Luke Reinsma is a professor of English and the director of the University Scholars Program, has taught Texts and Contexts I since the early 1990s.

A graduate of Calvin College and of the University of Michigan, he received a Ph.D. in medieval literature. After teaching at Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota, he joined the English Department at Seattle Pacific University in 1985. In 2004, he won the Carnegie Foundation’s Professor of the Year award for the state of Washington.

Dr. Reinsma has studied and taught in China, Japan, and Germany, and he has published essays on Shusaku Endo and Kenzaburo Oe in Christianity and Literature and essays on Michelangelo and Thomas Kinkade in Christian Scholar's Review. He regularly leads study abroad tours to Britain, and he has recently taught a senior seminar on the Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami. He loves the mountains of Washington, which he regularly hikes throughout the year, often in the company of students. Dr. Reinsma welcomes your emails at lreinsma@spu.edu.

Tom Amorose is a professor of English and director of Campus Writing at SPU. He did his undergraduate work at Ohio State University, where he wrote an honors thesis on Heart of Darkness and other works by Joseph Conrad. He received his doctorate at the University of Washington, with a dissertation on John Milton's epic, Paradise Lost.

After teaching, administering, and developing policies and programs at several colleges and universities, he came to SPU in 1986 and currently teaches courses in academic writing, creative nonfiction, and early English literature, along with Texts and Contexts II.

His research interests have covered language politics, the rhetoric of the public sphere, and the administration of writing programs at small colleges/universities. Dr. Amorose and his wife are state-approved forest stewards, enjoy gardening, and bike throughout the Pacific Northwest whenever they can. He can be contacted at tamorose@spu.edu.

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Christine Chaney is an associate professor of English and co-teaches Texts and Contexts III. She did her undergraduate study primarily at UCLA and UC-Berkeley and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Her scholarly work focuses on philosophy, comparative literature, and English across the 18th and 19th centuries. Her recent publications include articles on the rhetoric of narrative emotion, Victorian hybrid texts, and teaching literary theory at Christian colleges.

Dr. Chaney is also SPU’s faculty coordinator for UCOR 1000, a required freshman course on the arts and the Christian community in the Common Curriculum.

She and her husband have a daughter who recently graduated from SPU and a son who attends Western Washington University. The family enjoys music, movies, their beloved dog, Jack, and being together at their family cabin in the Methow Valley. Dr. Chaney welcomes your emails at cchaney@spu.edu.

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Bruce Congdon, who teaches Faith and Science II, is dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. Prior to that, he was chair of the Biology Department for seven years.

With a Ph.D. in entomology from the University of California at Riverside, he’s taught at SPU since 1985 and has published over a dozen articles on various kinds of bugs and spider mites.

Bruce and his wife, Shari, have two children: Daniel, a junior at SPU, and Sara, who graduated from SPU with a degree in English in 2007.

While gardening, backpacking, or walking, Bruce says he also enjoys thinking about evolution, faith, Scripture, the earth, time, and eternity. He rides the bus, plays a little guitar, and reads Wendell Berry, John Haught, and Stephen Jay Gould. He attends University Presbyterian Church. You can email Professor Congdon at bcongdon@spu.edu.

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Douglas Downing joined the SPU faculty in 1983. He earned a Ph.D. in economics from Yale University and a B.S. from Yale with a double major in economics/political science and astronomy/physics.

He has written several books including a mathematics textbook trilogy in the form of adventure novels. In addition to teaching economics and quantitative methods in the School of Business and Economics (SBE), he teaches introductory astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences and Texts and Contexts IV in the University Scholars program.

He has served as SPU faculty chair, SBE undergraduate chair, SBE study abroad coordinator, and leader of SBE's study abroad trip to China.

His mother Peggy was an SPU student when SPU only had three buildings. He met his wife, Lori, at the Camlann Medieval Faire near Carnation, Washington. Check out Dr. Downing’s home page at myhome.spu.edu/ddowning, or email him at ddowning@spu.edu.

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Owen Ewald joined the SPU faculty in 2001. He earned a Ph.D. in classics from the University of Washington and a B.A. in classics from Yale.

He has published articles on Vergil and Josephus and serves as associate editor for Latin Diagnoses for the journal North American Fungi.

Current chair of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, he teaches Greek and Latin language and literature, ancient history, and a survey of European art. He also teaches Texts and Contexts I together with Dr. Reinsma, and he has been first or second reader on at least a half-dozen honors projects as well.

His thoughts and musings in Latin may be found on his blog, Sputa Tilica. He and his wife, Ellen, met at Christ Episcopal Church in Seattle's U-District, and they have two young daughters, who love horses and the outdoors. You may email Dr. Ewald at ewaldo@spu.edu.

