Stories of Hope

How Home Attachment Helps Mental Health in a Pandemic

There’s no place like home, author Frank Baum’s Dorothy said, but then again, she wasn’t confined to hers during a multi-month global pandemic.

Still, recent research by two Hope psychology scholars has confirmed that that famous line from The Wizard of Oz has bearing not only when you miss home, but also when that space is primarily where you must stay.

Dr. Alyssa Cheadle, assistant professor of psychology, and Dr. Benjamin Meagher, visiting scholar of psychology and assistant professor of psychology at Kenyon College, wrote in the Journal of Environmental Psychology that “in the midst of increased mental health concerns and limited resources due to COVID-19, the home may buffer some individuals from depressive and anxiety-related symptoms by functioning as a source of refuge, security, and stability.”

To reach that finding, the two Hope scholars quickly went to work to research the relationship between home attachment and mental health when the pandemic began to keep people in their homes for long periods due to stay-at-home orders and business and educational closures last March. In their article “Distant to Others, But Close to Home,” Cheadle and Meagher noted that “although people by and large tend to show some degree of attachment to their home, such an emotional bond is not universal.”

Creating opportunities for heightened mental health via home attachment could be just one small home improvement project away.

How then can we consider our homes as emotional safe havens during a pandemic and not just as places where we have to be?

“Something we would want people to try to do is be conscious of the way in which the home space they are in matters to their mental health,” says Cheadle. “I think a lot of people don’t necessarily reflect on it in a deliberative way. But changing the way we think about the spaces in our lives as potential resources – and not spaces that are just ‘there’ – can help us feel better.”

To reach that recommendation through research, Meagher, an environmental psychologist, and Cheadle, a health psychologist, enlisted 289 participants to take surveys in three waves (baseline, two weeks four weeks) via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), a crowdsourcing website for businesses (and researchers) to hire remotely located “crowd-workers” to perform discrete, online tasks. Their respondents were located nationwide, ages 19 to 72, a little more than half male, and a majority Caucasian. “That make-up was just by virtue of who signed up for the study,” says Meagher.

Cheadle and Meagher then asked those participants to make judgments about their homes. This included indicating how strongly attached participants feel towards their home, as well as rating the emotional ambience of their home across four categories: restoration, kinship, stimulation and productivity. Each participant also completed a standardized questionnaires about depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and perceptions of stress.

Using those survey tools to both assess participants’ home attachment and mental health, the two researchers came to an important conclusion about home attachment regarding kinship ambience in particular. What is kinship ambience? It is that feeling you get when you associate a certain person, or people, with a particular space.

“If my home is able to meet that need (of kinship with others) over the course of this pandemic, then the space will become more and more important to me.”

“So, what we found over the course of the study is that how much a space made a person feel a sense of kinship with others became more and more important in terms of making that person feel attached to the space,” says Meagher. “I think it makes sense to think about it this way: The longer I am in isolation, the more I miss other people. If my home is able to meet that need (of kinship with others) over the course of this pandemic, then the space will become more and more important to me.”

“During this time in particular, if home is not satisfying the need of togetherness and a feeling of connection with others, it’s not going to be a space that’s accomplishing that feeling of protecting you from all the anxiety that’s out there,” says Cheadle. But especially with kinship ambience as a strong predictor of home attachment over time, she adds, this study shows that a pleasant attachment to one’s home during the pandemic is protective of stress, depression, and anxiety.

So, go ahead and add to or rearrange pictures of your family and friends in your home space. Maybe even get a new house plant or relocate your favorite comfy chair. Creating opportunities for heightened mental health via home attachment could be just one small home improvement project away.

Pandemic Inspires Art

It has been observed that, throughout history, pandemics have inspired creative minds — to write plays, to postulate new scientific theories, to create works of art.

That last undertaking — to create works of art — naturally emanated from Lisa Walcott, assistant professor of art, during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Now, a sculptural installation by Walcott, located at The Centennial Inn of Holland, displays her inspiration from and reflection on the spread of the novel coronavirus and the isolation that it has caused.

“As a visual artist, I process and articulate through making. I wanted to allow myself the time to feel this moment and be in my space as I reflected on proximity, space between, and interdependence,” said Walcott. “The disrupted version of life in quarantine has been very difficult and also very beautiful as we slow down and understand what is essential. . . This work could not be made in another time and space and mean the same thing.”

Titled “Given Situation,” the installation features eight large, mechanized mobiles that mimic the motion of bugs swarming. Walcott, who specializes in kinetic installations, developed it during the state-wide “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order that was into effect from late March to early June.

The venue was a location where Walcott could work when the college went to remote operations. She and her husband, Rob Walcott, have owned and operated the inn since the couple purchased it at the beginning of the year. Rob hopes that the inn can be developed into a place that supports art, culture and local dialogue.

