Exit Interview with Elizabeth Schrader Polczer

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Could you talk about the audience reception and engagement that you experienced in this series?

The audience reacted to each speaker in different ways, I would say, and they were all fruitful. I remember Beth Allison Barr’s conversation about Christianity and women, where I think there were people crying in the audience when she was talking, and there were some very emotional questions. Beth had in the past been part of the Southern Baptist Convention, and she could share a lot of personal stories as well as her scholarly expertise in the history of women and Christianity. Her discussion really resonated with the audience. She created a situation in the room where people felt safe sharing their own sometimes painful stories, and she did an extraordinary job of attending to those people and their needs in that moment. She made sure to take time for each question, and she spoke to people afterward as well, one-on-one. And again, that was something that I could learn from: When you're speaking to something that really deeply resonates with your audience, how do you care for them?

When you're speaking to something that really deeply resonates with your audience, how do you care for them?

James Martin's discussion about Christianity and the LGBTQ community, which was on Zoom, also stays with me. People were sharing their personal experiences of being LGBTQ or having LGBTQ family members who wanted to be part of the Catholic Church, but who aren’t allowed to fully participate. You could see in the audience response that he was giving them a perspective that they had not necessarily been aware of before, and at the same time he provided that perspective with a sort of pastoral quality, saying, basically, “I know that sometimes your experience in the Church is painful.”

There was, again, a very emotional response from the audience members during that talk, and that to me is what public scholarship is really about: When participants get the opportunity to speak with someone who is an authority, whose work might have resonated with them in the past, and they acknowledge participants’ personal experiences. It has the ability to bring healing.

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I would say to other PhD students who hold this fellowship: Maximize the opportunity! Be creative and think big. Make it into something that pushes your boundaries as a scholar and as a contributor to the public conversation.

As you know, the Anne Firor Scott Fellowship is intended to be for someone who's in the final stages of their dissertation work. For some people, there is a worry that this kind of public engagement gets in the way of their academic development, of their “real” academic work. Could you talk about that?

I would say that the fellowship only benefited me. Duke has an unlimited amount of opportunities for graduate students, not all of which we take advantage of. I think PhD work isn't just about finishing your dissertation. It's about expanding your skillset and learning as much as you possibly can.

Additionally, I think that beyond just the skills that I received in having this fellowship, it also made me a far more competitive applicant on the job market. I was able to plan a speaker series with these top public intellectuals. How many PhD candidates can say that?

It also helped me extend my range as a scholar. I study and teach Early Christianity and the New Testament. But here I had to learn about the history of Christianity and racism in the United States, and I had to learn about the current Pew report documenting the declining number of Christians in the United States, and I had to learn about the specific discussions that are being had right now in the Southern Baptist Convention. Those topics have nothing to do with my primary area of research. But they make me a stronger professor because I understand the world that I'm living in much better.

I would say to other PhD students who hold this fellowship: Maximize the opportunity! Be creative and think big. Make it into something that pushes your boundaries as a scholar and as a contributor to the public conversation. Because once you go into the academic world and become a professor, you might not have this kind of safe training space again, where you have the room to do what you want to do.

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