Sponsored by the Fetzer Institute,  this spiritual care lecture series treats the historical development  and current work of African Americans and spiritual care in the US. The  series is part of a pilot project to support and build networks for  spiritual care providers of color and will focus on the expertise,  compassion, and care African American chaplains bring to their work;  their experiences as people of color in this work; and opportunities for  everyone to unite in action around disparities in access to spiritual  care. Session 1 features a discussion on how conversation circles can be  used to support, network, and draw together chaplains of color to  promote professional wellness and mutual uplift. This session also  officially launched the eBook Conversation Circles.

We are joined by:

Dr. Su Yon Pak, Senior Director and Associate Professor of Integrative and Field-based  Education at Union Theological Seminary. In this hybrid  faculty-administrator position, she envisions, creates and oversees the  curricular and co-curricular work of the Office of Integrative Education  including field education, clinical pastoral education, life-long  learning, ministerial formation, and combined courses inside Bedford  Hills Correctional Facility. Prior to her current position, she was the  Vice President for Institutional Advancement; and the Associate Dean for  Student Life/ Director of Recruitment at Union.

Rev. Kirstin Boswell, University Chaplain and Dean of Multifaith Engagement at Elon  University. Prior to her work at Elon, Rev. Boswell was Associate Dean  of Student Support Services at Brown University. Her former roles have  included serving as Chaplain to the Institute and Director of the Office  of Religious Life at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and  theProtestant Chaplain at both Brown University and Bentley University  and the Director of Operations for The International Association of  Black Religions and Spiritualities at the University of Chicago.