01/22/2018
Each ICPE newsletter will feature a faculty or staff member and his or her recent achievements that contribute to the overall success and mission of the Institute for Civic & Professional Engagement.
The first Faculty Spotlight is Dr. Shelli Poe, who came to Millsaps in 2013 as a post-doctoral Teaching Fellow and taught as a visiting professor from 2014–2017. She currently serves as Assistant Professor of Religious Studies; Director of Initiative for Vocational Inquiry; and Director of Vocation, Ethics, and Society. Prior to Millsaps, she taught at the University of Virginia and University of Mary Washington. She earned her degrees at the University of Virginia, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Bethel University (St. Paul, MN).
At Millsaps, Poe serves as the Director of the Initiative for Vocational Inquiry (IVI), which is the largest academic branch of the Institute for Civic & Professional Engagement. As both a teacher and a scholar, Poe understands the connection between academia and community. Her co-edited volume, The Key to the Door: Experiences of the Early African-American Students of the University of Virginia, published in April 2017, sheds light on the history and experiences of black students at the University of Virginia.
“The book provides a model for other institutions to follow in documenting and learning from the history of black students on their campuses and in using those lessons as they chart the future,” said Walter R. Allen of the University of California, Los Angeles on the publisher’s website. “This volume adds to current discussions concerning access, equity, inclusion, and achievement in higher education and is particularly useful for its examination of these questions through the lived experiences of African Americans who attended one of the country’s leading public universities.”
IVI programs forge connections between Millsaps students, the Jackson community, and the communities beyond Jackson through community engaged learning; the Vocation, Ethics, and Society (VESO) minor; the Wellspring Living and Learning community; and the Center for Career Education. In the VESO minor, Poe encourages students to ask questions such as, “How are my perspectives and vocational goals shaped by my socio-economic status and culture?”, “What responsibilities do I have within my society?”, and “How will my life’s work contribute to the well-being of others?” IVI programs connect students to firsthand experiences that help answer these questions. For instance, Kelsey Stone travelled to Los Angeles, California during the summer of 2017 for an internship through the VESO minor to develop curriculum for the United Methodist Church’s Peace Camp at Echo Park. In addition to the hands-on work and experiences provided through the VESO minor, Poe’s role as a professor and active community member helps students find the answers to their questions.
Students also engage with Millsaps faculty members who struggled with similar questions about their futures through IVI Hours that Poe coordinates as IVI director. She describes IVI Hours as “one-hour sessions with invited faculty and alumni who speak with the campus community about why they do what they do, how they came to be practicing their vocations at Millsaps, and what they have learned along the way.”
The Institute for Civic & Professional Engagement acts as a bridge between the campus and community, and IVI programs help students better understand the need for scholarly and community connections. Poe’s work directly contributes to these goals by connecting academic knowledge with concrete experiences to help students attain educational, vocational, and leadership goals at Millsaps.
Read more about IVI: http://www.millsaps.edu/academics/initiative-vocational-inquiry.php
The Initiative for Vocational Inquiry is a set of interlocking programs that engage Millsaps students with the Jackson community and the wider world. It consists of three distinct programs: a set of faculty-led courses in Community Engaged Learning (CEL); an academic minor in Vocation, Ethics, and S...
