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This collection of essays tackles thorny questions related to critical incidents in teaching. By using different pedagogical methods and techniques, each author provokes creative thinking about how to address specific concerns common to teaching. The authors demonstrate that the teaching and learning process must make room for -if not celebrate -the surprises that happen not only to the students, but to the teachers as well. The discussion of critical incidents helps to promote reflection on teaching practice and prompt insights into the intricate dynamics shaping the increasingly diverse learning community. Each individual essay is accompanied by reflection questions that can be used to spark conversation among colleagues and/or prompt further personal reflection on teaching and learning.At mid-career, we have the freedom to take more risks than we could as new teachers. Having prepared hundreds of lectures, graded thousands of papers, and handled crises large and small, we have earned the right and can face the unexpected rather than run from it.While other professionals routinely meet and discuss difficult cases from their practice, teachers seldom invite colleagues into their classrooms or have the opportunity to talk about issues raised in teaching. At a mid-career teaching workshop sponsored by the Wabash Center, we took the risks to share moments in our teaching in which we were "taken with surprise."The discussion of critical incidents in teaching turned out to be the most rewarding part of the workshop. For some, this was their first time to talk freely about these incidents and to have their trusted colleagues listen in and offer comments. We used a variety of methods to facilitate our conversations, such as role play (with another person playing the teacher), a fishbowl discussion technique, and even imagining one case as a cartoon! In the process, we learned much about the intricacies and practical details of teaching and had fun doing so. We are convinced that other colleagues will find writing and discussing critical incidents helpful for talking about teaching within their own contexts. To that end, we are offering here for readers' use some incidents from our own classrooms, with names and some details changed to protect anonymity. Keep in mind, however, incidents from your own experience and context will likely be even more enlightening and helpful.

The article discusses the challenge of Indecent Theology to Latin American liberation theology and feminist theology in unmasking their implicit support for the binary, heterosexual norms of society. Althaus-Reid argues that theology is a sexual act, and provides rich metaphors and language for a vibrant sexual political theology. Her work undresses conventional Christian symbols by queering the intersection of theology, sexuality, and politics.'Theology is a sexual act...Theologians, therefore, are nothing else but sexual performers who need to take many ethical and sometimes partisan sexual decisions when reflecting on God and humanity, because theology is never innocuous or sexually innocent or neutral'. Marcella Althaus-Reid'With such a bold assertion, Marcella Althaus-Reid challenges all theologians to come out of their closets. Theologians can no more hide behind the abstract discourses of God's revelation, Jesus' humanity, or the kingdom of God as if they have nothing to do with sexuality. She undresses theology from heterosexuality and her targets include not only the dominant white male theologians, but also liberation theologians and feminist theologians from the North and the South. I want to reflect for a moment on the claim that all theology is sexual for it has far-reaching implications for the task of theology and the role of theologians. What are the reasons for such a claim? What is to be gained if we view theology in such a way? Coming from a Chinese background, my first reaction to Marcella's provocative statement was: Is there something inherent in Christianity that makes its systematic reflection sexual? What about Jewish theology, Islamic theology, or the teach-_ ings of Buddhism, Confucianism and Taoism? Can we say that they are sexual too? While I am not competent to comment on all these traditions, I submit that Marcella's statement puts into sharp focus the deeply sexual 1.

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