Kevin Vallier has written a valuable exposition and critique of what he describes as radical religious alternatives to liberalism. Vallier is an Eastern Orthodox political philosopher at Bowling Green State University and a strong defender of the liberal tradition in politics. Liberalism in this sense refers broadly to such things as constitutional government, respect for…
One exercise on political partisanship I enjoy doing with my classes is to read out a list of words and phrases while the students work together to classify them as either red or blue—Republican or Democrat. It starts off simply with broad groups in the population: the students all “know” that farmers are red while…
Kevin Vallier has written a valuable exposition and critique of what he describes as radical religious alternatives to liberalism. Vallier is an Eastern Orthodox political philosopher at Bowling Green State University and a strong defender of the liberal tradition in politics. Liberalism in this sense refers broadly to such things as constitutional government, respect for…
One exercise on political partisanship I enjoy doing with my classes is to read out a list of words and phrases while the students work together to classify them as either red or blue—Republican or Democrat. It starts off simply with broad groups in the population: the students all “know” that farmers are red while…
Over the past two decades, the Faith & Work movement has highlighted the potential impact of Christians in business when they serve and work with purpose. To achieve this, a framework for Biblical business practice is needed. This paper integrates Biblical foundations with business research to create a wisdom-based framework for impactful business strategy. By…
“When a person’s virtue is not equal to his position, all will suffer.” When education fails to foster virtue in professional and especially business schools the world is in peril. This essay addresses some of the significant challenges in educating practically wise business professionals. Universities need to recover a Thomistic view of practical wisdom that…
In the fortieth episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Robert J. Wuthnow, the Gerhard R. Andlinger ʼ52 Professor of Social Sciences at Princeton University. Ream and Wuthnow start by discussing the limitations that come with comparisons between recent waves of college student activism and the activism of the 1960s and early 1970s. They transition to exploring Wuthnow’s experience as a doctoral student at the University of California at Berkely, the ways he learned to frame questions, and the ways he learned to determine whether questions merited pursuit. Ream and Wuthnow then discuss the questions Wuthnow pursued over the course of his career and arc of the books he wrote. The end of that arc, ironically, led Wuthnow to explore the changing nature of the social fabric of communities comparable to the one in which he grew up as a child in rural Kansas. Finally, Wuthnow discusses the virtues he believed proved most critical to the exercise of the academic vocation including the role gratitude played for him over the course of his career.
When I was a boy growing up in Hong Kong, both my parents were professors. They worked some long days during the long semesters and sometimes brought papers home to grade on the kitchen table after dinner. At the same time, they never seemed to be working deep into the night, and summers were a…
In the thirty-seventh episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Karl E. Johnson, Executive Director of the Consortium of Christian Study Centers. Johnson begins by offering details concerning his experiences with outdoor education and the way those experiences serve as formative means to ends that include the cultivation of intellectual, moral, and theological virtues. Those details also include how Johnson’s disillusionment with the nature of the co-curricular offerings he encountered during his undergraduate years led him to outdoor education—experiences that then occurred in locales as close as the ropes course on campus and as far as peaks in Ecuador exceeding 20,000 feet. Ream and Johnson then discuss Johnson’s establishment of Chesterton House, the Christian study center at Cornell University, and offerings that include Bible study, community meals, lectures, discussions, sequences of reading, and a residential community. They explore where Chesterton House fits within the growing range of study centers established to serve students and scholars at various research universities. Ream and Johnson then close their discussion by discussing ways to foster the relationships that Christian study centers share with the Church as well as Church-related colleges and universities.
In the thirty-fifth episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with David Emmanuel Goatley, President of Fuller Theological Seminary. Goatley opens by exploring what is theologically at stake when we seek to practice justice and the relationship that practice inherently shares with ecumenism and missions. Ream and Goatley shift to talking about Goatley’s calling to ministry, the importance of God’s efforts to prepare people for the contexts where they are called serve, and the importance of God’s efforts to prepare the contexts to receive the people who are called to serve them. Two of the most important people through whom God worked when preparing Goatley for his calling to ministry were his parents—a father who pastored the same church for almost fifty years and a mother who was served in a host of contexts in the community where they lived including, at the end of her career, being an advocate for childhood well-being. They close their conversation by exploring Goatley’s research concerning flourishing in ministry, thriving congregations, and how those lessons are incorporated into how he and his colleagues at Fuller serve their students.
