Fides Quaerens Intellectum

Having heard much about James K.A. Smith’s 2009 book Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation, and having recently received a nudge from a friend and colleague to pull the trigger, I went ahead and began digging in.  Thus far I’ve not been disappointed.  This book is particularly suited to Christ-followers whose vocation is [...]

This week Trent Wilbanks and I are team teaching our final module for the academic year.  Cultural transformation is the topic, and Andy Crouch’s book Culture Making is the backbone text.  Concept of the week?  Power.  Crouch says that cultural power is “the ability to successfully propose a new cultural good.”  As it turns out, [...]

More on the CA roundtable I mentioned in the last post–USC philosopher and author Dallas Willard was with us. Much of the discussion focused on how to impact the secular university, and, among other ideas and observations he offered,  Dallas had this to say: “I’m most concerned about [the Christian] students who are going out [...]

A number of us from the foundation had the opportunity to meet with several education leaders last weekend in California.  One of the participants, a long-time veteran in the field of higher education and former seminary president, made the observation that “the culture of the institution is the hidden curriculum for the students.”  More to [...]

Millions of young Christ-followers began their university journey this month.  How will they fare with regard to their worldview and overall approach to life?  Statistics

Marana (my wife) and I recently returned from a cruise vacation to the Bahamas, the purpose of which was to celebrate the completion of the Ph.D. that I started back in the fall of 2000.  Fantastic experience (the cruise, that is); ready to go back.  One afternoon a small advertisement on the wall of the [...]

It’s no secret that academia is, and has been, dominated by politically and socially left-tilting faculty members. For years now David Horowitz has been the most prominent voice on this issue, and indeed at times has been a voice crying in the wilderness. This is not an argument for conservatives to avoid higher education or [...]

This past week at IMPACT 360 (www.impact360.net) saw the awakening of students’ critical thinking capacities as those were brought to bear on the subject of ethics. Too broad? For sure. This was an introductory module to ethics–specifically an introduction to the major systems of ethics, including deontology, utilitarianism and virtue ethics. We also covered moral [...]

Perhaps the most powerful objection to a thoroughgoing faith/learning academic environment (i.e., in the classroom itself) and its supporting arguments is an argument from academic freedom. More than a few well-meaning professors put it this way: “Faith/learning integration in our classrooms ought not be imposed on us from the powers that be, because while intellectual [...]

Several weeks ago the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from Union University (www.uu.edu), Dr. Gene Fant, came as an IMPACT 360 (www.impact360.net) guest professor.  Union U is IMPACT 360′s academic partner, and our students are technically Union students by virtue of the articulation agreement.  Like my alma mater, Erskine College (www.erskine.edu), where [...]