HDS - PRSE - Profile - Kelvin Chan

Program in Religious Studies and Education

PRSE Alumnus Profile

Kelvin Chan

In his third semester at Harvard Divinity School, Kelvin Chan realized he wasn't going to become a physician.

Medical school is not generally foremost on the minds of HDS students, but the 24-year-old Brooklyn, N.Y., native had entered the Div School with the intention of enriching his understanding of medicine by learning more about spirituality.

"In my senior year at Brown I was working on an HIV/AIDS project and it became apparent to me that religion plays a very large role in the lives of people, that in the face of dying patients, you can't ignore the spiritual, the role that religion plays in the meaning-making process in their lives."

This initial intention evolved into Kelvin finding his life work: helping others see how "science and scientific knowledge—facts—are constructed, particularly in light of the current controversies in abortion, creation science, or stem cell research."

Kelvin had enjoyed being a teaching fellow, and he also had experience with high school students at Brown's high school summer program. "I loved to teach, I loved bridging the gap between academic ideas—abstract facts—and lived experience." The PRSE appealed to him immediately.

"Religion is at the forefront of the most contentious and relevant conflicts in public school science education. Science students should not only be well versed in scientific knowledge but be properly engaged with why certain parts of their community find some ideas so controversial."

His semester of teaching biology at Boston Latin School involved field trips, collaborative projects, and written exams formulated around case studies, all designed to teach solid biology—while getting students to examine their own understandings and those of society.

Kelvin sees himself teaching high school for one to three years before pursuing doctoral studies in health policy and law. "I will always see myself in a teaching profession."

Posted July 2005