ATLANTA – Mercer University’s Center for the Study of Narrative will host a lecture by the Rev. Dr. Karen D. Scheib, associate professor of pastoral care and pastoral theology at Emory University, April 12 at 5 p.m. as part of the Center’s fourth annual Narrative Showcase.
Dr. Sheib’s lecture, titled “Restorying in the Wake of Grief,” will take place in the second-floor auditorium of the Atlanta Administration and Conference Center. The event is free and open to the public.
Dr. Scheib has taught practical and pastoral theology at Emory’s Candler School of Theology since 1998, and served as director of the school’s Women, Theology, and Ministry program for many years. She is also on the faculty of the Emory Center for Ethics.
Her research interests include faith and health, theological and cultural dimensions of crises and trauma, and narrative theory and therapy, and her current writing explores the intersection of ecclesiology and practices of care.
Dr. Scheib is the author of Challenging Invisibility: Practices of Care with Older Women (Chalice Press, 2004) and Pastoral Care: Telling the Stories of Our Lives (Abingdon Press, 2016), has contributed to several other books, and has written for numerous scholarly and popular publications. She also has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Pastoral Theology at the Society for Pastoral Theology.
She earned her Doctor of Philosophy at Vanderbilt University, Master of Divinity at the Pacific School of Religion and Bachelor of Arts at Sonoma State University.
The event will conclude with brief presentations from Penfield College faculty and graduate students who have engaged in narrative-themed research and community and service learning activities with local nonprofit organizations. Topics include resettlement experiences of refugees in the Atlanta area, cemetery mapping and descendant interviews of African-Americans in coastal Georgia, study abroad experiences in Europe and Africa, resilience in formerly homeless populations and overcoming incarceration.
The evening will conclude with dinner and a presentation of digital narratives from graduate student collaborators with the Center for the Study of Narrative. Those wishing to attend the entire event, including dinner, should RSVP to Dr. Donald Redmond, associate professor of counseling and director of the Center, at redmond_db@mercer.edu.
The Center for the Study of Narrative will also recognize its partner organizations in the local community for the past academic year including the Friends of Refugees, Kate’s Club, the Children’s Restoration Network and the Covenant House.
The multidisciplinary Center, housed within Penfield College, calls upon communication, psychology, sociology, human services, literary studies and writing, historical studies, and counseling and uses qualitative and quantitative research methods to study the lives of individuals and cultures, giving students practical education while promoting community outreach and service. The Center was launched in 2014 with a grant from the Georgia Compassion Project.
About Penfield College of Mercer University
Penfield College of Mercer University, established as the College of Continuing and Professional Studies in 2003, is committed to serving non-traditional learners and currently enrolls more than 1,300 students. Undergraduate, graduate and certificate programs are offered to working adult learners seeking professional advancement into leadership roles in and beyond their communities. Educational programs provide students with distinctive, multidisciplinary programs that integrate theory and practice. The College offers general education and elective courses for various colleges and schools at Mercer. Another initiative called the Bridge program transitions students enrolled in Mercer’s English Language Institute and other international students to undergraduate programs throughout the University. Areas of study include organizational leadership, counseling, school counseling, human services, human resources, informatics, public safety leadership, nursing preparation, liberal studies, psychology and communication. Programs are offered on Mercer’s campuses in Atlanta and Macon, as well as multiple regional academic centers in Douglas County, Henry County and online. To learn more, visit penfield.mercer.edu.