“I have been thinking a lot about independence and interdependence, and I wanted to offer something to those around me — my neighbors and community,” said Walcott. “’Given Situation’ is for solitary viewing and follows guidelines for social distancing — no touching surfaces and masks worn inside.”

As Walcott explains in the artist’s statement that accompanies the installation, “‘Given Situation’ references the highly coordinated manner in which a colony can move. The motion of each ‘fly’ is connected to those around them creating a visual manifestation of interdependence. Group coordination can be quite simple yet extremely effective toward solving complex problems (like an ant finding the shortest distance to food and others following that trail). At the same time, the presence of bugs can indicate deterioration and change. The ‘flies’ are coated in black wax melted from birthday candles which references celebration as well as the passing of time.”

She notes that the viewers become a part of the experience as they move through the piece. “Perception is heightened as the web like ‘swarms’ seem to materialize and disappear,” she said. “Visitors’ presence both activates and threatens to disrupt the installation.”

Located in the inn’s market building, “Given Situation” has open viewing hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 4-9pm or by appointment until June 26. The Centennial Inn is located at 8 E. 12^th St.

Joanne Stewart Featured in STEM Video Showcase

Hope College’s Dr. Joanne Stewart, Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry, will be featured in the 2020 STEM for All Video Showcase funded by the National Science Foundation. The event will be held online May 5^th -12^th at https://stemforall2020.videohall.com.

The presentation entitled “Come for the Content, Stay for the Community” looks at how the VIPEr Fellows project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is shaping the teaching of inorganic chemistry across the country.

Update May 14: Stewart’s video presentation received special recognition with a Facilitator’s Choice Award. Fifteen videos out of the 171 submitted earned this honor.

Stewart has been formally involved with the leadership of the project since 2008. She commented, “The Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) provides a supportive community and professional tools to help faculty improve their teaching. The video describes our research on how the IONiC community encourages effective faculty practice and how changes in faculty practice impact student learning. We are excited to be part of the STEM for All Video Showcase so that we can share what we have learned about faculty development and learn from other leaders in STEM education.”

Now in its sixth year, the annual showcase will feature over 170 innovative projects aimed at improving STEM learning and teaching, which have been funded by the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. During the week-long event, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and members of the public are invited to view the short videos, discuss them with the presenters online, and vote for their favorites.

The theme for this year’s event is “Learning from Research and Practice.” Video presentations address improving K-12 STEM classroom, informal environments, undergraduate and graduate education, teacher professional development, and community engagement. Collectively the presentations cover a broad range of topics including science, mathematics, computer science, engineering, cyberlearning, citizen science, maker spaces, broadening participation, research experiences, mentoring, professional development, NGSS and the Common Core.

Last year’s STEM for All Video Showcase is still being accessed, and to date has had over 76,000 unique visitors from 181 countries.

The STEM for All Video Showcase is hosted by TERC, in partnership with: STEMTLnet, CADRE, CAISE, CIRCL, STELAR, CS for All Teachers, NARST, NCTM, NSTA, NSF INCLUDES, and QEM. The Showcase is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (#1922641).

Research to Reduce Workplace Racism

As a social psychologist, Dr. Mary Inman, professor of psychology, prioritizes learning about people’s basic motivations, environmental influences on behaviors, and why and how people use stereotypes. As a Christ-follower, she seeks to understand and address social issues for the sake of justice. Her recent research on racial harassment and discrimination in the workplace addresses both of those professional and personal life goals.

Along with her colleague, Dr. Phanikiran Radhakrishnan of the University of Toronto, and Hope student Kayla Liggett ’20, Inman co-wrote the paper “The Socialization-Stressor Model of Racial Harassment” which will be published in an upcoming research book, Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations.

“The workplace ought to be a place where people want to come to work,” she says. “Kindness and respect can prevent hostilities and some workplace violence. All this informed our socialization-stressor model of workplace racial harassment and discrimination.”

What exactly is a socialization-stressor model of workplace racism? Why does it matter? Learn more in this Q-and-A with Dr. Inman.

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How did you become involved in this research with Dr. Radhakrishnan?

Phani and I met at a psychology conference held in Texas. She was looking at workers’ experiences and outcomes of workplace racism. I was examining how people decide when an event is classified as racism. We both had an interest in misunderstandings and tension in the workplace. It was a natural fit. Hope student, Kayla Liggett, came aboard with us and is a co-author on our paper, too. I value her contributions.

Why is this research important to do?

People spend a third or so of their adult lives at work. Some employees stay longer with their “work family” more than with their spouses. Understanding the causes, dynamics, and solutions of racial and other identity-related tensions at work is critical. Knowing the causes can help researchers and human resource leaders identify and test possible solutions to create harmony at work. Workers do not need the added stress of prejudice and discrimination. All workers have value. All workers need to be heard, respected, and affirmed, especially while working through difficult company decisions like mergers or layoffs. This will help the employees’ mental health and help the company. Racial tensions hurt the company’s climate, reputation, stock, and finances when lawsuits arise.