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Eric Hanson, professor of music, has been at SPU since 1979 and has been teaching for over 38 years. He co-teaches Texts and Contexts III with Dr. Chaney. Dr. Hanson earned a bachelor's degree from Wheaton College, a master's from Colorado State University, and a doctorate from the University of Washington. His dissertation plumbed the elegant relationships between the symphonies of Gustav Mahler and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer.

Known as a clinician, adjudicator, scholar, lecturer, and guest conductor, Dr. Hanson is in his 22nd season as music director of Thalia Symphony, SPU's symphony in residence. He was awarded a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship to Harvard and an NEH grant to study at the Beethoven Institute.

His interests include mountain climbing (he currently has 93 summits), European travel, golf, and softball. He is addicted to pickleball. To contact Dr. Hanson, email ehanson@spu.edu.

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Don Holsinger brings his interests in Middle Eastern, African, and global history to the University Scholars Seminar. After graduating from Bethel College (Kansas) in 1970, he and his wife spent a year in France studying French and Arabic followed by two years teaching English in Algeria.

Awards from the Danforth Foundation, Fulbright-Hays, and the Social Science Research Council supported graduate studies at Northwestern University where he completed his Ph.D. in African history in 1979. His dissertation focused on the history of a sectarian Muslim community situated in the Algerian Sahara.

After teaching at George Mason University for 10 years, he joined SPU’s Department of History in 1990. Dr. Holsinger has published in the fields of African history, Middle Eastern history, world history, and the pedagogy of “writing-to-learn.”

He has completed three terms as scholar-lecturer for the Washington Commission for the Humanities and has served as Middle East affairs analyst for Seattle television and radio stations. His Weter Lecture at SPU compared Western/Non-Western frontier interaction in Algeria, southern Africa, and Argentina through the eyes of Alexis de Tocqueville, David Livingstone, and Charles Darwin.

In the summer of 2000, he participated in a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation to Israel and the Palestinian West Bank city of Hebron. In addition to UCOR 2000, Dr. Holsinger regularly teaches courses on Islamic civilization, the modern Middle East, the history of Africa, comparative non-Western history, and global historiography. His favorite pastimes are pickleball and snowboarding. He can be reached at dholsing@spu.edu.

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In addition to an ambitious array of art history courses, ranging from classical to renaissance to contemporary, she teaches USCH 1112 Texts and Contexts II on medieval and renaissance literature and art.

She has written articles on Augustus Saint-Gaudens, Zhi Lin, and Jacques Maritain, and in the Summer of 2009, she and Dr. Maier will offer a study-abroad program in Rome, “Art and Incarnation."

A semi-avid birdwatcher, Dr. Kresser is pretty good at telling you who’s singing around your head when you walk through the forest. When she’s not teaching, Dr. Kresser chills out by watching quality cable television shows on DVD. (She recommends The Wire, Mad Men, and Deadwood.) Dr. Kresser’s can be emailed at kressk@spu.edu.

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John Lindberg, associate professor of physics, has taught several courses in the capstone science sequence.

A graduate of North Park College, the University of Washington and Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, Scotland, he received a Ph.D. in physics in 1999.

Dr. Lindberg began his career as an industrial physicist at Boeing working on optical detection methods for aerospace. When the West won the Cold War, Dr. Lindberg switched from aerospace to bio-medical research and began working full time at Abbott Laboratories.

He has received several patents and has published papers based upon his work in non-invasive measurements of blood chemistry using optics. In 1997, he also began teaching at Trinity International University in Illinois. He joined the Physics Department at Seattle Pacific University in 1999. Dr. Lindberg is also working with the SPU Engineering department teaching classes for the new degree sustainable and appropriate engineering.

He and his wife, Lynne, have four children. You may email Dr. Lindberg at lindberg@spu.edu.

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Patrick McDonald contributes to the philosophical dimensions of the Faith and Science Seminar. He joined the Philosophy Department at Seattle Pacific in 2001after completing his doctoral studies in the history and philosophy of science at the University of Notre Dame. Recently he participated in the Templeton Oxford Seminars on Science and Christianity that continued for three summers.

Dr. McDonald earned a bachelor's degree from Seattle University, and while a student at Notre Dame, he earned a Fulbright fellowship to study for a year at the Humboldt Universitaet zu Berlin.

Dr. McDonald offers courses in science and religion, the philosophy of science, and in the history of philosophy. His research interests lie primarily in the philosophy of science and specifically concern the intersection of philosophy, physics, and experimental psychology in 19th century Germany. He has published articles on the philosophy of science and experimental work of the German scientist Hermann von Helmholtz.

He and his wife, Hannah, have three daughters, and the family enjoys a range of activities unique to the Northwest, from hiking the pine forests of Eastern Washington to taking in the vistas of Seattle’s Discovery Park. Email Dr. McDonald at mcdonp@spu.edu.

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Kevin Neuhouser brings his expertise in Latin American history and culture to one section of the University Scholars Seminar each Autumn Quarter.

