Dr. Claire Miller Colombo, Southwest’s Assistant Professor of Writing, Theology, and the Arts and Director of the Center for Writing and Creative Expression, won a 2022 Best of the Church Press Award from The Associated Church Press. Her article, “The Chair and the Collapse of the Humanities,” won the Critical Review Award of Excellence.
Read Dr. Colombo’s article here.
“What a surprise and delight to win this award, especially for a piece so close to my heart,” Colombo said. “The Chair is a send-up of English departments everywhere, and anyone who’s ever been a member of one — and I have — will find it both hilarious and painful to watch. I wanted in the piece to express gratitude to the makers of the show for asking the big, hard questions about meaning-making in today’s secular academy.”
“Professor Colombo brings literary, theological, and practical knowledge to her review of “The Chair,” said the Very Rev. Cynthia Briggs Kittredge, Dean and President of Seminary of the Southwest. “She displays her characteristic insight, wit, and wisdom in her commentary.”
“I also wanted to express gratitude for my own situation, as a liberal-arts-based educator, in a theological school,” said Colombo. “Our seminary context allows us — requires us — to continue making meaning in reference to God, which is both a privilege and a serious responsibility. What we say about God, and how we teach students to talk about God, has a real impact in the world through their ministries.”