I am interested in understanding the daily racialized events and related work outcomes. Our research is reliably showing that racial harassment and discrimination experiences are related to negative emotions, dissatisfaction with coworkers, poor health symptoms, and intentions to quit. Companies and employees need to be informed.

What is the socialization-stressor model of workplace racism?

We reviewed several research articles in psychology, sociology, and business to understand what causes stereotypes to be promoted in organizations and what the trickle-down effects are. Our model states that stereotypes are socialized beliefs that people bring to the company. Racial stereotypes can affect work behaviors such as racial harassment and racial discrimination. The model states that people pay attention to the racial composition of the company, the perpetrator’s race, and the target’s race when deciding if racially charged comments and actions reflect racism. The model states that both harassment and discrimination are social stressors that can drain energy, joy, and engagement when at work.

And why did you create the model for this research?

We developed this model because it logically fits with the stereotyping social psychology research and the discrimination-as-stressor research. Our model focuses on the distinction between harassment and discrimination as two social stressors at work that are related and yet could have different outcomes.

Our research is reliably showing that racial harassment and discrimination experiences are related to negative emotions, dissatisfaction with coworkers, poor health symptoms, and intentions to quit. Companies and employees need to be informed.

How are racial discrimination and racial harassment distinct?

Both are behaviors rooted in racial stereotyping. Racial harassment is the interpersonal behaviors of racially based comments, jokes, invalidation, and slurs. It is also excluding people from work social events based on race.

Racial discrimination is hindering one’s employability or advancement. Behaviors include racially biased practices in hiring, pay, and promotion. We also focused on more subtle behaviors such as withholding key work information, resources, training, good equipment, assignments, and public recognition due to one’s race. Discriminatory policies and procedures can be affected, reflecting institutional racism. So, pay inequities can happen at hiring and can re-occur when career-progressing activities favor one race. Companies should monitor their career-progressing practices, or they can lose talented workers.

How do each result in different discriminatory outcomes in an organization? Or, are their outcomes similar?

Workers have relationships with people and with the company — which produces one difference. Our prior work showed that workers compartmentalize their negative experiences at work. Dissatisfaction with supervisors was better predicted by discrimination than by harassment. The boss has input on the allocation of rewards and punishments. In contrast, harassment can come from anyone at work. Harassment, not discrimination, was more consistently related to dissatisfaction with coworkers.

The stress responses are similar for racial harassment discrimination but stronger feelings occur when employees reported experiencing both harassment and discrimination.

Our current work examined whether the stress responses are heightened by racial discrimination beyond that already felt when experiencing racial harassment. The answer seems to be yes. We’ve identified two kinds of discrimination — denial of opportunities and receiving negative treatment, like poor quality equipment— and are seeing that these are not equally toxic.

Still, a common theme in our research is that workers reported others are not sharing vital work information and that they lack the opportunities for advancement — for example, training — compared to other racial groups.

How can people “unlearn” previous socialization that might lead to racism at work?

Diversity training efforts to raise cultural awareness of racial biases has some research support. The training involves many elements such as working firsthand with a person who violates the racial stereotype — for example, a Black hero who saves a White person from danger or failure — as well as getting to know and listen to the other person’s story, and mindful techniques such as watching one’s assumptions and stereotyping.
Once one is aware of any implicit racial preference one has, research shows that having an internal goal to NOT be prejudiced is critical. One can internally yell, “STOP,” when racial stereotypes are activated to break the automatic racial link. Like developing a new habit, research has shown that practiced efforts to stop harassing, such as laughing at ethnic jokes, changed behavior.

Resolve to Keep That New Year’s Resolution

About a month ago, your intentions were good, your motivation was high, and you were ready to go. A new year had started and your new resolutions were about to be put in place.

So…how’s that going for you?

If you answered, “It’s great; I’m still on track and going strong,” kudos to you. Keep it up!

If, however, you said, “Yeah, well, I’m done with that; let’s move on,” you are not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report article from December, 2018, about 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by February.

That’s a sobering statistic to be sure, but that doesn’t mean you have to quit altogether. In fact, Femi Oluyedun, assistant professor of kinesiology, has some advice that can help you rethink and recommit to your resolution, whether it’s about exercise, diet, or reading your Bible every day. Though Oluyedun specializes in sport motivation and sport commitment, his words of wisdom transcend the physical realm and can be applied to social, spiritual and intellectual domains as well.

Here are the top five ways Oluyedun recommends to get back on your resolution track. Or, to even start one today. It is not too late, nor never is.

1.Get SMART!

Let’s say you resolved to exercise every day in the new year. That’s a great idea, but it’s not specific enough. How long will you exercise? When will you exercise? What will you do for exercise? A goal is better when it’s SMART, an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding and timely.

“Often people set goals that are too general or too vague,” says Oluyedun. “Goals, or resolutions, need some specifics. You have to have goals that are tangible so that when you meet it, that feels good and you keep going.”

