CIC is pleased to offer a new discipline-specific seminar, Life and Health Sciences/Vocation, for full-time faculty members in scientific disciplines at colleges and universities that are members of CIC’s Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE). The seminar is intended for faculty members at all levels. Participants will examine the interrelationship of the study of vocation and calling with the life and health sciences, exploring implications for research, teaching, mentoring, and service to the institution. They will probe a variety of understandings of vocation and calling, focusing on the importance of these concepts—particularly as they relate to life, stewardship, and human health—in undergraduate education. The goal of the seminar is to provide participants with a deeper understanding of the relationship of vocation to higher education, to support their investigations of the uses and applications of these concepts within the life and health sciences, and to establish a broader network of faculty members committed to exploring vocation and calling as an area of scholarship within their discipline.
Thanks to a generous grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., CIC will cover most costs of participation for those faculty members who are selected.
Scroll down for more information; alternatively, you can download this two-page flyer about the 2027 Seminar, which can be printed or forwarded to interested faculty members.
About the Seminar
In laboratories and lecture halls, faculty members are encouraging students to view their scientific pursuits not merely as technical training, but as a summons to preserve life, steward the environment, and improve human health. There is a growing body of literature exploring the importance of questions of vocation within the sciences, asking how a deep understanding of biological systems contributes to a flourishing life for all. CIC is pleased to offer this discipline-specific seminar, Life and Health Sciences/Vocation, designed for full-time faculty members in relevant scientific disciplines at NetVUE member institutions.
While many rich conversations about connections between vocation and the sciences are possible, the particular focus this year will be on life and health sciences. Faculty members in Biochemistry, Biology, Molecular Biology, Health Sciences, and Environmental Sciences are the most likely candidates, although applications from other scientific disciplines are welcome. Future iterations of this seminar will focus on connections to basic research and foundational questions of the natural world and may be a better fit for some faculty members in Physics, Astronomy, Math, and Chemistry. There will also be separate future opportunities for the particular vocational questions of Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology.
Participants will examine the interrelationship of the study of vocation with the life and health sciences, exploring implications for research, teaching, and service to the institution.
While many rich conversations about connections between vocation and the sciences are possible, the particular focus this year will be on life and health sciences. We expect faculty members in Biochemistry, Biology/Molecular Biology, Health Sciences, Environmental Sciences to be the most likely candidates, although applications from other scientific disciplines are welcome. Future iterations of this seminar will focus on connections to research and foundational questions of the natural world and may be a better fit for some faculty in Physics, Astronomy, Math, and Chemistry. There will also be separate future opportunities for the particular vocational questions of engineering, computer science, and technology.
The seminar participants will bring to the table their experiences with vocation on their own campuses, whether in teaching, research, writing, service, or inter-office cooperation, but with a focus on the academic disciplines of science. Any full-time member of the faculty at a NetVUE member institution is eligible to apply for the seminar. Selected participants will gather for a five-day seminar on August 2-6, 2027. Through the generosity of Lilly Endowment Inc., all seminar costs will be covered, including a generous travel reimbursement.
Participants in the seminar will be expected to:
- Hold a terminal degree in a scientific discipline;
- Have done some work related to vocation, whether through classroom teaching, reflective or academic writing, or mentoring;
- Undertake background reading, so that the group can start with a common framework of understanding;
- Offer a brief set of reflections, which will be submitted to the seminar facilitators eight weeks before the seminar begins, and revised based on feedback for discussion in the seminar (and, if the applicant so desires, to be revised and expanded later and submitted for possible publication);
- Participate actively in the seminar sessions; and
- Agree to arrive at the seminar venue by early afternoon on Monday, August 2, and remain fully immersed in the event (including meals and social time beyond the scheduled sessions of the seminar) through lunch on Friday, August 6, 2027.
Seminar discussions will cover a range of activities that can enhance vocational exploration in undergraduate education. Some attention will be given to direct work with students, whether through classroom teaching, advising, or co-curricular activities. However, the primary point of focus will be that discipline’s connection to vocation and calling, and its consideration of both theoretical and practical elements of that work.
