What’s happening at SPU? This is where you’ll find the latest news about research, events, activities, achievements, and milestones in the life of SPU and its people.
Gabrielle Turner graduated from Seattle Pacific in 2017 with a degree in music, but she was just beginning to find her voice. Building on her general music degree, she immediately began working on her vocal strength and building up her courage as a soloist. Now she is Seattle Sound Music Award’s Best Female Vocalist.
The Faith, Diversity, and Science lecture welcomes Dr. Telli Davoodi, whose lecture, “Acquisition and Function of Beliefs and the Role of Culture,” will be Thursday,May 25, 4:30 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons. Her lecture will conclude the one-day workshop, Psychological and Philosophical Perspectives on Faith and Belief. Davoodi is a cognitive developmental psychologist and a senior social science researcher. Her research focuses on the role of the socio-cultural environment in learning, forming beliefs, and reasoning about abstract social constructs such as gender, nationality, religion, or the idea of ownership. This lecture is supported by grants from the John Templeton Foundation and the SCIO Supporting Structures program. It is free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.
The women's rowing team and men's track & field triple jumper David Njeri will compete in their respective NCAA Division II Championships, May 25-27. The women are headed to the NCAA Division II Women’s Rowing Championship, May 26-27, at Cooper River Park in Pennsauken, New Jersey. Njeri will make his second straight trip to the NCAA Track & Field Championships in the triple jump at Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl in Pueblo, Colorado, May 25-27. Learn more at spufalcons.com.
SPU Illustration is pleased to present the 2023 Senior Illustration exhibition, "TOKIMEKI: An expression of our hope and excitement for the future and what we intend to bestow upon it." Eight graduating illustration majors used various mediums to create immersive environments with the goal of fostering a world that celebrates imaginative thinking. The students’ visual works encompass a diverse range, spanning video games, embroidery, motion design and animation, children’s books, traditional and digital illustration, mixed media and paintings. All are unified by a shared vision and passion for the art of visual storytelling. With each distinctive creation, these illustrators cultivated their individual expression as artists.
In Everybody, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins takes the time-honored medieval morality play, Everyman, and updates it for a modern world.
At the end of life, Death is sent to collect Everybody (randomly selected from the cast at each performance), who isn’t really ready to go. Now, with the “help” of some friends, Everybody journeys down a road toward the greatest mystery of all ...
Everybody, a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, is a theatrical high-wire act played without a net. Just like life.
More information on the SPU Theatre Department website.
While Autumn, Winter, and Spring quarters last about 10 weeks at Seattle Pacific, Summer Sessions are two to eight weeks long — allowing you to earn credits during the summer, take charge of your degree, and graduate sooner.
Check out the 2023 Summer Sessions for undergraduates and graduates.
Welcome to the SPU Voices podcast, where we tell personal stories with universal impact. Our guest today is Peter Choi. He came to SPU as an international student from Korea to study journalism. His career took off immediately after graduation, and he was working as an international correspondent for the Korean National News during the pandemic, which left Peter and his new wife quarantining on opposite sides of the globe. They were recently reunited when Peter became a local multimedia reporter for KXLY in Spokane.
For 21 years, the Erickson conference has showcased the outstanding research and design contributions students are making in the fields of biology, biochemistry, chemistry, computer science, engineering, health and human performance, mathematics, physics, and sociology.
Students' presentations range from single quarter classroom-based original research projects to summative multi-year independent research programs and engineering design projects.
The Erickson Conference will be held in person on Friday, May 5, 2023. The Erickson Committee looks forward to hearing about the work our students have done, even in these challenging times. We also are excited to welcome our keynote speaker, Dr. Gretchen Huizinga, a research fellow at AI and Faith.
Sponsored by the Center for Faithful Business at Seattle Pacific University, this year's Bruce Kennedy Ethical Leadership Lecture will be, " Wisdom and Leadership," presented by Dr. Uli Chi, with Brad Tilden responding. The lecture is Wednesday, May 3, 7–8:30 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons on the SPU campus.
Dr. Uli Chi has spent his life practicing leadership at the intersection of for-profit and non-profit businesses, the theological academy, and the local church. He is an award-winning technological entrepreneur who founded a software company that develops 3-D virtual reality software that simplifies complex decision-making processes for consumers and businesses. Uli currently serves as Board Chair of the Virginia Mason Franciscan Health System in the Pacific Northwest, and Vice Chair of the De Pree Center for Leadership at Fuller Seminary in Pasadena. Uli has also served as Chair of Regent College’s Board of Governors, and Chair of the Executive Committee for the Center for Integrity in Business (now Center for Faithful Business) at Seattle Pacific University.
Responding to this year's lecture is Brad Tilden. An American business executive, Brad is the chairman of Alaska Air Group, the parent company of Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. Before becoming the company's CEO in 2012, Tilden served as Alaska Airlines' president, and Alaska Air Group's chief financial officer prior to that.
The event is free, but registration is required.
Join the School of Theology for a special event on Tuesday, May 2, highlighting faculty authors and their recent books:
AI, Faith, and the Future: An Interdisciplinary Approach
Making Christianity Manly Again: Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church
American Evangelicalism; Workshop of the Holy Spirit: An Invitation to Theological Education
The Radiance of God: Christian Doctrine through the Image of Divine Light.
Dr. Christopher Jones ’94 hopes the families in his medical practice never need to ask: “Is my kid sick enough that I should pay for a doctor’s visit?” Medical director of HopeCentral, a nonprofit health center, he and his team have adapted the concept of concierge medicine to a diverse Seattle neighborhood.
Assistant Professor of Philosophy Leland Saunders earned a $10,100 Graves Award in Humanities for his research project, “The Structure of Moral Judgement: Philosophical Perspectives.” His research responds to recent arguments that human beings’ concepts of morality are just a quirk of evolution and don't connect to anything deeper.