For example, if your goal is to eat healthier, perhaps that starts with simply cutting out (or back on) fried food. Once you achieve that for a week or two, then move onto the next healthy-eating, like cutting back on sugar.

“And don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t reach some of those goals, but be realistic,” he says. “I think too many people have these exceedingly high expectations that can get them off track. The key is getting back on that track, though, and not giving up even you mess up your goals a few times. This is about improvement so it’s about process, too.”

“I think a lot of people make things too tough on themselves when it comes to goals. . . No! Make it enjoyable. Have fun with it. This is about bettering yourself.”

2. It’s always better with a friend.

Humans are unquestionably social creatures. Having a friend or family member with whom to engage your resolution gives you two things: company and accountability. Even if you’re an introvert and prefer to go it alone, you may feel as though you are keeping your resolution for the benefit of others as well as yourself. Or, it could simply be telling someone, out loud, that motivates you toward resolution-keeping. “People who are either on your side or at your side are huge motivators to help you meet your goals,” says Oluyedun.

The bottom line is taking someone with you on your resolution journey makes the going less lonely and keeps you more adherent.

3. Mix it up.

The old adage that variety is the spice of life can also apply to resolution-keeping, especially if your goals involve exercise. If you decide to take up running or walking and are bored after a month or two, consider mixing in some yoga. Maybe you feel that cycling at your gym is getting ho-hum; try lifting weights twice a week. Maybe adding a sport — like shooting hoops or playing pickleball — into your regime is the way to go.

This can apply to intellectual resolutions, too. If you resolved to read more, perhaps changing up genres — historical fiction to non-fiction to self-help to spiritual books — will help you stay interested. . . and informed.

“Again, you don’t have to — and for many, probably shouldn’t — stick with one thing all the time,” advises Oluyedun. “But don’t be afraid to fail if you do try something new. If I go and do yoga for the first time, I’m not going to do it very well. Once I get the hang of that task, though, it can be really fulfilling.”

4. Fill your ears as you go.

Listening to music or podcasts as you exercise can help engage your mind as well as your body. It can also make the time seem to go faster. Develop a playlist or tap into a podcast that goes for the precise amount of time you want to exercise. Then when it’s done, so are you, and you feel as if you’ve accomplished two things: exercise and your listening list.

5. Know your WHY? And make it FUN.

Why is it that you want to eat better, exercise more, or read your Bible every day? Why is it that it is important for you to make a resolution in the first place? Understanding and answering your WHY, sometimes on a daily basis, can help you keep your resolution. Whether it’s for better sleep, weight management, mental or spiritual health, regularly reminding yourself of your resolution reasons is key to staying on track.

And so is having fun while you do it. “I study sport enjoyment when it comes to sport commitment, and enjoyment mediates almost the entire model. Meaning commitment is most often driven by enjoyment,” observes Oluyedun.

“I think a lot of people make things too tough on themselves when it comes to goals. ‘Okay, I’m going to try this new regime, which means it’s got to be tough and I’m not going to enjoy it,’” he continues. “No! Make it enjoyable. Have fun with it. This is about bettering yourself.”

And what is more fun than that?!

“A Swell of Grace”: New Music from Hope for Advent and Christmas

Remember when the unofficial start to the Christmas season waited until after Thanksgiving? No more. Now retail stores have Santa displays on the endcaps and “Frosty the Snowman” over the loudspeaker before kids can finish saying, “Trick or Treat!”

Into this fast-paced frenzy of commercial Christmas chaos, a group of Hope students, helmed by Bruce Benedict, the college’s chaplain of worship and arts, inserted something different: an album of new and re-tuned sacred music meant to help the church see the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in fresh new ways.

Hope College Worship released “A Swell of Grace” in November 2019.

Released on November 21, 2019, A Swell of Grace is something of a rarity, even during a season that, more than any other holiday, is marked by the soundscape of familiar music — sacred hymns and popular jingles alike. While popular artists are mostly releasing albums that put their own spin on well-known Christmas tunes, Benedict wanted to give the students the experience of writing music from scratch.

The result is an EP of what Benedict describes as “original advent and Christmas songs that explore the narrative and emotional depths of the coming of Christ.” It aims to deal honestly, interestingly and deeply with the biblical account of Jesus’ birth.

Take, for example, the first of the album’s eight tracks, “The Holy of Holies” by senior Anna Kate Peterson.

“She’s one of my strongest songwriters,” Benedict said. “Her song was a text we had to wrestle with, because she was making some theological connections, talking about Mary’s womb as the Holy of Holies.”

