Over the centuries, Christianity has inspired some of the most beautiful and well-known music in the Western world. Today's guest, pianist Amy I-Lin Cheng, was drawn to music at an early age because of how it expresses God's beauty. Dr. Cheng serves as an associate professor of piano performance at Michigan. She grew up in Taiwan, came to the US to study music, and has performed on stages around the world.

My discussion with Amy includes her personal faith journey, the role of Christianity in pursuing artistic excellence, and how classical music brings her closer to God.

Everyone seems to be talking about artificial intelligence these days. But how should Christians understand AI? Can we use AI in beneficial ways while safeguarding human dignity?

Today's conversation features Dr. Maggie Makar, Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Michigan. Before coming to Michigan, Maggie worked on the cutting edge of machine learning research at Microsoft and Google. She uses AI herself in medical research, but also expresses deep concerns about a future of AI untethered from human constraints.

In addition to discussing AI, Maggie shares her fascinating story of growing up as a Christian in Cairo, Egypt, coming to the U.S., and balancing life as a wife and mother with the demands of a tenure-track faculty position at a premier university.

This week we have a special guest: Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today and former editor-in-chief of World Magazine. Marvin is one of the most important Christian journalists of the past half-century, who has shaped Christian perspectives on important social and political issues. Marvin is also a Michigan alum, and in our conversation, he shares with students his fascinating story of converting from communism to Christianity as a graduate student in Ann Arbor in the 1970s.

Over the course of his long professional career, Marvin has sought to be faithful to Christian truth amidst a shifting religious and political landscape, even when doing so has resulted in personal costs.

Please note: due to some technical issues, the sound quality is poorer than usual. Given the quality of the content, however, we're posting the podcast anyway, and I'm confident that you will enjoy the conversation nonetheless.

This week’s Friday lunch guest was Kristin Collier, Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the U of M School of Medicine. Kristin has been a frequent guest at the Center. Not only does she have a compelling story of coming to Christian faith as an adult, but she has taken courageous moral stands at the University of Michigan as an advocate for human dignity in medicine. She's an ideal role model to students in faithful Christian thinking and living, and we’re confident that you'll enjoy our conversation.

Our opening lunch features two familiar faces to students: Rick Ostrander, Executive Director, and Heidi Lemmerhirt, the Center's Director of Hospitality and Student Engagement.

Heidi and Rick comprise something of a mirror image academically. Heidi is a scientist who did her bachelor's degree at Notre Dame and her PhD in genetics at Michigan. Rick is a humanities guy who did my bachelor's degree at Michigan and my PhD in history at Notre Dame.

Their purpose in this talk is to use personal stories and examples from the sciences and humanities to communicate to students the importance of a Christian worldview in providing motivation for learning, shaping our understanding of the disciplines, and applying our learning in redemptive ways.

This week, it is our executive director, Rick Ostrander’s turn to be in the interview chair. Rick sits down with the center's Julie Magro, director of operations and advancement, for a summer conversation.

Julie questions Rick about the nature of a Christian study center, how the Michigan Christian Study Center came to be, and what life is like as the director of a relatively new startup organization.

This week, we feature an engaging conversation with Stephanie Goetz, a lecturer in Spanish at the U of M. Stephanie shares her fascinating story of how traveling to Spain as a college student led to her own spiritual reawakening. She also explains how she views teaching Spanish as a way to minister to students spiritually and to extend the love of Christ to others.

Michael Buist, clinical assistant professor of anesthesiology at Michigan Medicine, is intimately familiar with human suffering. In our conversation, Michael shared how his Christian faith motivated his interest in alleviating human pain and how it enables him to minister to patients in some of their most vulnerable times in life.

This Good Friday, we had a conversation with Sean White, a UM alum who serves as the Director of Strategy and Partnerships at Michigan Central. Sean shared about his time as a student at Michigan, how God called him back to himself, and his eventual move to Detroit and work at Michigan Central.

This week, we welcomed political science professor Brian Min, who spoke about how his experiences growing up and working on his PhD led to his current work studying the relationship between energy access and poverty.

This week, we speak with Becky Schrotenboer, an interior designer and head of a charitable foundation in West Michigan. She provided students with a vivid example of how Christians can serve God in various professions. Also, having experienced a number of unexpected tragedies and hardships, she affirmed to students that "living faithfully" means trusting God in life's valleys as well as life's triumphs.

This week we were joined by Gabe Kasper, lead pastor at University Lutheran Chapel in Ann Arbor. As a young person, Gabe's dream was a star in a punk rock band, but God steered him to pastoral ministry instead. In his typical, lively style, Gabe discusses with us the joys and challenges of pastoral ministry and the importance of maintaining an active intellectual life as a Christian.

Our Friday lunch guest was Dave Brzezinski, teaching professor in the U of M School of Medicine. Our main topic was faith and science: We discussed Dave’s own spiritual journey as a believer and a scientist, issues of potential tension between faith and science, and how students at Michigan can deal with subjects (or professors) that may challenge their faith.

This week we spoke with Dr. Bethany Hughes, a professor of American Culture at Michigan who also serves as director of the Native American Studies Program at the U of M. Like many Christian scholars, Bethany straddles the world of academia--in which Christians are sometimes viewed with suspicion--and the church, where studying subjects such as racial and cultural identity can sometimes raise eyebrows. She shared with students how her Christian faith enables her to perceive the humanity in others and "translate" across cultural and spiritual divides.

This week, Karl Hoesch, a current Associate at the organization “Partners for Public Good”, shared his story of an academic journey that began at Hope College and ended at U-M with a PhD in Resource Policy & Behavior. Karl spoke about how he felt God guiding his journey and how shared Christian values can motivate discussions and actions toward environmental policies and postures that benefit all of humanity.

This week, Ayanna McConnell, the president of the University of Michigan Alumni Association, joined us for Friday lunch. Ayanna shared her U-M journey with students, beginning as a student committed to meeting new people and experiencing the varied opportunities of a large university, to transitioning into her current role as a faithful leader interacting with alums across the world. She enjoyed engaging with students and encouraged them to be ready to apply their faith wherever the Lord leads.

Our guest this week was Isaac Wingfield, instructor of photography and the head of Visual Arts at the U-M Residential College. In our conversation, Isaac discusses how his passion for the visual arts originated and how he understands beauty from a Christian framework. He also talks about the prison Creative Arts program that he leads, which uses photography to restore a sense of identity and dignity to individuals in prison.

Associate Professor of Educational Studies, Jamaal Sharif Matthews, reflected on how Dr. Martin Luther King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” still speaks to the church today and how righteousness and justice form the axis of our relationship with God and other people.

Two MCSC students, senior Brady Nichols and junior Natalie Mouw, shared their reflections on how their Christian faith has impacted their lives as students at Michigan, the ways their faith has been challenged and grown, and the significance of the Michigan Christian Study Center to their U of M experience.

Kristin Wong, the MCSC Director of Spiritual and Community Life, shared her experience as a cello major at the U of M, her journey to becoming a Christian counselor, the importance of the spiritual disciplines, and how to cultivate Christ’s spirit of peace amid the stress of final exams.