Established by the seminary in 1984, the Center for Asian/Asian American Ministry (CAAM) is home away from home, a haven, for our Asian descent students at Garrett. The CAAM invites our Asian descent students to explore, critically reflect, and thrive spiritually, academically, and experientially at Garrett.
In particular, the CAAM provides spaces for our students to explore their calling in ways that are attuned to cultural, racial, and other socio-ethical sensitivities. These spaces invite our Asian descent students to learn, unlearn, and relearn perspectives and theologies as a way to critically engage the wider community and oneself. These engagements seek to provide holistic and decolonizing narratives for our students as they thrive in their emergence as prophetic activists and faithful ministers of the divine.
We organize webinars that are attuned to the needs of our students and the Garrett community. Moreover, we bring the familiar and familial Asian hospitality through meal fellowship with the wider community. We are also intentional in our desire to academically assist our students through mentoring program.
After graduation, we hope that our alumni will visit us in-person or online as if they are visiting their parents’ and grandparents’ homes. As they visit us, we hope that we could reminisce their experience at Garrett, rejoice on their present accomplishments, and pray together for their futures to come.
Dr. Dong Hyeon Jeong is assistant professor of New Testament and director of the Center for Asian/Asian American Ministry. The son of Korean missionaries in the Philippines, Jeong is an ordained elder in the Philippine Central Conference, Manila Episcopal Area, Southwest Philippines Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church. Jeong’s area of expertise includes biblical studies and languages, social justice, race and ethnicity, and posthumanism.
“I am August Venuh from Nagaland, Northeast India. I am a theologian, currently pursuing my Ph.D. at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and an artist who works with the intentional creativity process.”
Bishop of the Wisconsin Conference, UMC
This online guide from the Styberg Library contains resources on anti-Asian racism and xenophobia.
Garrett’s robust scholarship offerings includes scholarships designated for students of Asian descent.
The Korean Student Association is a student group for Korean Americans and international students from Korea. Its primary purpose is to provide support and fellowship and to promote an awareness of Korean culture and customs in the seminary community. They typically offer several get-togethers with food, worship services, and other special events throughout the semester.
My vocation as a teacher, pastoral theologian and librarian is deeply rooted in the commitment to serve and lead others as we together try to understand the complexities of the world and engage in the caring and community building activities of the Divine.
Dr. Jaeyeon Lucy Chung
Director, Styberg Library
Associate Professor of Pastoral Theology
My vocation as a biblical scholar stems from and reflects my intersectional identity as a Korean-Filipino missionary kid who grew up in the Philippines.
Rev. Dr. Dong Hyeon Jeong
Assistant Professor of New Testament Interpretation
Director, Center for Asian/Asian American Ministry
I am privileged to be part of this faculty and with colleagues I regard with high respect as teachers and scholars. Our students are what make the Garrett experience significant, and I look forward to contributing further to their formation.
Dr. Wonhee Anne Joh
Harry R. Kendall Professor in Christian Theology and Postcolonial Studies
Not only am I thrilled to be working alongside such a distinguished faculty, I am also excited to teach and connect with the bold and adventurous students of the Garrett community. I hope to continue my work as an ally and advocate for greater representation of minority and underserved communities to access pastoral and spiritual care.
Rev. Dr. AHyun Lee
Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Psychotherapy
As a teacher, scholar, and clinician, it is my intention to create an atmosphere of hospitality and curiosity and to encourage religious imagination in spaces of teaching and learning.
Dr. Rolf Nolasco
Rueben P. Job Professor of Spiritual Formation and Pastoral Theology
Director, Rueben P. Job Institute for Spiritual Formation
I consider learning a risk-taking (and inevitably painful) adventure in which we pursue knowledge (information), ground self in foundations of integrity (formation), and commit to live and act in ways that ensures essential well-being for all and for this planet (transformation).
Rev. Dr. Mai-Anh Le Tran
Associate Professor of Religious Education and Practical Theology
My calling as a biblical scholar is to bridge the gap between the church and the academy, between laity and scholars, between U.S. Christianities and those in the Majority World, between faith and reason.
