Public health professor shares his teaching philosophy based in faith, life experiences

In the latest installment of this semester’s Faith Learning Integration Workshop series, School of Health Sciences professor Dr. Emmanuel Clottey spoke with fellow Liberty University professors on Thursday morning about how he infuses his faith in the classroom each day and teaches with God’s compassion.

Each semester, Liberty’s Center for Teaching Excellence invites faculty members to present on the ways they share their faith in their respective academic field. These workshops have continued for 11 years with the purpose of fostering an interdisciplinary discussion of philosophies and practices related to the integration of faith. Thursday’s workshop was the third and final of the series this semester, preceded by School of Business general business chair Roger Bingham in September and School of Behavioral Science associate professor J.J. Cole in October.

Dr. Clottey has spent over 30 years in education in Ghana, Kenya, and the United States, having taught at Louisiana State University Shreveport and African Nazarene University (in Kenya) before coming to Liberty in 2020. As a professor in the Department of Public & Community Health, he currently teaches courses in environment health, personal health, and primary healthcare in developing countries. Clottey holds an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, a Master of Theology in biblical studies from Nairobi Evangelical School of Theology, a Master of Public Health from University of Iowa, and a Doctor of Public Health from Georgia Southern University.

Dr. Shawn M. Bielicki, director of Teaching Excellence, introduced Clottey by attesting to the professor’s faith-centered approach to teaching.

“When we listen to or watch Dr. Clottey teach, he often brings up his heart for the Lord and how he brings everything back to truth,” he said. “To some extent, all of education is a search for truth, and as Christians we have that truth. Few people do this better than Dr. Clottey.”

Clottey often teaches his lessons in public health by using personal, heartfelt stories from his life and work, all while intertwining his faith journey. During Thursday’s workshop, he shared stories of consoling a pregnant mother who suffered a stillbirth, a man who committed suicide, and a childhood accident he experienced in Ghana.

“I tell stories like this to help students to see that the God who began a good work in you is also a faithful God, and He will bring you to the end,” Clottey said. “God has kept me, God has taught me, and God has shown me favor. Therefore, when I’m talking about faith in public health, it comes to me almost naturally.”

After coming to Christ as a high school student in Ghana, Clottey studied biochemistry and looked for opportunities to act out his faith in a secular sciences field. He said Christians in any field of study or work should live with their God-given identity at the forefront.

“You may be a physician, an engineer, an accountant. Whatever your discipline is, I always believe that you are first and foremost a child of God and, therefore, an ambassador of Christ,” he said. “The love of Christ is what compels us to share the Gospel. Whatever you do, I strongly believe that God has given you those opportunities for the sake of sharing the Gospel.”

Clottey earned his biochemistry degree before moving to Kenya to become a missionary.

“During all of this time in Kenya, there were many public health projects I did, but at the time I didn’t know that they were (considered) public health,” he said. “I did them because of (my faith), I did them as a child of God, I did them as a Christian.”

In 2004, Clottey received a scholarship to serve a chaplaincy residency at the University of Iowa’s hospitals and clinics, and he recounted multiple moments from this time when he was able to share Christ’s love and compassion for people experiencing life-changing hardships.

Clottey said he wants his students to come away from the classroom changed, possessing a stronger faith in Christ in addition to a set of “transferable skills” like teachability, critical thinking, and teamwork that will help them succeed in their careers.

“Long before I came to Liberty, any time I taught students, even at a secular university, I would tell students that I don’t teach just to give information; I teach for transformation,” Clottey said. “Most of the jobs that you get today, if you look at the trends as we have entered into the 21st century, come with rapid change. This means that the knowledge that we have today (may) not be relevant for tomorrow, so therefore you need to have transferable skills.”

Clottey has taken classes on field trips to help students gain a new perspective on classroom topics and meet fellow Christians in the public health sphere. He has brought his environmental health students to the Lynchburg Water Resources offices and Water Resource Recovery Facility (WRRF) and recently drove a team of global health students to the Global Missions Health Conference in Louisville, Ky.

He shared some encouraging words that he tells all of his students as they graduate from Liberty and enter their careers: carry God with you.

“We must always let our students know that God is always with them, not just when they’re at Liberty,” Clottey said. “Everywhere they go in the world is with Him.”

Clottey implored his fellow professors to continue to make God a firm foundation in their classrooms.

“God has committed the students into our hands, so what are we going to do with them?

When we integrate faith into what we do, it inspires our students. We must always remember that we are not just teaching a subject; we are transforming lives,” he said. “We are preparing them to go out as Champions for Christ.”

Spring of 2023 Faith Across the Disciplines Series

• Feb. 9 – Dr. Darlene Martin, School of Health Sciences
• March 9 – Dr. Tammy Brown, School of Business
• April 20 – Dr. Tim Yonts, LU Serve