Current Status
The seminar will take place on August 2-6, 2027, at a location in the Midwest. Up to 12 participants will be selected by competitive application. Anyone in a scientific discipline who serves as a full-time faculty member at a NetVUE member college or university may apply for the seminar. Unlike other NetVUE seminars, a nomination is not required; however, applicants must submit a brief letter of recommendation from someone in the field who knows their work (including their interest in or engagement with questions of vocation and calling). The recommendation may come from within or outside the applicant’s institution. The application deadline is Friday, January 22, 2027. Selected participants will be notified in February for the following summer’s seminar.
Seminar Leaders
Rachael A. Baker is the NetVUE associate director, where she leads a broad portfolio of initiatives that help member institutions develop and sustain vocation‑informed programs for faculty members, staff, and students. She also holds a faculty position as an associate professor of chemistry at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trained as a biochemist with a longstanding interest in vocational exploration, she developed curriculum that helps students integrate virtue practices into their academic programs and collaborative work. As part of her undergraduate research program, she co‑founded the Rare Disease Network, a collaborative organization that trains undergraduate science and pre‑health students while supporting and educating the broader rare disease community. Rachael earned a BS in Biochemistry from Calvin University and a PhD in Biochemistry and Biophysics from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Meghan M. Slining is a professor of Health Sciences at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. Trained as a nutritional epidemiologist, her work aims to promote well-being without increasing body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, and weight stigma. She has found her vocational home in the liberal arts where she balances rigorous intellectual development with the intentional cultivation of the heart. Meghan is the former assistant faculty director of the Cothran Center for Vocational Reflection and contributed “A Case for Compassionate Pedagogy: Caring for the Public’s Health, Cultivating Sustainable Vocations” to the fourth book in the NetVUE Scholarly Resources Project, Called Beyond Ourselves: Vocation and the Common Good. She earned a BA in Multicultural Health Advocacy at Fairhaven College, an MS in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition and an MPH in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from Tufts University, and a PhD in Nutrition Epidemiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Application Details
Those who wish to participate in the seminar should apply through the online application portal. Applicants will be asked for basic contact information, and then will need to upload a single document that includes the following three items:
- A statement of interest (no more than two pages) indicating
- reasons for wishing to participate in the seminar;
- current understanding of and experience with the theoretical and/or practical aspects of vocation and calling;
- reflections on the relationship of this understanding and experience to their discipline; and
- the anticipated results of the seminar for the applicant’s career trajectory (whether in terms of academic publication, pedagogical innovation, or institutional service);
- An abbreviated curriculum vitae (no more than five pages), which lists educational path, work experience, publications, conference papers, and other forms of professional engagement, taking particular note any vocation-related experience or products; and
- One brief letter of recommendation from a colleague in the field, either at one’s own institution or elsewhere, describing why the applicant would be a good candidate for the seminar. (Please provide your referee with a link to this webpage for a full description of the seminar.)
Nomination Deadline: January 22, 2027
Selection of Participants Announced: February 2024
Location and Expenses
The seminar will take place August 2–6, 2027, at a location in the Midwest. Thanks to generous support from Lilly Endowment Inc., CIC will cover most seminar costs, including materials, lodging, and meals, and will provide a travel reimbursement of up to $900 per participant.
Contact Information
For questions about the seminar or the nomination process, contact Rachael Baker, NetVUE associate director, at (616) 632-1060 or rbaker@cic.edu.
Other NetVUE Seminars
CIC offers a series of NetVUE summer seminars, each of which is described on a separate webpage:
For early- to mid-career faculty whose primary interest is in incorporating vocational exploration into their classroom teaching.
Designed for staff who direct campus programs or serve in other long-term administrative capacities, but who do not also hold faculty appointments.
For faculty members and staff who are considering ways of contributing to the wider national conversation about vocation and calling.
For faculty members and staff who have taken on administrative roles (associate deans, assistant provosts, and the like) and who would like to explore campus-wide projects that encourage vocational exploration.
For full-time faculty members at all levels to examine the interrelationship of the study of vocation and calling with the academic fields of theology and religious studies.
About NetVUE
Learn more about NetVUE, including the array of programs and services that are available to member institutions.
To report a technical problem with the website, or to offer suggestions for navigation and content issues, please contact Alex Stephenson, NetVUE communications coordinator, at astephenson@cic.edu.