Advisory Committee
The Ronning Centre operates with the support of an active Advisory Committee. The Committee's members are invited by the Dean of the Faculty based on recommendations by the Director of the Centre. The Committee's mandate is to support the work of the Centre and its Director, provide advice and community feedback, and assist in fundraising. Appointments are for a three-year term, renewable.
Current Advisory Committee Members:
Geoffrey Dipple, Ph.D. - Augustana Faculty (History)
Dr. Dipple teaches a broad range of courses covering European and world history. His research focuses on the history of the Protestant Reformation, especially in the German-speaking lands of central Europe. Most recently his work has concentrated on the history of the so-called Reformation Radicals, including Anabaptists and Spiritualists. His publications include: Antifraternalism and Anticlericalism in the German Reformation: Johann Eberlin von Günzburg and the Campaign against the Friars (1996), “Just as in the time of the apostles”: Uses of History in the Radical Reformation (2005), and The Fifteen Confederates of Johann Eberlin von Günzburg (2014). He is currently completing a volume, co-edited with Kat Hill of the University of London, highlighting new research into the Radical Reformation: Thinking Outside the Cages: New Directions in the Radical Reformation. Serving a one-year term through June 2023.
Paul L. Gareau, Ph.D. - Faculy of Native Studies
Dr. Gareau is Métis and French-Canadian from Bellevue near Batoche Saskatchewan, Canada. He is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Native Studies and past Research Fellow for the Rupertsland Centre for Métis Research at the University of Alberta. His research is grounded in critical theory and methodology relating to the social, political, and cultural impacts of religion on identity formation. His academic publications and community research projects explore the Métis experiences of religion and Métis peoplehood, the influence of Catholicism on early and late modern identity, the legacy of colonial discourses on Indigenous and ethnocultural minorities, and the experiences of rural spaces. His research focuses on the Métis, Indigenous religiosity, youth, gender, la francophonie, and rural Canada. On sabbatical through June 2023.
Hany Shaltout - Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry
Dr. Shaltout, an Assistant Professor in Psychiatry, is a second-generation psychiatrist who tries to follow in the footsteps of his father Dr. Taher Shaltout, a world-renowned psychiatrist, educator and advocate for mental health in Egypt and the Middle East. Dr. Shaltout's care for the community has continued in his new home here in Camrose, Alberta where he has worked together with key community members that include St. Mary's Hospital, AHS Addictions and Mental Health Clinic, the PCN, Camrose City police and Augustana to expand the mental health services at home and provide world class holistic care to our community.
Gail Stolee
Gail is a graduate of the University of Alberta in Arts, Education and Library Science. She worked for the Edmonton Public School Board, Camrose Lutheran College where she was also a member of the Board of Regents, and Augustana University College. Her community involvements include Rotary, Sahakarini (a local international development NGO), the Nordlys Film and Arts Festival, and Messiah Lutheran Church. Gail has been an active participant in the programs of the Chester Ronning Centre since its inception. She has a strong commitment to lifelong learning and service, and to making the best research and thinking accessible to the general public. She also especially loves being a grandma, travelling, and reading.
Nakita Valerio
Nakita Valerio is an award-winning writer, researcher, and community organizer based on Treaty 6 territory in Edmonton. She is a current PhD student in Religious Studies at the University of Alberta, studying Muslim women’s Qur’anic literacy and leadership in Morocco. Her previous graduate studies were in Islamic-Jewish Moroccan history at the University of Alberta, and she also acts as an academic strategist/mentor for graduate students in the arts, especially history, religious studies, and psychology. She served as the Research Director for the Institute for Religious and Socio-Political Studies (I-RSS) for almost 3 years and remains the Editor-in-Chief for the RSS Journal, published through the U of A Libraries Open Journal System. Nakita is the founder of The Nusaibah Collective (a holistic Muslim women's study group) and is a student of the traditional Islamic sciences in the Arabic language, Qur’an and others. Nakita serves as an advisor to the Chester Ronning Center for the Study of Religion and Public Life at the University of Alberta Augustana Campus, is the recipient of the 2018 Alumni Horizon Award, and is the sponsor for the Fatima Al-Fihri Graduate Award in Islamic Studies. She is also the co-founder of a primary school in rural Morocco where she lived for several years before returning to Canada. Additionally, she serves as the Faculty of Arts Representative for UAlberta Alumni Council and as an alumni representative on the GFC University Teaching Awards Committee.
Rev. Markus Wilhelm - Glory Lutheran Church, Sherwood Park
Rev. Wilhelm attended Camrose Lutheran College, has studied in Germany and served Lutheran congregations in British Columbia and in Calgary, Edmonton, and Sherwood Park, Alberta.
Ian Wilson, PhD Augustana Faculty (Religious Studies)
Dr. Wilson is scholar of religion, specializing in the Hebrew Bible and the histories and cultures of ancient Israel and Judah, and of West Asia more broadly. At Augustana, he teaches courses on the contemporary religions of the world, theories of religion, biblical studies, the ancient West Asian context, and related topics. He also serve as Associate Editor for the Journal of Hebrew Scriptures.