A resource for scholars at their desk and scholars in the classroom

Discerning Vocation through Loss, Suffering, and Death

Volume 1 | June 6, 2022

Theme: Pedagogy, Suffering and Death, Vocation

Discipline: Religious Studies, Theology

In September of 2002, exactly one year after the attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, essayist Mark Slouka reflected on how those events had challenged the American psyche, defined for so long by the myth of happy endings. Here in the New Canaan, in the land of perpetual beginnings and second chances,…

Beyond Deep Gladness: Coming to Terms with Vocations We Don’t Choose

Volume 1 | June 6, 2022

Theme: Pedagogy, Suffering and Death, Vocation

Discipline: Religious Studies, Theology

Back in the 1990s, St. Olaf and many other campuses across the country were infused with grants from the Lilly Endowment to explore the concept of vocation. Lutheran institutions of higher education lift up vocation in part due to the prominent role it plays in Lutheran tradition and identity. Vocation comes from the Latin vocare…

Purpose and Meaning in a Time of Crisis

Volume 1 | June 6, 2022

Theme: Pedagogy, Suffering and Death, Vocation

Discipline: Religious Studies, Theology

In his profound and troubling book, Fear and Trembling, the Danish religious writer Søren Kierkegaard remythologizes the story of the binding of Isaac from Genesis 22. I say “remythologizes” rather than “analyzes” or “understands” because Kierkegaard takes pains to attend to all the unthinkable components of the story—to the narrative elements that resist translation into takeaway ethical lessons or airtight conceptual categories.

Trauma-Informed Pedagogy During Times of Crisis: Creating Learning Environments, Space for Self-Care, and Time for Reflection and Action

Volume 1 | June 6, 2022

Theme: Pedagogy

Discipline: Psychology, Theology