Conversations on college, career, and a life well-lived. “Callings” explores what it means to live a life defined by a sense of meaning and purpose. It focuses on the process of exploring and discerning one’s vocation, with particular emphasis on mentoring and supporting undergraduate students as they navigate college, career, and a life-well lived. Hosted by the Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE).
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How does experience with trauma inform, and transform, our vocations? Our guest, Deanna Thompson, helps us understand how suffering shapes us and how our vocational frameworks might integrate sadness. Deanna’s journey with incurable cancer informs her role not only as a scholar and writer, but as a professor of religion at St. Olaf College, where she explores with students how vocation can be framed by unresolved questions and the paradoxes of despair and hope. Throughout this conversation, Dean...
Meghan Sullivan teaches philosophy at the University of Notre Dame, where she also directs a program on God and the Good Life. Meghan’s newest book, co-authored with Paul Blaschko, is titled The Good Life Method: Reasoning through the Big Questions of Happiness, Faith, and Meaning . In our conversation, Meghan talks about the philosopher in all of us. She describes how philosophy bridges the active and reflective life, noting how strongly students yearn to explore life’s significant questions su...
Rowan Williams is a professor, public theologian, author, poet, and one of the most recognized Christian leaders of our era. Most notably, from 2002 to 2012, he served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury which is the senior leadership position in the Church of England and the ceremonial head of the Anglican Communion worldwide. In this conversation, Rowan reflects on his vocational development and shares insight and wisdom about public leadership, contemplative practice, dialog, and “common gr...
Shaun Casey’s work explores the overlapping concerns among religion, diplomacy, and public life. Trained as a theologian with an interest in public policy, Shaun held many academic positions before he was called to set up the Office of Religion and Global Affairs at the U.S. State Department by Secretary of State John Kerry. In this conversation, Shaun offers us ways to think about vocations that have a public face and to consider how we might contribute to the major issues of contemporary life....
Thema Bryant is the president-elect of the American Psychological Association, as well as a clinical psychologist, professor, and an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. She describes a deep sense of calling in her life in terms of an “overarching theme of healing.” In our conversation, Thema discusses liberation psychology, the relationship between faith and therapy, the healing power of poetry and dance, and the opportunities and limitations of social media in vocational d...
Meghan Slining, an epidemiologist and public health professor, shares how we might model compassion and love as we address burnout and support vocations that serve the public good. After five semesters marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, colleges and universities are still assessing the impact of the many losses and changes that we have experienced, both individually and collectively. In our conversation with Meghan, we explore how vocations develop at the intersections of diverse disciplines and e...
This bonus episode features highlights from conversations that aired during the second season of Callings. Our guests offer advice for students today, but the advice is also helpful for anyone who teaches or mentors young adults. Listen to this compilation of insightful and interesting advice from Andy Chan, Marjorie Hass, Tim Clydesdale, Mary Dana Hinton, Jason Mahn, Patrick Reyes, and Stephanie Johnson.
Jon Malesic explores the gap between the ideals and reality of work in his new book, The End of Burnout: Why Work Drains Us and How to Build Better Lives . In our conversation, Jon shares how we can imagine new cultural narratives of work and purpose and affirm the dignity of individuals, regardless of the sense of identity that we may gain from paid employment. Jon explains how (what he thought was) his dream job almost ruined his life, how the best spiritual practice may be “just getting over ...
How might literary studies expand our understanding of vocation? In this episode we hear from two English professors who have explored this question in depth. Stephanie Johnson (The College of St. Scholastica) and Erin Van Laningham (Loras College) are co-editors of a new book on the subject: Cultivating Vocation in Literary Studies (Edinburgh University Press, 2022). Together, they observe that the imaginative work required by the close reading of texts can help us as we discern our callings—in...
Richard Hughes—whose scholarship ranges across religious history, vocation, and the role of race in American religious culture—joins us for a conversation about some “troublesome questions” that have driven his thinking and scholarly work. An accomplished storyteller, Richard shares with us significant moments of rejection and criticism in his life and how these made him reconsider his most deeply held beliefs. Richard reflects on the influence of Victor Frankl, Robert Bellah, James Noel, and Ma...
In this interview, Tim Clydesdale talks about living intentionally—and about what it means to serve through one’s vocation. Building on his influential book The Purposeful Graduate and his subsequent research on twenty-somethings, Tim shares his expertise and empathy for young adults in their vocational journey. He emphasizes the importance of many conversation partners, understanding our common hopes and interests, and how to affirm those “good citizens” that we meet along the way. Listeners wi...
Our guest in this episode is Marjorie Hass, president of the Council of Independent Colleges, who previously served as president of Rhodes College and of Austin College. Her recent book, A Leadership Guide for Women in Higher Education, stems from conversations with women leaders over many years. In her responses to our questions about calling, leadership, and times of personal as well as institutional crisis, Marjorie drew upon a set of images and metaphors from her own Jewish tradition. For he...
Our guest, Tom Landy, is director of the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts. A longtime leader in higher education and vocation-related initiatives, Tom is founder of Collegium, a summer colloquy on faith and intellectual life. He is also co-editor of Becoming Beholders: Cultivating Sacramental Imagination and Action in College Classrooms , which includes various essays on how we can encourage students to develop imagina...