Can I make human heart proteins in a mouse? Or, restated: Can I make a mouse that produces a human heart protein? The first question is clearly a technical question that focuses on our ability to express human genes in a new context. The second gives clarity to what it is that I am actually…
“We Can’t Go On Together with Suspicious Minds” –Elvis Ever since the Fall, we have experienced gender division and alienation. Whether throughout human history we have improved or are going backward in this area, depends upon what one views as the end or…
In the thirty-second episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Robin Baker, President of George Fox University. Baker opens by discussing the role of innovation in higher education and how that sense of innovation differs from what one may experience in other non-profit institutions as well as for-profit institutions. As an historian, Baker describes his appreciation for the stories and traditions that define and animate colleges and universities. While he contends change is inevitable, he also contends that those stories and traditions afford change with a purpose or direction. Ream and Baker then talk about the practices and habits that afford administrators, staff members, and faculty members with the ability to orient their respective efforts toward a common mission. They close by discussing how the theological commitments that define the Society of Friends or the Quakers influence the George Fox community and the unique ways that community pursues the relationship shared by faith and learning.
In the thirtieth episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Aaron Dominguez, Ordinary Professor of Physics and Provost at Catholic University of America. Dominguez opens by explaining the significance of the Higgs boson for non-physicists, the types of experiments that led to its to its discovery, and ongoing research efforts at facilities such as the Large Hadron Collider that seek to build upon it. Ream and Dominguez then shift to discussing Dominguez’s calling to physics and how the scale of research efforts he led afforded him with abilities he now exercises while serving as the chief academic officer of a research university. They then discuss the unique details concerning Catholic University of America’s history and structure as exemplified by the relationship it shares with United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican as well as its presence in Washington, DC. Ream and Dominguez close by talking about how that history and structure influence professional development efforts afforded to all educators called to serve at Catholic University of America.
The first-year experience (FYE) is a decades-old programmatic initiative aimed at introducing students to campus culture, improving transitions, and promoting retention, often through a course or classroom seminar. Research shows that FYE courses are valuable for students in general, as well as in specific subpopulations (e.g., international, first-gen, etc.) typically in need of additional support…
“Build to-day, then, strong and sure, With a firm and ample base; And ascending and secure Shall to-morrow find its place.” -H.W. Longfellow- Since the ostensible end of the COVID pandemic, and with the return of students to in-person classes, America has seen an interesting shift on law school campuses. Observers note a rising wave of activist students that the National Jurist called “the protest generation.” Examples abound, including the infamous cancelation…
In the twenty-third episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Jim Gash, President of Pepperdine University. Gash opens by discussing his friendship with Tumusiime Henry and how that friendship impacted Gash’s vocation as a lawyer and a legal scholar as well as the expanding array of opportunities students experience at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law. Ream and Gash then talk about Gash’s calling to serve as an attorney, his appointment to Pepperdine’s law faculty, and how those experiences shaped Gash’s calling to serve as the President of Pepperdine University. They then close their conversation by discussing how the Churches of Christ (or the Restoration movement) impact the relationship shared by faith and learning on the Pepperdine campus and about Gash’s vision for Pepperdine to “to become a preeminent, global Christian University.”
Editor’s Note: We apologize for the recent byline errors and broken links in our posts. Due to the transition associated with the tragic passing of our IT manager, we are experiencing some technical difficulties that we are working to resolve. Thanks for your patience. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior…
In the twenty-second episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Joseph Creech, the Executive Director of the Lilly Network of Church-Related Colleges and Universities. Creech begins by talking about the history of the Lilly Network, its service as the first ecumenical organization of Church-related colleges and universities, and its focus on providing professional development opportunities for faculty as well as senior leaders. Ream then asks Creech about his own calling to the Christian academic vocation and how such a calling informs the efforts Creech leads with the Lilly Network. They then close their conversation by talking about the important role the Church plays in shaping Church-related higher education and examples of how to improve the relationship shared by the churches and colleges and universities.
“Every child will have an AI tutor that is infinitely patient, infinitely compassionate, infinitely knowledgeable, infinitely helpful.” These are the words of the web pioneer Marc Andreessen, writing about “Why AI Will Save the World.” Such optimistic claims are not new. The rise of the world wide web came with predictions that it would be…
