Baylor University’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary is has announced that first-year Truett student Josepha Mbouma is among two students to have been awarded Fellowships at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics (FASPE). Mbouma, a native of Cameroon, grew up in Montgomery County, attending Roberto Clemente Middle School in Germantown and Watkins Mill High School in Montgomery Village where she excelled in the classroom and on the basketball court.
The FASPE is awarded to students pursuing professional degrees in business, journalism, law, medicine, theology, and technology as well as to early-career professionals. Through the program, fellows spend two weeks in Germany and Poland visiting Auschwitz and other key historical sites and participating in seminars led by experts in their respective fields of study. Award recipients are able to examine the roles their counterparts played in Germany and elsewhere from 1933-1945. They then draw on historical, cultural, philosophical, literary, and discipline-specific sources to explore the ethical issues facing their respective fields today.
As a lifelong learner and dedicated athlete from Douala, Cameroon, Mbouma earned a BA in cinema and television production and played basketball at Elon University. She then moved to Bournemouth, England, where she continued her athletic career and earned a MA in media communications from Bournemouth University. Finding the Faith and Sports Institute at Truett Seminary, Mbouma moved to Waco, Texas, to pursue a MDiv with a concentration in sports ministry and chaplaincy so that she might more skillfully connect ministry and sports.
Regarding the FASPE fellowship, Mbouma remarked, “FASPE uniquely unites people of various backgrounds, who likely would not otherwise be connected. This aspect of the program is powerful because in an age where conversations and connections can be relegated to 170 Twitter characters or sound bites, FASPE creates a space where individuals have the opportunity to explore the embodied experience of others. This approach, when combined with the opportunity to learn from history and experts, is a unique experience that will equip me for future endeavors.”
Information from www.truettseminary.baylor.edu is included in this article.