Overview

Although the language of vocation was born in a religious context, the contributors in this volume demonstrate that it has now taken root within the broad framework of higher education and has become intertwined with a wide range of concerns. This volume makes a compelling case for vocational reflection and discernment in undergraduate education today, arguing that it will encourage faculty and students alike to venture out of their narrow disciplinary specializations and to reflect on larger questions of meaning and purpose.In conversation with a growing range of scholarly resources, these essays advance the cause of vocational reflection and discernment well beyond its occasional mention in general education courses and career placement offices. The book's thirteen contributors all work in higher education, but they do so as biologists and musicians, sociologists and engineers, doctors and lawyers, college presidents and deans, and scholars of history, literature, and business administration. Together, they demonstrate that vocation has an important role to play across the entire range of traditional academic disciplines and applied fields. Regardless of major, all undergraduates need to consider their current and future responsibilities, determine the stories they will live by, and discover resources for addressing the tensions that will inevitably arise among their multiple callings. Vocation across the Academy will help to reframe current debates about the purpose of higher education. It underscores the important role that colleges and universities can play in encouraging students to reflect more deeply on life's most persistent questions and to consider how they might best contribute to the common good.

Full Product Details

Author:   David S. Cunningham (Professor of Religion, Professor of Religion, Hope College)
Publisher:   Oxford University Press Inc
Imprint:   Oxford University Press Inc
Dimensions:   Width: 16.00cm , Height: 3.60cm , Length: 23.60cm
Weight:   0.635kg
ISBN:  

9780190607104

ISBN 10:   0190607106
Pages:   376
Publication Date:   02 March 2017
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order  
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Table of Contents

"Foreword Richard H. Ekman, President, Council of Independent Colleges Preface Vocations of the Contributors Introduction Language that Works: Vocation and the Complexity of Higher Education David S. Cunningham Part One: Calling without Borders: Vocational Themes across the Academy Chapter 1 Vocation is Responsibility"": Broader Scope, Deeper Discernment Margaret E. Mohrmann Chapter 2 The Conflicts in Our Callings: The Anguish (and Joy) of Willing Several Things Jason A. Mahn Chapter 3 Called to Tell Our Stories: The Narrative Structure of Vocation Shirley Hershey Showalter Part Two: Calling in Context: Fields of Study as Resources for Vocational Reflection Chapter 4 Calling over the Life Course: Sociological Insights Catherine Fobes Chapter 5 To Whom Do I Sing, and Why? Vocation as an Alternative to Self-Expression David Fuentes Chapter 6 Coordination, Community, Covenant: Insights from Organization Theory Michael E. Cafferky Chapter 7 The Art and Science of Vocation: Wisdom and Conscience as Companions on a Way Celia Deane-Drummond Part Three: Called into the Future: Professional Fields and Preparation for Life Chapter 8 Laboring in the Garden: Vocation and the Realities of Work Christine M. Fletcher Chapter 9 Unplugging the GPS: Rethinking Undergraduate Professional Degree Programs Jeff R. Brown Chapter 10 Of Doing and Being: Broadening Our Understanding of Vocation Jerome M. Organ Part Four: Vocation at Full Stretch: Overcoming Obstacles to the Language of Call Chapter 11 Colleges Have Callings, Too: Vocational Reflection at the Institutional Level David S. Cunningham Chapter 12 Religion, Reluctance, and Conversations about Vocation Mark U. Edwards, Jr. Chapter 13 Good Teaching: Character Formation and Vocational Discernment Mark R. Schwehn Epilogue Vocabularies of Vocation: Language for a Complex Educational Landscape David S. Cunningham Index of Names Index of Subjects"

Reviews

"""[a] welcome effort to recapture the inspiration of vocation as a locus for higher education."" -- Frederick W. Schmidt, The Wabash Center Journal On Teaching ""[T]his volume is valuable in the wide variety of its contributors and in its overall argument for a holistic approach to higher education.""--Reading Religion"

[T]his volume is valuable in the wide variety of its contributors and in its overall argument for a holistic approach to higher education. --Reading Religion

[a] welcome effort to recapture the inspiration of vocation as a locus for higher education. -- Frederick W. Schmidt, The Wabash Center Journal On Teaching [T]his volume is valuable in the wide variety of its contributors and in its overall argument for a holistic approach to higher education. --Reading Religion

Author Information

David S. Cunningham is Professor of Religion at Hope College, where he also serves as Director of the CrossRoads Project and of the Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing. He is the author of five books and editor of three collections on various topics in theology, ethics, and higher education. In 2009, he helped to launch the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE); he currently serves as the Director of the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project.

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