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When the personal becomes pedagogical

Posted December 7th, 2018

For Dr. Su Yon Pak, the “personal” is not only political but also profoundly pastoral, prophetic and pedagogical. “My personal always informs my professional, and vice versa,” says Pak, senior director and associate professor for Integrative and Field-Based Education at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. “The way I do my teaching and research is to start by saying, ‘If I’m asking myself certain questions in response to a life experience I’m going through, what does it mean for us to train today’s religious leaders in that area?’ Going through an experience helps me to teach about it.”