The Society for Women in Scholarship
Cultivating the academic gifts of women.
The Society for Women in Scholarship seeks to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by cultivating academic gifts, encouraging scholarly practices, and facilitating opportunities for women to contribute to the academy in order to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission.
What is The Society for Women in Scholarship?
The Society was created as a means to help women who are academically and theologically gifted gain valuable support during their time at the academy. It’s a member-based society with multiple levels of membership, depending on your relationship to Southeastern and your commitment abilities. The Society also seeks to give back to the seminary by holding academic events that will benefit and equip the entire student body. It’s not something only for women. While membership and meetings are female-only, events, and colloquiums put on by The Society are offered as a resource for the entire student body.
What does it do?
The Society exists to cultivate academic gifting and professional development in women at Southeastern at both the college and seminary levels. The way this gets accomplished is through regular meetings, mentoring relationships from professionals in academia, career networking, colloquiums, round-table discussions, and more.
Membership
Society Student Member:
This membership is for college and graduate students only.
Professional Member:
This membership is for professional associates who are using their theological gifting and education in the workplace. Professional members will have the opportunity to speak at Society meetings and mentor student members.
Friends of the Society:
This level of membership is for non-students who may not be working in a theological field, but want to invest the Society’s efforts as well as receive valuable support. This may include prospective students, wives of seminarians, or non-degree-seeking women who are interested in sharpening their theological gifts.
Meet the Leadership Team
Dr. Adrianne Miles
Adrianne Miles is an Assistant Professor of English and Linguistics at The College at Southeastern. She was born in Graham, North Carolina, and now lives in Wake Forest, with her husband, Scott, and their two boys, Zac and Jake. She is thankful to have been able to spend ten years at home with her sons. As the boys transitioned into elementary school, she transitioned into teaching. Her focus is on British literature and linguistics. She received her BA and MA in English from North Carolina State University in 1995 where she researched dialect variation on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as part of the North Carolina Language and Life Project. She earned her PhD in Linguistics at The University of Texas at Austin in 2001. There her research focus was American Sign Language, specifically child language acquisition and the phonetic and phonological analogues to sign language. She has a passion to see all people experience the promise of John 10:10—the abundant life in Christ. To that end, she works to encourage her students to excel academically and personally as a means of glorifying God.
Dr. Julia Higgins
Julia B. Higgins serves as Assistant Professor of Ministry to Women and Associate Dean of Graduate Program Administration at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. She teaches in the Ministry to Women degree programs at Southeastern, with her ministry focus being college-aged and adult women. Her passion is equipping women to teach the Bible and to serve the local church. She co-edited The Whole Woman: Ministering to Her Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength (B&H, 2021), has contributed to Lifeway Women: The Reference Desk, and serves as a doctrinal reader for Missions Mosaic, a publication of the WMU. She is married to Tony, who serves as Executive Director and staff counselor at Bridgehaven Counseling Associates. They reside in the RDU area and worship at The Summit Church.
Dr. Christy Thornton
Christy Thornton desires to help the church mature as Christians grow in clarity of the Gospel and the ability to effectively communicate it to one another and the world. She has served with the International Mission Board in North Africa, and is currently a covenant member at the Summit Church. She has contributed to The Gospel Coalition, Christianity Today and numerous other publications.
Jordan Parris
Jordan Parris received a Master of Divinity from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2019 and is currently pursuing a Master of Theology with an emphasis in Philosophy. Originally from South Carolina, Jordan moved to Wake Forest to study at Southeastern after spending two years on the field with the IMB. She now serves as the office coordinator for the office of PhD studies and is a member of Faith Baptist Church in Youngsville, NC. When not thinking about abstract philosophical concepts, she likes to play video games, make things with her hands, solve puzzles, play team sports, and read copious amounts of fiction.
Rebecca Pate
Rebecca Pate received a Master of Theology with an emphasis in historical theology and a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Originally from Mississippi, she moved to North Carolina in 2017 to attend Southeastern and is now Southeastern’s director of marketing and communications. Rebecca has served with both NAMB and IMB and is passionate about helping equip students to serve the Church and fulfill the Great Commission through her role at Southeastern. She and her husband, Tyler, are members of Imago Dei Church and she enjoys reading, photography, increasing her plant collection, and hanging out with her dog, Winston.