As a young girl in Kittrell, North Carolina, Mary Dana Hinton never imagined she might one day become the president of a college. Driven by a life-long calling to educational equity, she became the 13th president of Hollins University in August 2020 after serving as president of the College of Saint Benedict for many years. In this conversation she shares that on some days her calling feels heavy, and yet the inspiration of her hard-working mother, the encouragement from early mentors, and the u...
Patrick Reyes, author of "The Purpose Gap," redefines vocation, moving beyond individualistic "hero's journey" models to a "constellation metaphor" that emphasizes communal purpose and collective flourishing, especially for communities of color. He advocates for educational freedom, valuing ancestral wisdom, and integrating love into academic practices. Reyes urges educators and students to courageously redesign systems to heal communities and create a better future for coming generations.
During the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jason Mahn began chronicling his “wondering and wanderings,” which are now published under the title Neighbor Love Through Fearful Days: Finding Purpose and Meaning in a Time of Crisis (Fortress, 2021). In this episode, we talk with Jason about his “in the moment” reflections about how we commit ourselves to loving our neighbors during times of social distancing, quarantine, protest, and social unrest. He writes about the threat of white supr...
In this episode, we talk with Andy Chan, Vice President for Innovation and Career Development at Wake Forest University. We ask Andy about the ways vocation and career overlap, as well as how we might help students rethink success. The provocative title of his TED talk, “Why Career Services Must Die,” is a rallying cry for how the academy can better integrate questions of career and purpose throughout all aspects of the college experience. For Andy, innovation is not just about novelty for its o...
This bonus episode features highlights from conversations that aired during the first season of Callings . We often ask our guests what advice they might offer to young adults today, and their answers are varied as they are thought-provoking. Listen to this compilation of good advice from insightful people, including Darby Ray, Eboo Patel, Amanda Tyler, Rabbi Rachel Mikva, Father Dennis Holtschneider, and Shirley Showalter.
In this episode we talk with Amanda Tyler, executive director of the Baptist Joint Committee, which is headquartered on Capitol Hill and advocates for religious freedom for all (a mission that now includes confronting the challenge of Christian nationalism). Drawing on her experience as a trial lawyer and a leader in the not-for-profit sector, Amanda shares with us the ways we are called to walk a line between fidelity to the past and stewardship for the future. She also offers sage advice about...
After serving for many years as the president of Goshen College, Shirley Showalter has written an engaging memoir about growing up in a Mennonite community and her efforts to negotiate the lures of the “glittering world.” In this conversation, she shares how she came to write Blush , describes what that process taught her about narrative and story, and reflects on the ambiguities of humility and pride. With a forthcoming book (co-written with Marilyn McEntyre) about grandparenting and becoming a...
In this episode, we talk with Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, president of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities (ACCU). Fr. Dennis shares his insights about leadership and our common call to listen to one another — even when we hold strongly opposing views. He also challenges us to consider “interruption stories,” those moments when we are called to respond to a compelling human need. Drawing on his experience as a teacher, university president, and leader in the healthcare industry, ...
In this episode, we speak with Rabbi Rachel Mikva, longstanding contributor to NetVUE and author of the new book Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (Beacon, 2021) . In the book, she probes the ways that the dangers that lurk in our religious identities and convictions can be a force for good or for evil. Rachel unpacks how critique of one’s own tradition—what she calls self-critical faith—can help facilitate conversation about rel...
In this new episode, we talk to Paul Wadell and Charlie Pinches, authors of the new book Living Vocationally: The Journey of the Called Life (Cascade Books, 2021). The authors note that, while we live in a moralizing time, we have a limited vocabulary for describing issues of morality and character with any degree of nuance. They turn to the language of the virtues in order to capture the subtleties of the moral life and to help equip us for whatever life may send our way. The virtue of hope, in...
Eboo Patel, founder of Interfaith Youth Core (IFYC), speaks passionately about work as a craft , and about the promises and pitfalls of charismatic leadership. Invoking such diverse sources as James Baldwin, William Carlos Williams, and The Grateful Dead, Patel discusses shifts in his thinking about leadership and listening as president of a non-profit over the course of the last decade. His forthcoming book explores the role of builders as opposed to critics , and he asks, how might colleges an...
Can a person’s calling be shaped by driving into a new town on Annual Trash Day? Find out in this episode, which features Darby Ray, Professor of Civic Engagement at Bates College and co-director of the NetVUE faculty seminar. Darby encourages us to undertake what she describes as “necessary homework”—attending to ourselves and to our communities—and thereby emphasizes the importance of cultural humility and awareness. Vocation can offer us an experience of beauty and joy in a dark and harrowing...
The book Leading Lives That Matter is a much-loved collection of vocation-related readings oriented toward undergraduate students. A new edition was published this summer, updated with new sections and several new readings, including pieces by Pope Francis, Malcolm Gladwell, Winona LaDuke, Jhumpa Lahiri, Wangari Maathai, Toni Morrison, Larry Rasmussen, and Alice Walker. In this interview, editors Mark Schwehn and Dorothy Bass talk about the fortuitous events that led to the original project and ...
Shirley Roels, the founding director of NetVUE, currently serves as the executive director of the International Network for Christian Higher Education. In this inaugural episode of Callings , Shirley shares some of the twists and turns in her own life and describes the three “intertwined threads” that have informed her career: higher education, faith-based institutions, and organizational management. At each moment of vocational reflection, Shirley has asked the question, “What needs doing that ...
