Latest Update from the Scholarly Resources Project

Vocation, Higher Education, and the Future: Imagining Possibilities, Cultivating Practices—the newest volume from the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project—is in the publication process at Oxford University Press! This volume addresses the pressures on higher education today and argues that educating for vocation can provide hope in the face of despair. The contributors offer innovative pedagogies and practices that showcase how educators can lead change across our institutions and communities through vocation. This volume provides an argument for educating for vocation as the key impactful practice to help students to find purpose within current crises, even as they reflect on future possibilities. Colleges can educate for career and life readiness by connecting professional and personal purpose across campus and within the community, prioritizing connection and transformation. In so doing, the future becomes a place of vocational hope.

The frame of the book emphasizes the imaginative and innovative aspects of educating for vocation. In the first section, “Called Out of Fear into Hope and Connection,” the authors address the ways educators can move towards vocational hope by teaching practices and rituals that cultivate a sense of connection to self, others, and the natural world. The second section, “Called to Meet Challenges with Courage and Imagination,” addresses current challenges of AI, environmental justice, and political engagement, as avenues to imagine future purpose and act with courage in difficulty. The third section, “Called to Re-Envision Institutional Change,” invites leaders to consider the purpose and impact of the institution through the lens of vocation as they aim to adapt to present realities and innovate for the future. The final section, “Called to Community through Relationship and Resilience,” brings forward the topic of mentorship and collaborative learning as ways to build resilience, wisdom, and understanding of diverse and varied communities. The introduction and epilogue explore the challenges in higher education and the ways vocation offers everyone in the academy an avenue to help students learn to love the future.

Contributors to this newest volume include:

• Lauren Kuykendall, George Mason University (VA)
• Justin D. Klassen, Bellarmine University (KY)
• Julia L. Fogg, California Lutheran University
• Meghan K. Winchell, Nebraska Wesleyan University
• Mari Elise Ewing, Austin College (TX)
• Richard J. Meagher, Randolph-Macon University (VA)
• Brandi D. Simpson, Wesleyan College (GA)
• Stephenie Chaudoir, College of the Holy Cross (MA)
• Andy Chan, Wake Forest University (NC)
• Aron Reppmann, Trinity Christian College (IL)
• Courtney M. Kealy, Wofford College (SC)
• Richard Sévère, Purdue University Northwest (IN)
• Erin VanLaningham (Editor), Loras College (IA) and NetVUE director of project development