Faith Integration in the Academy Conference
Call for Proposals: Submissions for 2025 are now open! Be sure to submit prior May 1, 2025 to be considered for this year's FIA conference.
Faith Integration in the Academy Conference
Mark your calendars for the next free, online conference on academic faith integration!
Date: Friday, August 1, 2025
Time: 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. Pacific Time
Conference Information
The Faith Integration in the Academy Conference welcomes Dr. Erin Smith as our keynote speaker.
Dr. Erin I. Smith is California Baptist University’s Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor of Research and a professor of psychology. Trained as a developmental psychologist, Smith’s expertise lies at the intersection of developmental and cognitive psychology with an interest in science and Christianity. Her published work explores church as a cultural context for child development, practices of effective church children’s ministry, understanding Christian (dis)engagement with science, and psychological contributions to theological anthropology. She was a Scholarship on Christianity in Oxford Visiting Scholar in Science and Religion at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford University (2015-2016) as part of the Bridging the Two Cultures of Science and the Humanities Program. Between 2019 and 2022, she served as a science advisor in the Science for Seminaries program, a project of AAAS’ Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. In the 2022-2023 academic year, she was the scholar in residence at the L. Russ Bush Center for Faith and Culture at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. In 2024, she was nominated as a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation. She is passionate about leveraging science for the benefit of the church and is currently writing a book to equip church leaders with insights from psychology for ministry. Locally, she is an active member of Northpoint Church in Corona, where she volunteers in the children’s ministry. Together with her husband and three children, she enjoys playing games, engaging in theatre, or repeating the futile instruction for the cat to get off the counter. More information is available at erinsmithpsychology.com.
Thank you for your interest in submitting a proposal for the 5th Annual Faith Integration
in the Academy (FIA) Conference, taking place Friday, August 1, 2025.
The FIA Conference is a 1-day virtual experience featuring presentations and hands-on
workshops and sessions in the following formats:
- Workshop session: 45-minute workshop on a faith integration topic
- Roundtable session: 45-minute group conversation around a specific topic; moderated
by proposal group.
Themes: Session proposals can be around one of three themes:
- Practical Applications: These sessions and workshops discuss ideas and practices for how to make faith evident in classrooms and around the university.
Please complete all fields in the next section to submit your conference proposal. Conference proposals must be submitted prior to 11:59pm PST on May 1, 2025. Once the call for proposals has ended, proposals will be reviewed by a peer review panel.
Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Relevance of topic: Is this topic likely to interest and be directly relevant to conference attendees? Will the topic generate discussion or thought-provoking dialogue?
- Presentation organization: Is the proposal presented with clarity and clearly communicates its appropriateness to the topic of Christian faith integration?
- Interactivity & outcomes: Is the proposal designed in a way to promote an interactive experience with attendees? Does the proposal offer clear learning outcomes for those in attendance?
The Journal of Faith in the Academic Profession is the official journal connected to the conference. JFAP publishes theoretical, practice, and research papers focused on faith-based practices in higher education teaching and learning. With more than 10,000 article downloads in just two years, JFAP is a widely read source for academic faith integration in higher education. For more information on the journal click below:
JFAP web page
Register with the journal for timely updates
The Faith Integration in the Academy Conference has brought together scholar-practitioners four times. Click the dates below for a copy of the schedule proceedings from each conference.
4th Annual FIA Conference: The Great Commission (August 2, 2024)
3rd Annual FIA Conference (December 2, 2022)
Register to Attend
Registration is free and now open. We welcome academics and higher education staff interested in faith integration. We also encourage student participation in the conference.