A professor in the Department of Sociology, Dr. Neuhouser received his Ph.D. from Indiana University, after doing his undergraduate work at Taylor University. He is the author of Modern Brazil (1999) as well as numerous articles.

Dr. Neuhouser has done extensive on-site research in an urban Brazilian squatter settlement (where he had lived for three years), paying special attention to gender roles. He has also led four SPU student SPRINT teams (short term missions) to Brazil for which students received credit for a course in “Community Development.”

In 2002, he was selected to present the annual faculty Weter Lecture on Christian responsibility in a global world. Dr. Neuhouser was also a member of the SPU's Men's A-League Intramural Basketball Championship team in both 2000 and 2001. Dr. Neuhouser's email address is neuhous@spu.edu.

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Lane Seeley, an associate professor of physics at SPU since 2001, graduated with a B.A. from the University of Puget Sound. He received his master's in science from Montana State University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

He teaches a variety of physics courses, including University Scholars physics for the program’s non-science majors.

Professor Seeley is particularly interested in the nucleation and the surface melting of ice, a topic upon which he’s published several articles in recent years. Together with his colleagues in physics, he is also the recipient of several NSF grants to improve physics education.

With their two children, Dr. Seeley and his wife, Andrea, live north of Seattle, where they attend Holy Rosary Church. A former all-American collegiate distance runner, he now mentors runners on SPU’s cross-country team and competes in triathlons in the summer. Dr. Seeley welcomes your emails at seelel@spu.edu.

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Kimberly Segall joined the English Department at SPU in 2001.

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Rick Steele is professor of moral and historical theology and director of SPU's new Center for Biblical and Theological Education.

He came to SPU in 1995, after serving in the United Methodist pastorate in Wisconsin for 17 years and teaching at Marquette University and the Milwaukee Theological Institute.

He was Chair of the Department of Theology from 2000 to 2008 and interim dean of the School of Theology in 2002-03 and 2005-07. He was SPU Professor of the Year in 2002, the Weter Faculty Award Lecturer in 2004, and chair of the University Faculty in 2004-05.

His great joys are classroom instruction and interacting with students. His primary research interests are religious experience and emotion; theology and disability; and Eastern Orthodoxy.

He is married to the Reverend Marilyn S. Hair. They have three children, including a daughter who graduated from SPU in 2007. Dr. Steele’s email address is rsteele@spu.edu, and his office telephone number is 206-281-216.

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Rodney Stiling, associate professor of history, came to SPU in 2001 with over a decade's experience with the Integrated Liberal Studies Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A graduate of UCLA, Dallas Theological Seminary, and the University of Wisconsin, Dr. Stiling received his Ph.D. in the history of science.

He brings to the Faith and Science sequence a love of students and learning, as well as interests in the scientific revolution of the 16th-18th centuries, the history of relations of science and religion, history of geology, and the history of evolutionary thought.

His other assignments at SPU include teaching world history and philosophy for the Core Curriculum and teaching history of science for SPU's History Department.

Recent publications include articles on 19th-century American geology and the history of scientific interpretation of the Genesis Flood.

Retired in 2002 from the U.S. Naval Reserve, he served on active duty or with reserve units in both the U.S. and foreign countries. Dr. Stiling and his wife, Ruth, have living all over the United States and abroad. They have also had many years of ministry together to college students. They have three young adult children and say they are thrilled to be living in the West, where both mountains and ocean delight the eyes and nourish the soul! You may email Dr. Stiling at rstiling@spu.edu.

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Susan VanZanten, professor of English and the director of the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development, earned a Ph.D. in English literature from Emory University after doing undergraduate work at Westmont College.

She teaches the junior-level seminar in Christianity and Scholarship. Dr. Gallagher's books include Literature Through the Eyes of Faith, A Story of South Africa, Postcolonial Literature and the Biblical Call to Justice, and Literature and the Renewal of the Public Sphere. Her most recent book, Truth and Reconciliation: The Confessional Mode in South African Literature, was supported by fellowships from the Pew Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Dr. VanZanten frequently lectures around the country on issues related to faith, scholarship, and learning. You may email Dr. Gallagher at gallaghe@spu.edu.

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Stamatis Vokos, professor of physics, joined Seattle Pacific University in 2002. A native of Greece, he completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Kent in England and received his Ph.D. in theoretical physics at the University of California at Berkeley.

He has spent the past several years at the University of Washington and then here at SPU researching how students learn physics – and how they might learn it more effectively.

In addition to teaching Faith and Science I for University Scholars, he teaches not only general physics but also courses in quantum mechanics and physics education.

Dr. Vokos has been to India on several occasions to teach physics to the monks of the Dalai Lama, and he travels with his wife and children to Greece every summer to visit his extended family. You can reach Professor Vokos at vokos@spu.edu.

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For more information about the University Scholars program, refer to the University Undergraduate Catalog. You may also contact Luke Reinsma, director of University Scholars, at lreinsma@spu.edu or 206-281-2093.