Here are lyrics from verses two and three of Peterson’s song:

The Lord our God, entered our mess,
In the purity of this girl, took on flesh,
Virgin’s womb, the Spirit’s room,
The Holy of Holies
The brightest star, burned the way
To the cross where blood was love on display,
The old has passed, the new has come
The veil has torn

In another song, “Dispossessed and Peaceful,” Michael Stone ’18 writes:

Persecuted in the dark
The Christmas child on earth abides
Incarnated word of God
Carried town to town to hide
Joseph and the road again
Mary clutching child’s weak head
Holy God, where were we then?
Immigrants in search of rest

The lyrics that portray the Holy Family as immigrants touch a contemporary political nerve, and they pick up on a theme that Benedict explored in “Refugee King,” which he cowrote with Liz Vice and others at a 2018 songwriting retreat. (Vice released “Refugee King” as a single earlier this year.) Benedict’s experience at the retreat inspired him to work on this Christmas EP with his students.

In “Every Knee Shall Bow,” juniors Olivia Abdou and Cecilia O’Brien write:

The one on the throne was born without a home
Despised and rejected and forced to roam
In a stable filled with hay, our Savior born that day
Mary and Joseph in awe at his name

And in the album’s title track, “Swell of Grace,” Sarah Sims ’19 delivers a meaningful spoken word meditation both on Mary’s pregnancy and on our Advent anticipation that opens:

This quiet carrying
This gestation of grace
This swelling of a song
We are waiting
For the barren to bear fruit
For the bleak to reap hope

Benedict isn’t surprised that these students delivered songs of theological depth, biblical insight and creativity.

“What’s surprising to me is that I’ve not found more colleges creating interesting sacred music, because this is such a generative time in people’s lives,” he said. “It seems like there’d be a lot of college students — whether at Christian schools or not —being generative and creating interesting worship music, but I’ve just not found that. So part of this is trying to put examples out there for other colleges.”

It’s also an education and hands-on experience for students, a way for Benedict to pull back the curtain on the process of writing and recording music. “I wanted students to have the experience of creating something themselves from scratch. I think it’s an important skill to cultivate in this world of largely contemporary worship music,” he said.

This Christmas album isn’t the first time Benedict has worked with students to record original works. “The first one we did was in Lent, and that was mostly retuned hymns,” Benedict said. “Every year I try to do one. Typically it’s based on the sermon series in Chapel.”

In addition to the Lent album (Thy Love Unfailing), Hope students have also recorded albums inspired by Philippians 2:5–11 (The Christ Hymn) the Beatitudes (The Beatitudes), the Lord’s Prayer (Songs of Prayer) and the Psalms (Psalms).

“I’m really just trying to steward and shepherd the resources Hope has to do these kinds of creative projects,” he said.

Additionally, “Campus Ministries has been doing a live worship record for 20 years,” Benedict said. “Over Christmas break we’ll actually release on Bandcamp every record we’ve ever done. You’ll be able to listen to every live worship record we’ve done back to the early Dwight Beale days.” (Beale was Hope’s chaplain of worship from 1998 to 2005.) You can find the albums here as soon as they’re available.

Making music is just one part of what Benedict does in his role as worship chaplain. His primary task is to, in his words, “curate, cultivate, lead and empower” the worship services at Chapel and The Gathering. He oversees the worship and tech teams, works with chaplains and guest preachers and musicians, coordinates about 30 volunteer students for each service, and partners with the Gospel Choir, Sacred Dance and other groups with gifts to offer the Hope community.

Bruce Benedict, Chaplain of Worship and Arts

“I coordinate how the liturgical arts can support worship at Hope,” he summarized. “Most people think about what I do purely in terms of music, but I try to broaden that out for students. Music is part of it, but there’s text and visuals and movement. You have a space you occupy, so how does your worship interact with that space?”

Outside the college, Benedict directs Cardiphonia, a liturgical arts collective of dozens of musical and visual artists, mostly connected to local churches. “We release church music compilations around various biblical and spiritual themes. We did one this summer on Psalm 119, and we invited 22 artists from all over the world to write music for that.”

He’s also part of Bellwether Arts, a project from Cardiphonia that focuses on the church calendar. In partnership with Hope’s Campus Ministries, Bellwether just released a devotional for the final week of Advent based on the “O” Antiphons, an ancient set of prayers that explore images of Christ in the Old Testament. The “O” Antiphons form the basis of the familiar Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” (Download the devotional here.)

Finding the Christian Church in China

When Dr. Gloria Tseng arrived at Hope College in 2003 as a Europeanist with an emphasis on France, her first course in French history was attended by one student. “On one hand, it was a good student-faculty ratio,” she says now, with a lilting laugh.

The following semester, history repeated itself: just one student, albeit a different one. “I realized, ‘You know, there’s not a whole lot of interest in French history in Holland,’” Tseng recalls, “so I needed to think more broadly. Hope has been very transformative for me.”

In time, she underwent what could be described as a religious conversion. Tseng, born in Taiwan but a longtime U.S. citizen, wrote her dissertation on the experiences of Chinese expatriates living in France during the interwar years. During that research she came across the work of Father Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe, the late Catholic missionary to China whose advocacy in the early 20th century led Pope Pius XI to appoint the first native Chinese bishops.

