Read our latest news bulletin
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1. Upcoming Dates and Deadlines
1st May - Common Awards Student Survey opens, with a closing date of 26th May
4th May - Common Awards Management Board
10th May - Webinar: Post-Colonialism, Christina Ministry and the Climate Crisis
26th May - Deadline: TEIs to submit Curriculum Development requests for programme and module changes
2. Common Awards Student Survey (2024 onwards)
The Common Awards Survey Working Group (which was established to help support the creation of the original survey) has been reconstituted to review the questions, and the administrative processes supporting the survey, in consultation with TEIs over the coming weeks and months. The first meeting of the Working Group took place on Friday 21st April, and members agreed that initial consultation with TEI staff and students would take place in advance of the next meeting.
The Common Awards Team will shortly publish an online consultation for TEI staff in order to gather initial thoughts on the survey process and questions. We will also be inviting a group of students to take part in a focus group to share their thoughts and ideas.
Further information will be circulated to TEI key contacts in due course.
3. Board of Examiners (Overarching)
The Overarching Board of Examiners is due to be held on September 4th (Summer) and December 1st (Winter), 2023.
We therefore ask that TEIs hold their own Board of Examiners no later than 4th August 2023 (Summer) and 3rd November 2023 (Winter). This allows the Common Awards Team enough time to process the data received from TEIs, and resolve any queries, before the Overarching Board of Examiners.
Action required:
Submit TEI Board of Examiner's dates to the Common Awards team if you haven't already done so.
4. The Annual Conference of Theological Educators 2023
The 2023 Annual Conference for Theological Educators will be taking place on July 3rd – 5th at High Leigh Conference Centre.
The theme of the conference will be: 'Theological Education and the Environmental Crisis'.
We will be exploring the roles that theological education can play in enabling churches and wider society to face the multiple overlapping crises, including the climate crisis, that form the environmental crisis. We will explore:
the scale of the challenges facing us,
the ways in which the environmental crisis might shape TEIs’ curricula;
the changes in culture and practice that it might demand of TEIs, and
the ways in which theological education and the churches might help foster deeper responses.
Speakers will include:
Norman Wirzba, author of This Sacred Life
Ruth Valerio, author of Saying Yes to Life
Martin Hodson, co-author of A Christian Guide to Environmental Issues
and Anupama Ranawana, author of Liberation for the Earth
You can find more information about the conference, including a provisional timetable, FAQs and registration form here.
5. Webinar: Post-Colonialism, Christian Ministry and the Climate Crisis
Join us for our next Common Awards Webinar "Post-Colonialism, Christian Ministry and the Climate Crisis" on Wednesday 10th May, 1.30-3pm. Selina Stone will be joined by Dr Lisa Adjei and Dr Anupana Ranawana from Christian Aid to explore how global mission might be reimagined beyond colonial frameworks which promote western dominance. Special focus will be given to the climate crisis which disproportionately impacts the historically colonised nations and peoples of the 'global south'. Tickets are free and are available here
6. Common Awards Podcast
The first Common Awards podcast was released on 12 April, you can find the podcast and future releases via our new Audio and Video Resources page, which also includes links to existing resources such as our EDI videos and webinars, TEI good practice videos, and research theme videos: Audio and Video Resources.
7. Further Information
The full 22/23 academic calendar is available here.
With thanks,
The Common Awards Team
