For Homecoming week at the University of Michigan, we hosted a conversation with two recent alums, Alyssa Chin and Dave Schutt, who were actively involved with the center as undergraduates. Alyssa majored in business and now serves as a consumer analyst with Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati. Dave majored in linguistics and is now pursuing a PhD in Hebrew Bible at Harvard Divinity School. They discuss how their faith developed during their university years and what Christian faith and community look like at this new stage of life.

This episode features Michigan art professor Ebi Baralaye, a Nigerian-born sculptor and ceramicist. Ebi shares with students his love for crafting things with his hands and his insights about the role of creativity in the Christian life.

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.