Shortly after Tseng began teaching at Hope, the campus began receiving an influx of international students from China. “At first these were not degree-seeking students,” Tseng recalls. “They were graduate students funded by the John Templeton Foundation at Calvin College that funneled some of their students to the Hope philosophy department. That’s when I started having connections with people from China, and because I lived across the street from Centennial Park close to campus they would come to my house for meals and company.”

Those dinnertime conversations apparently made an impact. “When I moved into a tenure-track position there was a fund to support summer research,” Tseng says, “and for some reason I didn’t go back to Paris. I went to Shanghai. And you know, to this day I still wonder why. It must have been the Lord, putting desires in our hearts.”

The student interaction, remembering Father Lebbe — it all seemed to coalesce when she came across a book that was a directory of the holdings of the Shanghai Municipal Archives. “It specifically focused on their Christian Chinese language publications from the interwar years,” she recalls. “It was Chinese Christians who published these materials, and the municipal archives had tons of such journals. That just made me curious.”

So much so that Tseng developed a course at Hope called “Christianity in China: Negotiating Faith and Culture” and is conducting research for a book with the working title The Search for a Chinese Church: Protestantism in Twentieth-century China.

“I come from a Chinese Christian family, so I had heard of some of the Chinese preachers who were instrumental in the shaping of the Chinese church. . . For me, this has been sort of a spiritual journey, because I have been studying on an academic level my own spiritual heritage that my family is a part of.”

“When I went to China for the first time, I spoke Chinese, I looked Chinese, but it still was very foreign to me,” she says. “And the Shanghai Municipal Archives are state-of-the-art, but the archivists were very rude! But what I knew was, this was a treasure trove. There is so much there — volumes and volumes of different journals and archives of Christian colleges founded by missionaries — that I thought, ‘I could spend my whole life doing this, seriously.’”

Tseng’s academic transformation has resulted in new directions on multiple levels. “As I pursued this, my advisor from my college days, who was a great mentor, kept encouraging me,” she says. “He said, ‘A lot of what’s written about the church is hagiographical. You can do something scholarly on this, and it will have value.’ So that’s how I’ve taught on this topic.

“Even the project itself has undergone a big evolution. Initially I was going to make it a monograph on the modernist and fundamentalist controversy in the Chinese church in the 1920s and ’30s, because at that time the China mission field was influenced by what was going on in the Western church. But then I realized that what I’m actually more interested in is the evolution of the Chinese church and how the faith became Chinese, how it became indigenized.”

And on a personal level, “I think I was just drawn to it,” says Tseng. “I come from a Chinese Christian family, so I had heard of some of the Chinese preachers who were instrumental in the shaping of the Chinese church, men like Wang Ming-Dao — but we never studied them, never read any biographies or sermons. For me, this has been sort of a spiritual journey, because I have been studying on an academic level my own spiritual heritage that my family is a part of.”

The present-day state of Christianity in China “is very complex,” Tseng observes. “For much of the 20th century Christianity was associated with Western military power. All Western denominations were absorbed into the Three-Self Church (self-governance, self-support, self-propagation), which began as a patriotic movement among Chinese after the Communist takeover of China. To this day, the government-sanctioned church is called the Three-Self Church. If you go into a Three-Self Church today they are filled to the brim. Once I witnessed more than 100 baptisms in one service, so the spiritual hunger is quite palpable. There’s no official persecution, because the Chinese government does not say churches cannot exist. Yet a couple of years ago, the government was tearing down crosses on church buildings because the government said the buildings were not up to code. There are Chinese pastors in jail, but usually they are pastors who are also involved with advocating for a civil society or a rights defense.

“So, is there persecution for Christianity in China?” Tseng asks, and then answers. “Yes, but it comes in very subtle forms. There is reason to be cautious.”

The Good that Grows from Gratitude

Over 20 centuries ago, the great Roman statesman Cicero uttered a now-popular maxim:

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”

It is a saying that is still relevant today.

Dr. Charlotte VanOyen-Witvliet, professor of psychology, chair of the department, and a researcher of embodied virtue (e.g., forgiveness, gratitude, hope, accountability) believes so anyway. Her volume of work, as well as a recently completed study on gratitude, happiness and hope (see end note), confirms that “many good things grow when with gratitude we identify givers, gifts, and our identity as recipients. Gratitude is a space of abundance when it comes to happiness and hope,” she says.

What are some of those “many good things” to which Witvliet refers? In this week of thanksgiving, here are five insights that Witvliet offers about gratitude.

1. Gratitude is honest.

“We’re merely telling the truth when we express gratitude,” says Witvliet. “When we recognize that we are recipients of good and gracious gifts from givers and from the Giver, we are simply being honest about the blessings in our lives.”

