Learning and Networking | The NetVUE Big Read and Upcoming Webinar

NetVUE invites member institutions to join this year’s Big Read, which features Bonnie Miller-McLemore’s book, Follow Your Bliss and Other Lies About Calling. A nationally and internationally recognized leader in Christian theology and women and childhood studies, Miller-McLemore is author, co-author, or editor of eighteen books, as well as over a hundred chapters and journal articles. She recently retired from her position as professor of religion, psychology, and culture at Vanderbilt University. This book offers a unique opportunity to foster meaningful dialogue among faculty members, staff, and administrators about the realities of calling, especially in times of uncertainty, burnout, or transition. Interested in thinking more about your own calling to higher education, or exploring how to use this resource in conversations with students? We hope that by participating in the Big Read, you will find the language, ideas, and prompts from Bonnie’s new book helpful as you explore challenging and worthwhile questions with colleagues.

New this year, NetVUE is pleased to offer additional resources and events throughout the year to support the planning and implementation of the Big Read program for institutions. These include:

• A planning guide with key questions to consider for leaders as they apply for the Big Read;
• Suggested discussion questions that could be used for campus groups as they engage the text together;
• Recommended podcasts episodes & blog posts that complement and support the themes of the book; and
• Webinars throughout the year that engage themes and questions from the book from different angles.

Institutions that would like to participate in this network-wide conversation can request up to 20 copies of the book (through the institution’s NetVUE campus contact) for a planned reading group. Visit the NetVUE Big Read website to view the range of supporting resources that are on offer.

To kick off this year’s Big Read, we will gather on Tuesday, September 16, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern (3:00 Central, 2:00 Mountain, 1:00 Pacific) for our first webinar of the new academic year, Exploring Our Callings to Higher Education, which will feature a conversation with Bonnie Miller-McLemore. During the webinar, she will explore major themes from her book and how they can help us understand and contextualize the challenges that come with a calling to work in higher education. In addition to participating in a thoughtful discussion, you may discover multiple ways to use the text in your conversations and work with colleagues and undergraduate students.

The webinar is open to anyone at a NetVUE member institution at no cost, but registration is required. To register, please go to the webinar registration page. Please consider using the webinar as a springboard for further campus conversations that are tailored to your own context.