Professor Wendy Cadge honored by Association of Professional Chaplains

Sociologist receives 2013 Distinguished Service Award

Photo/Mike Lovett

Wendy Cadge

Wendy Cadge, an associate professor of sociology and chair of the Women's and Gender Studies Program, received the Association of Professional Chaplains’ (APC) 2013 Distinguished Service Award.

The honor is bestowed upon individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions in promoting standards of professional chaplaincy or in the advancement of clinical chaplaincy.

Cadge, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College in religion, sociology and anthropology, and master’s and doctoral degrees in sociology from Princeton University, advances the cause through her research, writing and teaching, according to the APC. Her work not only documents the history of professional chaplaincy but also offers insights into its future.

She teaches and writes about religion in the contemporary United States, especially as related to medicine, immigration and sexuality. She has spent time at hospitals, APC conferences and at the APC national office, researching, observing and talking with professional chaplains, adding to her field of study of hospital chaplaincy.

In 2010, Cadge presented her research at the APC conference. Her plenary address, “Hospital Chaplains: Listening to What They Say and Watching What They Do,” challenged participants and suggested ways hospital chaplains might close the gap between perception and reality as part of continuing to develop as a profession.

In 2012, APC invited her to speak again at its conference. This time, her address, “Chaplaincy after Pluralism: Engaging in the Big Professional Picture,” compared the relatively young chaplaincy profession with other healthcare professions. She spoke of successful and unsuccessful ways in which chaplains have made the case for the profession over the years, and gave practical examples of how chaplains can collaborate within the profession to affect change on behalf of those they serve.

Cadge’s new book, “Paging God: Religion in the Halls of Medicine” was released by the University of Chicago Press in January 2013.

The APC is a multi-faith nonprofit organization of chaplaincy care providers endorsed by faith groups to serve persons in need, respecting their individual cultures and beliefs, in diverse settings throughout the world.

Categories: General, Humanities and Social Sciences

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