2. Gratitude fits in good times and bad times.

“While gratitude allows us to tell the truth about uniformly good situations, it also helps us tell more of the truth, not less, in times of suffering and struggle. With a benefit-focused approach, we can identify lessons learned in hardship, strengths shown in facing difficulty, and relational supports that were present in those times. So even though we aren’t grateful for all things, we can aspire to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18)”

3. Gratitude is contented.

“In our consumerist culture that seeks to develop lists of what we want, gratitude cultivates the ability to want the good we already have. It facilitates a fullness and a flourishing for individuals in relationship to other people and to God.”

4. Gratitude is healthful.

“Research ties appreciation to cardiovascular regulation. Similarly, when people acknowledge benefits even in a negative situation, their heart rate variability increases, indicating a healthier heart response, emotion regulation, and cognitive flexibility.”

5. Gratitude can connect us to givers across time and space.

“When we think about who we’re grateful to, we can usually find givers behind the immediate giver…givers behind givers behind givers. So, there’s a way in which our awareness of givers connects us over generations and across space. And for believers, we see that behind every giver is the ultimate Giver, the God of grace with the ultimate gift — Jesus Christ. In the end, it is all about hope after all.”

—

As the lead investigator in a two-study assessment of states and traits, Witvliet — along with Hope’s Dr. Lindsey Root Luna, Dr. Daryl VanTongeren and alum Fallon Richie ’18 (now a P.hD. student in clinical psychology at UNC-Charlotte) — asked “Does gratitude outperform other virtues in predicting hope and happiness? Answer: Yes! Also, are there particular exercises that people can engage in that are gratitude-oriented that specifically fuel present states of happiness and hopes? Answer: Yes! Their findings that engaging in gratitude led to increased hope and happiness were published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

It All Started Over Lunch

The usual “who-are-you-and-what-do-you-do” chatter of an introductory lunch conversation, those words of nicety that more often than not just scratch surfaces, transformed into a vision of deeper collaboration for four new Hope arts faculty members this fall.

Now, just a few weeks into their first semester at Hope, Dr. Jordan VanHemert of the music department, Greg Lookerse of the art department, Jasmine Domfort of the dance department and Eric Van Tassell of the theatre department will put their varied talents on stage, together for the first time, in “Toward Convergence: An Arts Collaboration,” a concert framed by the music of the college’s Jazz Arts Collective, Hope’s premier jazz ensemble.

“With this concert, we’re saying, ‘This is who we are, this is what we do,’” said VanHemert, the director of the Jazz Arts Collective and instigator of the collaboration. “That’s a really powerful way to introduce yourself, I think.”

While talking at a lunch break for Initium — the workshop for new Hope faculty — the four new professors began to share “the things that we are really passionate about and really enjoy about our respective art,” said VanHemert. In no time, that conversation took a turn away from personal generalities toward professional specificities.

“I didn’t expect it to happen this fast,” VanHemert admits, “but I think that’s really a testament to Hope College and the place that it is and is actively becoming. I don’t think that at many other institutions you would have people who are as willing to take time out of their busy lives and schedules for something like this. That takes a special kind of colleague. I’m finding that Hope is really the perfect place for a project like this to come to fruition.”

Jazz is a music that is beautifully collaborative in and of itself, VanHemert says. Add in other art forms, and a mix of creative juices not only has performance power but has pedagogical purposes, too. “This music was never, ever conceived in a vacuum,” VanHemert says. “What good does it do for my students having them learn it in one? So, I want them to collaborate not just with other musicians but with other artists.”

Cheese-cloth forest imagery in the works by Lookerse

With the Jazz Arts Collective’s performance as the centerpiece of the concert, playing a total of five works — two of which were composed by VanHemert — the worlds of dance and visual art and lighting design and poetry will converge in this way:

Domfort will perform improvised dance;
Lookerse has created temporarily installed artwork of forestry images, painted on semi-transparent cheese cloth that will hang at various depths and spacing from the ceiling;
Van Tassel has designed stage lighting that could be considered unconventional when compared to a “normal” concert and will give poetry readings.
Erik Alberg, director of design and production for the performing arts, will run the lighting board.

VanHemert says the element that brought the concert altogether was discovered when, after giving a guest lecture at the Hope Academy of Senior Professional (HASP), a HASP member introduced himself to the new prof and asked if he could share his poetry and songs. Sure, VanHemert said, unaware of its impact. Herbert Tews’ poems spoke to the music professor who then wanted to include them “Toward Convergence.”

“Creativity and creating are such personal things,” VanHemert explained. “I didn’t necessarily know if everyone (else in the concert) was going to be moved by the poetry in the same way that I was. And that kind of experience was a little nerve-wracking, but it really throws you back to the concept that art is about vulnerability and putting yourself out there. And that was one way in which I put myself out there because I thought, I don’t even know if they are going to like this. I was moved by what this gentleman was writing but I had no idea it was going to speak to anybody else.”

It did. The entire artistic result will take stage on Monday, October 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the John and Dede Howard Recital Hall of the Jack H. Miller Center for the Musical Arts.

