This book champions vocation and calling as key elements of undergraduate education. It offers a historical and theoretical account of vocational reflection and discernment, as well as suggesting how these endeavors can be implemented through specific educational practices. Against the backdrop of the current national conversation about the purposes of higher education, it argues that the undergraduate years can provide a certain amount of relatively unfettered time, and a "free and ordered space," in which students can consider the kinds of lives to which they are being called. The book is divided into four parts; the first of these explores the broader context within which vocational reflection takes place (attending both to the current state of higher education and to broader cultural trends). The second part examines the contours of vocation from historical, theological, and philosophical perspectives, with particular attention to narrative as a key factor in shaping (and accounting for) one's various callings. Part three considers the relationship between vocation and virtue, both of which encourage the cultivation of good habits with the goal of living a fulfilled and fulfilling life. The last part of the book explores vocational reflection beyond the classroom, suggesting that it can also be sustained through co-curricular activities, programs for community engagement, and attention to a campus's physical features. Concluding with an epilogue that summarizes that various pedagogies of vocation that are developed throughout the book, this book also suggests that vocation may itself serve as a kind of pedagogy by encouraging undergraduates to examine larger questions of meaning and purpose. At This Time and In This Place offers a compelling argument for vocational reflection and discernment in undergraduate education; as such, it represents a significant contribution to the emerging scholarly literature in this field.

About the Author
David S. Cunningham is Professor of Religion at Hope College, where he also serves as Director of the CrossRoads Project and of the Klooster Center for Excellence in Writing.

Reviews
"The idea of a personal calling or vocation has grown increasingly foreign in contemporary culture, at the expense of notions of success, happiness, and consumption. Creative thinkers at small colleges are reconsidering the crucial idea of vocation, however, and this is the first report on that rethinking. I hope it garners widespread attention and stimulates much-needed new reflection and discussion." --Christian Smith, author of Lost in Transition: The Dark Side of Emerging Adulthood "Essential reading for reminding us of the integrative value of higher education. Toward helping students thrive during college and beyond, Cunningham and colleagues offer critical perspectives on how we can incorporate vocational exploration, reflection, and discernment within the undergraduate experience, and why it is essential that we do so." --Jennifer A. Lindholm, Assistant Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education, University of California, Los Angeles "What happens when diverse scholars gather to discuss the idea and practice of vocational exploration in undergraduate education? The answer is this brilliant and generative volume. No stone has been left unturned in the analysis of vocation's significance at this cultural moment, its connections to virtue, or its place within and beyond classrooms. The movement to revitalize higher education via vocational exploration will be powerfully strengthened by these fine essays." --Tim Clydesdale, author of The Purposeful Graduate: Why College Must Talk to Students about Vocation



Book Information
ISBN 9780190243920
Author David S. Cunningham
Format Hardback
Page Count 376
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 680g
Dimensions(mm) 152mm * 236mm * 36mm