A Workshop Series for Doctoral Students
Northwestern University
Doctoral students grappled the applications of Christian understandings of justice to their own work — from foster care placements and ride-sharing algorithms to UK public health and generative AI.
About the gathering
In a three-part GFI Workshop series, co-convened with InterVarsity Graduate Student Ministry, doctoral students from engineering, business, operations research, neuroscience, and sociology studied GFI’s first book, Justice and Rights: Nicholas Wolterstorff in Conversation with the University. Armed with GFI Study and Topical Guides, students wrote brief memos on diverse theological applications to foster care placements, injustice in ride-sharing algorithms, class differences in UK public health, and generative AI, and much else. Working sessions were coordinated by a doctoral student leader working with a Christian faculty member and InterVarsity staff leader.
Workshops like these reflect GFI’s commitment to forming communities that integrate theological reflection and inter-disciplinary inquiry. GFI is working towards expanding such workshops across the world to equip students with the tools to combine academic work and faith. If you would like to lead a workshop or draw on GFI materials, our Study Guides and Topical Guides are freely available and can be adapted to a range of contexts.
Approximately 10 Northwestern doctoral students attended, spanning a wide variety of disciplines.
Participant voices
Scholars said
“The GFI Discussion Group was incredibly encouraging on several levels: intellectually, I learned about areas of research that I didn’t even know existed; spiritually, I felt God bridging worlds that often feel disparate; and relationally, I made friendships with other Christian academics I might otherwise have never met.”
“We spend most of our waking hours studying or doing research, and it was refreshing to reflect personally on how our faith might inform all of that work. It also gave me an amazing window into the lives of my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We grew closer to each other and to God as a result.”
“The GFI workshop was immensely helpful in creatively bridging my faith and academic work. I’d recommend this program to any graduate student in any department and any background!”
“The GFI workshop on justice creates a positive, supportive, and — more than anything — engaging environment to embed your life as an academic with a Christian understanding of justice. It goes beyond philosophizing on neat ideas without losing philosophical rigor, and you will walk away with real, relevant applications for your academic career.”
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