Christine Joy Gardner (born 1969) is an American communication scholar and

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalism ...

. She is an associate professor and the chair of the Department of Communication Arts at Gordon College.

Early life and education

Gardner was born in 1969. She has received degrees from

Seattle Pacific University Seattle Pacific University (SPU) is a private Christian university in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1891 in conjunction with the Oregon and Washington Conference of the Free Methodist Church as the Seattle Seminary. It became the Seat ...

(BA in history), the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattle a ...

(MA in communications), and

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

(PhD in philosophy in communication studies).

Work

Gardner's articles have frequently been published in ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evange ...

''. In 2012, her book ''

Making Chastity Sexy ''Making Chastity Sexy: The Rhetoric of Evangelical Abstinence Campaigns'' is a 2011 book by Christine Gardner, a professor at Wheaton College (Illinois), Wheaton College. In it, Gardner states that sexual abstinence teachings by evangelicalism, e ...

'' won the Stephen E. Lucas Debut Publication Award for a scholarly

monograph A monograph is a specialist work of writing (in contrast to reference works) or exhibition on a single subject or an aspect of a subject, often by a single author or artist, and usually on a scholarly subject. In library cataloging, ''monograph ...

or book in the field of

communication studies Communication studies or communication science is an academic discipline that deals with processes of human communication and behavior, patterns of communication in interpersonal relationships, social interactions and communication in differen ...

. In preparation for writing the book, Gardner spent five years doing research at

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains either from sexual activity considered immoral or any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for example when mak ...

events in various locations in the United States and

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. In the United States, she focused her investigation on three evangelical organizations that advocate sexual abstinence:

Silver Ring Thing Purity rings (also known as promise rings, abstinence rings, or chastity rings) are rings worn as a sign of chastity. Since the 1990s, in the United States, Christian organizations, especially Catholic and evangelical Christian groups, promoting ...

True Love Waits True Love Waits may refer to: *True Love Waits (organization), an international Christian organization promoting sexual abstinence until marriage. * True Love Waits (song), "True Love Waits" (song), a song by Radiohead * True Love Waits (album), ''T ...

, and Pure Freedom.

Personal life

Gardner self- identifies as

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

. She is from

Normal Normal(s) or The Normal(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''Normal'' (2003 film), starring Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson * ''Normal'' (2007 film), starring Carrie-Anne Moss, Kevin Zegers, Callum Keith Rennie, and Andrew Airlie * ''Norma ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gardner, Christine 1969 births Living people 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers 21st-century evangelicals American celibacy advocates American evangelicals American magazine writers American relationships and sexuality writers American religion academics American social sciences writers American spiritual writers American women academics American women journalists American women non-fiction writers Christian scholars Communication scholars Evangelical writers Gender studies academics Gordon College (Massachusetts) faculty Northwestern University alumni Seattle Pacific University alumni University of Washington alumni Wheaton College (Illinois) faculty Women science writers Writers from Illinois