Dr. K.-K. Yeo
Harry R. Kendall Professor of New Testament
Dr. Jaeyeon Lucy Chung is Director of the Styberg Library and Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. Born and raised in Seoul, Korea, Chung came to the United States as an international graduate student in the 1990s and earned her STM from Boston University, MLIS from Dominican University, and Ph.D. from Emory University. She also received clinical training through pastoral counseling and CPE residency programs in Atlanta and Chicago. She joined the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in 2013. A feminist Asian American pastoral and practical theologian, Chung’s research has focused on self-esteem, gender-based violence, racial trauma, immigration justice, congregational care, and theological librarianship. She is currently working on two writing projects: one on ageism and pastoral care with the elderly, and the other on the utility of a spiritual care lab as an experiential and engaged learning model. The courses she teaches at Garrett include “Introduction to Pastoral Care and Counseling,” “Research Methods in Pastoral Counseling,” “Psychology of Religion,” and “Integrated Seminar in Pastoral Theology.” Chung lives in Evanston with her husband, and they have two sons.
Dr. Wonhee Anne Joh is professor of theology and culture and director of the PhD program at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary. An interdisciplinary theologian, Joh’s research and scholarship has focused on post/decolonialism, critical ethnic/race and Asian American studies, feminist, queer and affect theories, and constructive theology. Joh joined the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in July 2009.
Joh is a respected scholar, teacher, and highly sought out advisor for students in Garrett-Evangelical’s doctor of philosophy program. Her work as a doctoral mentor and guide has extended beyond the seminary as well, working closely with the United Methodist Women of Color Doctoral Program; the Forum for Theological Exploration Doctoral Fellowship Program; the Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry, a network of women focusing on doctoral students and women in ministry and theological education; and the Asian Theological Summer Institute, a one-week intensive mentoring for doctoral students of Asian descent.
Rev. Dr. AHyun Lee serves as assistant professor of pastoral theology, care, and psychotherapy, having previously served as as assistant professor of pastoral care at Wesley Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University and as a faculty member and psychotherapist at the Center for Religion and Psychotherapy of Chicago. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Illinois and has completed numerous professional certifications. An ordained elder in The United Methodist Church, Lee has also served in a variety of locations and positions within the Wisconsin Conference and South Korea, including rural and urban churches, the Center for Asian/Asian American Ministry and Theology at Garrett-Evangelical, and cross-cultural and cross-racial ministries.
Lee’s research interests include psychotherapy and religion, intercultural pastoral care and counseling, self-psychology, narrative therapy theory, trauma and crisis counseling, trauma-informed pedagogy, Asian and Asian American theology, practical/pastoral theology, feminist/womanist theology, postcolonial theory and theology. She is the author of Selves in Between: Offering Care and Forging Bonds with Difference (New Room Books, 2021), Protestant Clergy Sexual Misconduct and Intercultural Pastoral Care – Invisible Mask (Palgrave Macmillan, forthcoming) and 나를 만나는 여행 (Seoul: Korea: 반디, forthcoming).
Lee is a member of Pacific, Asian, and North American Asian Women in Theology and Ministry, the Society of Pastoral Theology, the American Academy of Religion, International Academy of Practical Theology, National Association of Korean American United Methodist Clergy Women, Illinois Mental Health Counselors Association, and the Illinois Counseling Association. She is also on the editorial board of the Journal of Pastoral Psychology.
Along with her PhD from Garrett-Evangelical, Lee earned a bachelor of theology from The Methodist Theological University (Seoul, South Korea), a master of theology from The Graduate School at The Methodist Theological University (Seoul, South Korea), and a master of divinity from Wesley Theological Seminary (Washington, DC, United States).
As a psychotherapist with international reach, Dr. Rolf Nolasco has vast experience in cross-cultural communications from living and working across the world within varying social and cultural backgrounds. He holds a doctor of theology degree from Boston University in pastoral psychology, a master of divinity from Fuller Theological Seminary, and a bachelor of arts degree from University of the Philippines in the College of Mass Communications (cum laude).
