Lessons I've Learned from Listening

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Niala Boodhoo

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Niala Boodhoo ’96 is an Axios journalist and podcast host, as well as guest host for 1A on NPR. She graduated from Calvin University in 1996 and has worked as a journalist for publications such as Reuters, the Associated Press, the Miami Herald, and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Her broadcast career includes being the founding host of Axios Today as well as the founding host and executive producer of The 21st and WBEZ’s The Afternoon Shift. Niala believes it is critical to live outside of an echo chamber and that the human voice is one of the few things that helps us change our minds about something.

Niala is also a past vice president and emerita board member of the Asian American Journalists Association and a current member of the Board of Trustees of Calvin University. She has a master’s degree in journalism from the Medill School at Northwestern University, a master’s degree in Latin American and Caribbean studies from Florida International University, and a certificate in spiritual direction from St. Thomas University. A Veriditas-trained labyrinth facilitator, Niala is also an ordained elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA).

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About Us

Our Mission

The January Series cultivates deep thought and conversations about important issues of the day in order to inspire cultural renewal and make us better global citizens in God's world.

Background

For over 30 years, the January Series of Calvin University has been one of the leading lecture/cultural arts series in the country. The series has been a three-time recipient of the Silver Bowl Award as the “Best Campus Lecture Series in the U.S.A.” by the International Platform Society. The diversity of presenters and topics has changed as the world of ideas has changed.

The foundation for excellence both in the classroom at Calvin University and at the January Series is the philosophy that an outstanding liberal arts education teaches students how to think, not what to think. We want our students to look at current ideas critically in light of history and creatively with an eye to the future. We support freedom of speech and expression; we encourage faculty, students and the community to listen to viewpoints that differ from their own. Bringing excellent speakers on a wide variety of topics to campus is one very valuable factor of education at Calvin.

Calvin University is a Christian academic community dedicated to rigorous intellectual inquiry. Located in Grand Rapids, Michigan, Calvin has an enrollment of 3,800 curious and inquisitive students. The dynamic liberal arts university has been named a “Best College” by U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, The Fisk Guide, The Princeton Review and Washington Monthly. A Calvin education, marked by scholarly engagement with enduring questions and emerging concerns, prepares students to answer God’s call to live and serve in God’s world as agents of renewal.