The Latest Resources from NetVUE | November 2023

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You may be surprised to learn that many vocation-specific tools are available to assess the progress of exploration and discernment programs on your campus. To make it easier to evaluate your efforts, NetVUE has gathered assessment resources that are specifically related to vocation; they are accessible through our new Resources for Assessing Vocation Website. This web resource features over ten different approaches to assessment and offers vocation-specific examples for each type. For class projects, for example, you can find a variety of rubrics, checklists, and images. You can also learn about various approaches to surveying that could be used in a classroom or for programs offered across campus for faculty, staff, or students. Additionally, the website includes details of published survey scales related to vocation, calling, and purpose that may be of interest if you are piloting a larger program on your campus. Rachael Baker, director of the NetVUE professional development program, is available to answer any questions about these resources at rbaker@cic.edu.


Norman Wirzba’s research, writing, and teaching explore the overlap between theology and ecology, working to address major environmental issues such as climate crisis and food insecurity. In this conversation, we discuss aspects of agrarian living, freedom and fidelity, and the importance of kinesthetic learning. His emphasis on our relationship to the land as a relationship with others—as an expression of love—reminds us of the communal callings in every aspect of our lives. Vocation is a reflection of our rootedness in place and commitment to others, calling us to be agents of repair in the world. 


“Many institutions offer (and market) curricular and co-curricular programming to prepare students with the necessary knowledge and skills—both the hard skills of the applied arts and the soft skills of the liberal arts—to contribute to the diverse professional contexts that they will enter after graduation. Students are prepared to understand, engage, and contribute to the world as it is. Perhaps it is less clear, or less clearly stated, however, that robust career preparation requires the intentional and focused cultivation of the imagination—the ability to dream, speculate, and create the world not as it is but as it might and should be.”

“Vocations inform each other, and two of mine seem to be in constant dialogue, deep calling to deep: teaching and parenting. Often I’ve found that I carry aspects of the teacher’s call to my children, and—as I’ll explore in my upcoming series of posts—my parenting informs my pedagogy in return. I’m sure this is a common experience, but mine has a twist that keeps surprising me. This is because both of my children have autism.”

“Years ago, in a series of wildly popular interviews, historian Joseph Campbell uttered these words: “Follow your bliss.” But never in his wildest dreams did he imagine what would become of them… It’s time to dispel this myth. I can hardly think of worse advice to give anyone trying to discern what to do with their life. Instead, we need to tell the truth.”