Ph.D. in hand, Harper continues journey of faith

Acquiring a doctoral degree signifies a remarkable effort. It requires a lot of faith in one's abilities as a student and, in many cases, faith in a higher power when it comes to mastering the large volume of research and writing involved in putting together a passable dissertation.

Dr. Ryan Harper, a Jackson native and a former English teacher at Cape Girardeau Central High School, can speak from experience when it comes to having faith in either the academic or religious sense. In June, Harper was awarded his doctorate in religion from Princeton University in Princeton, N.J.

"My dissertation was 470 pages," Harper said in a telephone interview from Princeton. "I hope to get it published soon."

Not that Harper was a prodigy as a teen destined to receive an advanced degree from a top university. He would be the first to say his high school grades weren't exactly impressive.

"I had slightly better-than-average grades," he said. "I spent a lot of time with athletics. I was an all-conference center fielder and also lifted weights."

Harper graduated from Jackson High School in 1996 and entered Southeast Missouri State University that fall. He said he chose English as a major because he "didn't have an inkling about religious studies" and received his bachelor's degree in 2000. After he earned his master's degree in English from Southeast in 2002, Harper taught the subject to juniors at Central High School for a year.

"Teaching was the toughest thing I've ever done," he said. "I certainly made mistakes, but I worked hard. I was blessed to have great students, and I've lost no respect for teachers at all."

Dr. Mike Cowan, Central High School's principal, said he fondly remembers Harper's one-year tenure.

"We were fortunate to have Ryan with us," Cowan said. "He possesses a mixture of brilliance and humility, and he balances the two qualities extremely well. I know he's a man of deep faith who is well equipped to answer life's eternal questions."

After his stint at Cape Central, Harper, raised a Southern Baptist, decided to further explore his faith in God by enrolling in Duke University's theological studies program.

— Dr. Ryan Harper (“Coming from a small town, you wonder if you can measure up. But you have to work your way through that or else you’re always playing defense.”)

"I applied to Duke to study Pentecostalism," he said. "It was part of the interest I have in 20th century evangelicalism going into the 21st century."

Studying at Duke to pursue his second master's degree was somewhat overwhelming for Harper. The university is one of the nation's leading posts of higher education, and for a time Harper felt maybe he didn't belong there.

"You feel like somebody made a mistake," he said. "Coming from a small town, you wonder if you can measure up. But you have to work your way through that or else you're always playing defense."

Harper overcame his uncertainties and earned his master's in theological studies in 2006, but he wasn't finished with his spiritual development. That same year he applied to and was accepted in Princeton's doctoral program in the department of religion. Harper was a full-time student in the program for two years and then became a teaching assistant; he instructed undergraduates in courses such as "U.S. Religion" and "Introduction to Christian Ethics."

"The students were a mixture of atheists, Jews, progressive Protestants and Buddhists," he said. "It was very rewarding to see them challenging each other on religious and ethical issues."

However, Harper said he recognized Princeton was certainly a different world from that which he knew growing up in Jackson.

"Princeton, being an Ivy League school and everything, is often seen a place where there are nothing but atheists," he said. "But there's a fairly strong presence of evangelical students here as opposed to Harvard or Yale. What we do in the religion department is to refine thinking."

Harper's doctoral dissertation, "A Sort of Homecoming: The Gaithers and Southern Gospel into the 21st Century," focused primarily on renowned gospel singers Bill and Gloria Gaither, whom Harper had listened to and enjoyed while growing up.

"I knew their music was popular from my upbringing," he said. "I was able to work with Bill and Gloria while I put my dissertation together, and they were very helpful in providing me the information I needed. I'm currently in talks to bring them to Princeton."

Now that he has received his doctorate, Harper said he wants to have his dissertation published while he teaches a class on American evangelicalism for a year at Princeton. His wife of 11 years, Lynn, a 1998 graduate of Jackson High School and an ordained Baptist minister, serves as a chaplain of a New Jersey retirement community.

"Lynn has been the breadwinner for a long time," Harper said. "I played drums in my own jazz gig and in an '80s cover band for spending money. But Lynn and I are open to whatever. We're less worried about where we put down roots than what we're going to allow to take root in us."

Harper said teaching religion at a small, liberal arts college would be ideal, but his faith in God always will remain a constant.

"The easiest way to describe my faith is that it's a never-ending journey," he said. "It's a blessed struggle."

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address: Princeton, N.J.