Dr. Nolasco is the author of The Contemplative Counselor: A Way of Being (Fortress Press, 2011) and Compassionate Presence: A Radical Response to Human Suffering (Cascade Books, 2016), which seeks to affirm compassion as the pulsating heartbeat of Christian theology and praxis through the hermeneutical perspectives of brain science, psychology, and practical theology. His latest book is God’s Beloved Queer (Wipf and Stock, 2019). He is also currently working on Heart Ablaze: Awakening the Queer Spirit (Church Publishing, forthcoming), and Depression, Dark Night of the Soul, and Joy (Cascade Books, forthcoming).
Since joining the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical, Dr. Nolasco was awarded a project grant from the Louisville Institute, selected to participate in the Wabash Center’s new digital salons, and invited to participate in the inaugural Wabash Center/Collegeville Institute workshop. In 2019, he was awarded Exemplary Teacher by the General Board of Higher Education and Ministry of The United Methodist Church.
Rev. Dr. Mai Anh Le Tran is an internationally recognized leader in theological education, an accomplished scholar, and much sought out for her expertise in pedagogy. She joined the faculty of Garrett-Evangelical in 2017 as associate professor of religious education and practical theology, and served as academic dean from 2019-2023.
Her research has focused on religion, education, and violence. Her writings delve into the local/global intersections of race, gender, and class in religious identity and practices. A selection of Tran’s writings can be found in the Religious Education Journal, Christians in Education, The New Interpreter’s Bible Pastor’s Bible Study series, Ways of Being, Ways of Reading: Asian American Biblical Interpretation, and Teaching for a Culturally Diverse and Racially Just World. Her latest book, Reset the Heart: Unlearning Violence, Relearning Hope, was published by Abingdon Press in May 2017.
Tran holds a doctor of philosophy degree in Christian education and congregational studies from Garrett-Evangelical (2004), a master of religious education from Southern Methodist University, and a bachelor of science from Texas Wesleyan University. She is an ordained elder and member of the California-Nevada Conference of The United Methodist Church. She has traveled to, studied, or taught in over fifteen different countries including Brazil, Cambodia, Indonesia, American and Western Samoa, Kenya, Malaysia, and Germany. Prior to serving on the faculty at Garrett-Evangelical, Dr. Tran served at Eden Theological Seminary and the Pacific School of Religion.
Yeo Khiok-Khng (K.-K.) (PhD, Northwestern University) sees his vocation as a Bible teacher as the pilgrimage of a lifelong student of God’s words in dialogue between cultures of antiquity and modern world. Yeo’s mentoring and research have focused on cultures and the Bible, with a special emphasis on the tasks of building nations, transforming local communities, fulfilling the ideals of culture, saving individuals from chaos, injustice, and violence and moving them toward wholeness and beauty.
Yeo is a Borneo-born (Kampong/village Teriso) Chinese American scholar of the New Testament, now reside in village Skokie (Potawatomi swamp land). He came to Garrett-Evangelical in 1987 as an MDiv student, returned in 1996 as a professor (as Harry R. Kendall Professor of New Testament since 2001), served as a member of the Graduate Faculty of the Joint Garrett/Northwestern PhD Program of Northwestern University (1997–2008). He is an affiliate faculty at the Department of Asian Languages and Cultures at Northwestern University (since 2015).
He is an academic entrepreneur in global networks of China scholars and Majority World theologians. He lectures widely in South-East Asia, Middle East, and is visiting professor to major universities in China, including Peking University (since 2006). He is a Lilly Scholar (1999) and Henry Luce Scholar (2003), and inducted as an elected member of the Society of New Testament Studies (SNTS) since 1998. He has authored or edited more than forty Chinese- and English-language books on critical engagement between Bible and cultures: Musing with Confucius and Paul (2008), Zhuangzi and James (2012, in Chinese), What Has Jerusalem to Do with Beijing? (2018), co-editing a six-volume series on Majority World Theology (2014-2019), and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of the Bible in China (2021).
