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International Speakers Fund

Background: June O’Connor in 2003 contacted the former presidents of the Society of Christian Ethics to request financial support for a new initiative: the International Speakers Fund, to fund the travel to the SCE of scholars in Christian ethics from elsewhere in the world, particularly scholars from the global south whose financial resources do not allow them the luxury of such travel. All members of the Society have the opportunity to donate to this fund. Approval of the session(s) from the Program Committee is sought 2 years in advance. Once the Program Committee approves, funding can be requested from the Program Committee with the following information:

  • names of those requesting the funds,
  • the purpose (and expected audience),
  • the name[s] and a glimpse into the credentials of those being invited,
  • a full budget (whatever expenses are needed to be covered - air, hotel, meals, registration, stipend)
  • indicate what other funding is available (is speaker also going to speak at a university thus sharing the costs, etc).

Copy of the funding request should also be sent to the SCE office. The Executive Administrator will circulate the request to the Program Committee for a decision. The decision is shared then with the person submitting the request, and SCE staff so reimbursement details can be coordinated. Following approval for the session(s) and funding, the organizers of these sessions would make preliminary arrangements, and would seek lecture commitments at colleges, universities, and seminaries that could occur before or after the SCE annual meeting. Each campus where such a lecture would be held would pay domestic airfare from the previous site to their campus, an honorarium and other usual expenses while on their campus, and will be asked to make a contribution to the SCE to help cover the international airfare. This way, not only will we be making better use of the expertise of each SCE Global Scholar, we’ll also be environmentally more responsible (not burning up all that carbon for one 90 minute session), and will also make the International Speakers Fund monies stretch farther over the years.