With episodes released every few weeks, NetVUE’s podcast continues to provide new invitations into the discussion of vocational exploration with college students. Read below for brief descriptions of the latest episodes and find links to listen to each episode in full.
The Craft of Teaching (and Learning) | Carlo Rotella
Released March 16, 2026
Carlo Rotella, a writer and a professor at Boston College (MA), is interested in the nuts and bolts of teaching. In particular, he is interested in the craft of teaching and the ways educators can build classroom experiences that help people make meaning. His new book, What Can I Get Out of This? Teaching and Learning in a Classroom Full of Skeptics, follows the experience of a single cohort of students in a required introductory literature course, most of whom are not English majors. Rotella tells the story of what happens when students practice discussing ideas and readings with each other over a semester and then follows up with them a few years later, revealing that the course yielded a meaningful return on investment in one’s education and life. This conversation captures the impact of classroom learning alongside the ways our callings—within and outside of education—can help individuals practice being better at what they do.
Grit and Purpose | Angela Duckworth
Released February 16, 2026
Angela Duckworth is known for her work on grit, the topic of her best-selling book and her famous TED talk. In this wide-ranging conversation, Angela explores the wisdom of Howard Thurman and Viktor Frankl, the alignment between values and decision making, and the ways a constellation of mentors can benefit students as they explore their callings. Her research on the overlap between perseverance and passion offers new perspectives on vocation, especially relating to goal-setting and risk-taking. Flourishing and calling, Angela explains, is about uncovering a pathway that, over time, has become overgrown and buried. Grit might help us continue pursuing that path.
NetVUE’s blog Vocation Matters provides an online space for colleagues from across the country and around the world to share the latest insights on vocational exploration. Read on for short summaries of recent posts.
Called to Leisure | Christopher Welch
Published March 19, 2026
Recognizing the pervasive impacts of our “busy” culture, Christopher Welch considers the vocational implications of taking time for play, unpaid commitments, hobbies, and rest. Welch makes an important distinction between different forms of leisure and argues for the value of “productive leisure.” Click below not only to read more of his argument but also to reflect on the three implications that Welch identifies for our campuses.
Building Connections in the Classroom: The Role of Friendship in Vocation | Brian Bowman
Published March 12, 2026
Brian Bowman is curious about how professors can create the conditions within their classrooms to help students form friendships and to create community. Recognizing national trends of loneliness—while also understanding the necessary boundaries a professor must maintain—Bowman offers ideas for how classroom design can foster student connections, which in turn can benefit student belonging through social, emotional, and academic growth.
Reflecting before I Assign Reflection: On Vocational Exploration in Business Education | Laura Nicole Miller
Published March 5, 2026
Reflecting on her own imposter syndrome within the field of vocation studies, Laura Nicole Miller provides a thoughtful exploration of how business school curricula often focus on technical skills and immediate career opportunities, missing the potential for students to engage in long-range vocational exploration. Read the full article to see how she sees evidence of this gap within student conversations, titans of tech, and her own research, which ultimately led to a NetVUE grant to infuse longer-range vocational exploration into her organizational communications program.
You Can’t Hack Your Higher Purpose: Restoring Faith in Vocation in the Age of AI | John Frederick Bell
Published February 26, 2026
By starting with the theological commitment that human beings are made with the expectation to think and apply reason to the world, John Frederick Bell reflects on what we lose by outsourcing our thinking selves to AI and suggests that vocation is the “antidote” to the accompanying malaise of meaning. Click the link to read the full post and see how Bell reminds us of the purpose and value of a liberal arts education.
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