“People experience art and are moved by the arts in different ways,” says VanHemert. “So, through this concert, I’m hoping that everybody finds a way to be moved whether it’s through the poetry readings, or through the music, or through the beautiful landscape and lighting, or the dance. There are just so many different ways someone in the audience will be able to appreciate all of the arts in one place.”

Hope Faculty Study Abroad, Too

Since the summer of 2018, 42 Hope faculty members have ventured away from the college to do what they encourage many of their students to do — study abroad. Each professor took part in a unique, faculty-only Hope College program that instills the same benefits as students who study abroad receive: empathy, education, personal development, and cultural introductions, interactions and understanding.

The Hope Portal to the World program was created by Dr. Deirdre Johnston, Hope’s interim associate dean for global education and professor of communication, as was the GLCA Global Crossroads Innovations Grant she wrote to secure funding from the Mellon Foundation. Dr. Annie Dandavati served as co-director to help implement the grant in 2018.

Johnston says the program’s purpose is to increase cultural competencies and inform teaching and scholarship for Hope faculty members, and she believes it’s been working.

“Through the Portal to the World program, faculty teams bring back compelling stories that connect Hope College’s mission with people and institutions in 10 different countries, on three continents.” — Dr. Dede Johnston

“I see Hope College’s global strategy as cultivating compassionate action, grounded in ethical, community-based relationships, and authentic understanding,” explains Johnston. “Our mission is tied to our realization that our ‘neighborhood,’ that Christ commands us to love, extends well beyond our family, our community, or our nation. For students and faculty alike to live into that mission, it helps to have a compelling story to share – a story promoting dignity, justice, equity, and compassion for all God’s people. Through the Portal to the World program, faculty teams bring back compelling stories that connect Hope College’s mission with people and institutions in 10 different countries, on three continents.”

As for some of the faculty members, they say their two-to-three week Hope Portal to the World experience has helped them. Here’s how:

Dr. Stephen Scogin’s view from Shanghai Tower, currently the second tallest building in the world.

“Chinese hospitality and their attention to detail were impressive. Most of us were strangers to our hosts, yet they showed us the utmost kindness and received us as friends. In addition, every detail was coordinated, and this helped us focus on developing relationships with our counterparts at the various universities and finding common interests for scholarship. I am hopeful that these relationships will lead to future student exchanges between Hope College and Chinese colleges/universities as well as educational research that compares learning and affective outcomes between countries.” – Dr. Stephen Scogin, on the “Hope Faculty in China” study tour

Left to right, Aaron Franzen, Stephen Bouma-Prediger, Virginia Beard, Hope alums Rowland and Jan Van Es, and Jack Mulder

“I appreciated hearing from a variety of different people about their experience with Christian faith and Kenyan and African culture. Several students told of how sometimes too rigid a Christianity can interfere with African culture, and a faculty colleague who was a Catholic nun related how often a too-relaxed attitude toward African traditions on the part of some African and Church authorities can interfere with development efforts inspired by the Gospel that protect human rights. Overall, I was just impressed with how vibrant the experience of the Christian faith was there.” – Dr. Jack Mulder, on the “Engaging History, Politics, Health, Religion and Ecumenical Higher Education in the Kenyan Context” study tour

Daina Robins at the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens

“Focusing on the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome while traveling with a classicist — what could be better? And that classicist, (Hope professor) Stephen Maiullo, is a wonderful teacher. On top of that, at every meal all of us on the trip had engaging and stimulating conversations — about the day’s events, pedagogy, politics, religion, you name it. It was a great way to get to better know my colleagues away from Hope. – Daina Robins, on “The Body through Sport, Art and Theatre in Ancient Greece and Rome” study tour

“Food provided one foundation for my learning on this trip. Kimchi on fried rice plus miso soup for breakfast. Three courses of fresh fish at the fish market for lunch, including squid that squirted its ink as the skilled vendor prepared it for the table. Rice crackled and vegetables steamed as the bibimbap arrived, still sizzling, at our table for dinner. Shared meals provided opportunities for cultural immersion and deep conversation with my colleagues.” — Dr. Marla Lunderberg, on “Demystifying Complexities: Exploration into South Korean History, Culture and Sociopolitics study tour

Marla Lunderberg with Chonghee Han and Charles Green in Seoul, South Korea

“Originally being from India and having spent a great deal of time there, it was interesting seeing India through the eyes of colleagues. And the more I see India through the eyes of my colleagues, the more questions I have myself. They raised so many good questions that I sometimes just did not have the answers. So, through this, I’ve learned that maybe we live in this stage of adaptability and flexibility. Not knowing with conviction what we know yet being convinced about it requires both flexibility and adaptability. I mean, I’m not a pushover but at the same time, giving room for intellectual expansion and enrichment is very important. It was lovely just to be able to take this trip and learn even more about myself and India in this way.” — Dr. Annie Dandavati, on leading the “Hope College/Flame University Liberal Arts Collaborative” in Delhi, India

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