GTU Voices - 2024 Excellence in Teaching Award Winner | Dr. Eugene Eung-Chun Park

Dr. Eugene Eung-Chun Park, Dana and David Dornsife Professor of New Testament, has been selected as the recipient of the GTU Excellence in Teaching Award for 2024. In his teaching and research, Dr. Park primarily focuses on studying the New Testament, combining historical and theological perspectives while emphasizing the importance of diversity. He delves into the contextual influences on the New Testament writers, exploring how their interpretations of faith were shaped by existential realities. Additionally, he is an ordained minister with ties to both the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Korean Presbyterian Churches in the US and Korea. 

GTU: Congratulations on being awarded the 2024 GTU Excellence in Teaching Award! Can you share with us how your scholarly endeavors, particularly your research on the New Testament, have influenced your teaching philosophy and approach in the classroom? 

Eugene Park (EP): Thank you! The primary method in my biblical scholarship is to interpret the New Testament and early Christian literature from the perspective of ancient Greek philosophy and literature. I am especially interested in the potential influence of Plato’s thoughts on early Christian writers. This naturally led me to appreciate and even emulate the so-called Socratic method as reflected in the Platonic Corpus. I admit that I am still inclined toward the conventional lecture style in my introductory classes, but in my upper-level doctoral seminars, I try my best to adopt the dialectical method of the Platonic Socrates since I believe it is one of the best ways to foster critical thinking among the students. 

GTU: You have authored several influential books, including The Mission Discourse in Matthew's Interpretation and Either Jew or Gentile: Paul's Unfolding Theology of Inclusivity. How do your scholarly publications inform your teaching methods and help you engage students with complex theological concepts in the classroom? 

EP: My first book, The Mission Discourse in Matthew’s Interpretation, is a revised version of my PhD dissertation and it presents a comparative study between the Cynic philosophical traditions of the Hellenistic era and the ancient Greek medical literature such as the Hippocratic corpus and the second great discourse in the Gospel of Matthew. Cynic philosophers taught by example, mostly from their own life. The Hippocratic corpus contains a lot of didactic materials which involve the principle of teaching by example as well. I hope these pedagogic principles found in the ancient materials that I investigated in my scholarly books had indeed a positive impact on my own teaching. My second book, Either Jew or Gentile: Paul's Unfolding Theology of Inclusivity, is a theological biography of “Apostle” Paul, and as the title indicates, it has a clearly defined hermeneutical orientation toward inclusivity as manifested in Paul’s genuine letters in the New Testament. Seen from the perspective of theological and religious inclusivity, Paul’s life, I believe, is deeply inspirational both in thought and action. I consider myself positively influenced by Paul’s way of breaking the conventional mold and chartering a new path for theology of inclusivity. I always hope my students will recognize and appreciate the same in my classroom. 

GTU: As an ordained minister and someone with a congenial relationship with Korean Presbyterian Churches, how do you balance your academic scholarship with your religious commitments in the classroom? How does this interdisciplinary approach enhance the learning experience for your students? 

EP: I belong to a mainline denomination, PCUSA, and I wholeheartedly embrace the denominational stance that advocates a radically inclusive and progressive theological outlook. I used to think one’s belief and academic endeavor were two separate domains, but I have shed that idea. I now realize that my belief system has been influenced by my scholarly pursuits, albeit mostly unbeknownst to myself. At least, it is the case with my experience in retrospect. I don’t want to impose this idea on my students. They should form their own opinion on this matter. Anyway, this might sound arbitrarily dichotomous, but I do not mind talking about my theological ideas in my MDiv classes, but I try not to discuss personal beliefs or theologies, of mine or anyone else’s, in my doctoral seminars, which are reserved for focused academic discourses. 

GTU: The GTU Excellence in Teaching Award recognizes your dedication to fostering interreligious sensitivity and cultural diversity in the classroom. Can you elaborate on specific strategies you employ to cultivate an inclusive learning environment where students from diverse backgrounds feel valued and empowered to engage with the material? 

EP: I strongly intend to cultivate diversity in my classroom. As an ethnic minority person in the US, I feel that standing for diversity is a natural instinct at an existential level for me. More importantly, however, beyond the personal layers, diversity is one of the hallmarks that characterize the New Testament and early Christian literature.  That being said, I don’t think I have a specific set of pedagogical strategies for this purpose. My unconsciously chosen method has been to let the ancient texts speak for themselves on the issues of diversity and pluralism. When the students pay close attention to the text with a trained eye, they will discover a remarkable degree of diverse and sometimes even mutually incompatible ideas co-existing in the same corpus, be it biblical or Platonic. Letting my students see it for themselves gives me a sense of gratification as a teacher. 

GTU: What are some of the reasons you think students should consider pursuing an education at the GTU as opposed to seeking out an advanced degree in theology at another institution? 

EP: The GTU is sui generis. There are GTU wannabes elsewhere in the globe, but no other consortium has achieved the superb quality of genuinely ecumenical, interreligious, intercultural, and interdisciplinary endeavors that the GTU has successfully embodied at the highest academic level. Based on this unique feature of the GTU, even in this time of difficulties in theological education, I remain optimistic and believe that the GTU, together with its member schools, will continue to thrive as one of the last bastions of progressive theological/religious education in North America. In my humble opinion, this alone should give prospective students a compelling enough reason to choose the GTU, but I am sure there are more reasons that they can find themselves once they come here.