.
Title: Assistant Professor of Teacher Education
Expertise: Education; counseling; curriculum; teacher training
Topics: Action research; affective education; art therapy; brain compatible classroom; character education; child counseling; community counseling; cultural relevance in curriculum; curriculum development; data analysis/data driven instruction; diversity in education; integrated reaching; interdisciplinary approach; learning styles; middle school education teacher training; reading and language arts strategies; school counseling; teaching styles
Name: Carol Reiseck, Ed.D.
Title: Dean, University College, Division of Innovation and Outreach
Expertise: Adult learning; teaching
Topics: Adult learning; learning organizations; teaching professionals
Name: David Rogner, Ph.D.
Title: Professor of English
Expertise: Christianity; poetry
Topics: Life of Christ in painting and poetry, including Nativity, Epiphany, miracles and teaching, encounters, suffering and death, and Resurrection and Ascension.
Name: David Settje, Ph.D.
Title: Assistant Professor of History and Political Science
Expertise: Cold War; Lutheran history; Vietnam War
Topics: “The Cold War and Vietnam Wars, 1964-1975: Lutheran reactions”; “Watergate and the Nixon presidency: Christian reactions”
Name: The Rev. Robert Sorensen, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Theology and Greek
Expertise: Christianity; The New Testament; theology
Topics: “The apostolic fathers and their writings”; “The community and theology of the Dead Sea Scrolls”; “Early Christian worship”; “Koine Greek of the Septuagint and New Testament”; “The New Testament writings”; “The social context of early Christianity”
Name: Jonathan Stahlke, D.M.A.
Title: Professor of Music
Expertise: Adoption; children; orphans; music; sacred music; worship
Topics: “Adopting from Ukraine”; “Adoption: 0 to 5 in three weeks: Our experience of sibling group adoption”; “Growing up abroad: experiences of a missionary kid in Latin America”; “How the village raises the child: Allowing and not allowing, then allowing again”; “How your congregation can meaningfully support widows and orphans”; “Music as worship, community, and human expression: developing an aesthetic position”; “The music of our worship: Contemporary society and the contemporary church”; “Signing to God in our time: Sacred music in the 20th century”; “The song of all songs (Song of Solomon) and its literary form”; “Training our church musicians: Where to start and how to proceed”; “Wandering minstrels: The experience of today’s musicians”; “What my children are teaching me about life”
Name: The Rev. Andrew Steinmann, Ph.D.
Title: Professor of Theology and Hebrew
Expertise: Aramaic language; apocalyptic literature; and the Bible
Topics: “A biblical view of prayer and the Christian’s life of prayer”; Aramaic language; apocalyptic literature; the Book of Daniel; the Book of Ezra; the Book of Nehemiah; the Book of Proverbs; inter-testamental literature; the Old Testament chronology; wisdom literature in the Bible
Name: Dan Tomal, Ph.D.
Title: Professor of Education
Expertise: Communication; education; leadership; networking; research; socializing
Topics: delivering outstanding customer service; differentiated instruction; discipline by negotiation; effective communications; learning styles; managing change and conflict; motivating teachers and students; negotiating with people; proactive leadership; teaching challenging students; teaching by values and character education (for educators and/or ministers); time management; understanding research; and using action research for church or school improvement (for educators, ministers)
Name: Rebecca Trueman, Ph.D.
Title: Assistant Professor of Biology
Expertise: Biology; climatology; environment; isotopes; plants
Topics: “Arctic change due to warming processes”; “Global change and the biosphere”; “Ecosystems and energy balance”; “Plant physiology”; “Urban environments, wildlife and environmental processes”; “Understanding the stable isotopes that surround us”
Name: Beth Venzke, Ph.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Psychology
Expertise: Adolescents; children; research; sexuality
Topics: Child and adolescent development; child and adolescent behavioral problems; family systems; human sexuality; research; statistical techniques; young adulthood development
Name: Dennis Witte, Ph.D.
Title: Vice President for Administration and Professor of Computer Science
Expertise: Computer science; technology
Topics: “Internet: Where is it headed?”; Internet in the classroom; Internet in the home; and Internet for the church office
Name: Lauren Wellen, Ed.D.
Title: Associate Professor of Education
Expertise: Early childhood; teaching; theology
Topics: “A woman after God’s own heart: A spiritual makeover”; “Brain compatible learning experiences in the language arts classroom”; “Current Issues and practices in early childhood classrooms”; “Early childhood: It’s always Jesus time in the early childhood classroom”; "Having a vociferous vocabulary: Words make a difference"; "How can I be a better reader: Comprehension strategies"; “The heart of teaching: A passion for teaching God's children”; "The sounds of our language: Oral language and phonemic awareness"; “Using the project approach as a complement to the curriculum."
Name: Steven Wente, D.Mus.
Title: Professor of Music, Chair, Department of Music
Expertise: Children’s choirs; music; worship
Topics: “Let the children sing”; “Music and worship: Addressing both reverence and relevance”; “Toward a more vibrant congregational song: Possibilities and challenges”; “Working with children’s choirs”
NOTE: The views and opinions of the speaker(s) listed above are not necessarily those of the University. Concordia admits students without regard to age, sex, creed, race, national or ethnic background or disability.