From Nashville to New Brunswick: Vanderbilt University and NBTS Have Something in Common, Myounghun Yun

March 3, 2015

Although he just arrived in the fall semester of 2014, Myounghun Yun has been connected – directly or indirectly – to New Brunswick Theological Seminary since childhood. Myounghun’s hometown, Incheon, Korea, is where NBTS graduate Horace Underwood (1884) first arrived to begin his historic mission work. Yonsei University, founded by Underwood, is where Myounghun earned his B.A. in Theology.

“When I was a student at Yonsei, my knowledge about the ties between Yonsei and NBTS was minimal,” reflected Yun. “I took a course on History of Korean Churches and learned about the missionary Horace Underwood. At that time, I vaguely remembered that he graduated from a Reformed Church seminary in the Northeast of the U.S.”

Yun is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Religion, Psychology and Culture from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. He is participating in The Program in Theology and Practice, which is funded by Vanderbilt and the Lilly Endowment. The program awards five fellowships each year to Ph.D. candidates in Religion. According to the University, the program is for students in fields directly related to the arts of congregational ministry (such as pastoral theology, homiletics, worship and congregational leadership), and those in every field who can connect their academic work to the practice of ministry.

The program incorporates an externship which gives participants an opportunity to work at a Seminary and gain experience similar to that of an actual faculty member while completing their dissertations. The externship offers a chance to be immersed in the practice of teaching for ministry while being guided by a supportive mentor.

“Once NBTS was recommended to me by Dr. Jaco Hamman, director of The Program in Theology and Practice at Vanderbilt, as a site for my externship, I visited the NBTS website and was thrilled to find out that Underwood was a graduate of NBTS,” said Yun. “I feel really privileged to be part of NBTS, tracing the legacy of Horace Underwood and learning the excellence of NBTS’ theological education that trained and formed such ministers as Underwood.”

The Rev. Dr. Raynard Smith, NBTS Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Pastoral Theology, is Myounghun’s mentor while at the Seminary. Dr. Smith’s guidance helps Myounghun learn at a new level, combining teaching, research and service. Myounghun is fully integrated into the NBTS faculty experience; in addition to teaching, he participates in the faculty council and serves on the Underwood Global Center committee.

“Myounghun is very insightful and has a wonderful demeanor with the students,” observed Dr. Smith. “He will make an excellent professor.”

Myounghun is deeply appreciative of Dr. Smith’s support. “From the very beginning of my externship, Dr. Smith has been extremely helpful. I had the privilege of sitting in his intro course as an observer. After each class, we had conversations about teaching skills, pedagogy and classroom dynamics. This helped me prepare for my own courses this semester, as well as to learn about the culture of NBTS.
Along with our monthly formal meetings for processing my experience at NBTS, we are having frequent conversations about many things, including academic interests and other responsibilities as a faculty member. As a mentor, he has been very accessible, guiding and informing.”

Myounghun Yun is teaching two courses at NBTS this spring: Issues of Men and Masculinities in Pastoral Care (A-term) and Human Development and Pastoral Care (B-term). He is also giving the Mark Kraai Lecture in April.