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The Life of the Mind: A Christian Perspective

From the Publisher "Those who ponder these pages will be renewed to love God with all their minds, to pursue truth, and to live faithfully."--David S. Dockery, Union University What purpose do purely intellectual pursuits have in the lives of Christians? Why should Christians study subjects that have little bearing on their future careers and ministry? In a style reminiscent of the work of Arthur Holmes and Harry Blamires, veteran professor of philosophy Clifford Williams addresses these issues and more in this succinct and accessible examination of the life of the mind. Christians cultivating the life of the mind actively pursue situations and discussions that require experimentation, reflection, and perseverance. They are interested in the acquisition of knowledge that is both unrelated and directly related to their faith. Williams answers common Christian objections to such activities, describes the virtues of the person who engages in the life of the mind, and asserts that the life of the mind is justifiably a Christian calling. The Life of the Mind, the newest addition to the RenewedMinds imprint, is directed toward students contemplating the importance of college and intellectual activity in general, but it will be enjoyed by all committed to developing a Christian mind.

Teaching College in An Age of Accountability

Teaching College in an Age of Accountability provides professors with the insights and tools necessary to achieve higher levels on accountability assessment outcomes while preparing students for enhancing their own career success in a more complex future. In recent years, many initiatives have been implemented by a number of state legislatures and boards of trustees to increase "institutional effectiveness." These measures have made colleges and universities aware that practices once accepted as sacrosanct within the culture will, from this time forward, be assessed regularly for their contribution to achieving more accountable outcomes. Teaching College in an Age of Accountability is the first book that focuses exclusively on the implications of this trend on the work of individual professors. Accountability proponents generally call for increased access to higher education for all citizens, improved retention of students once they are enrolled, and graduation and placement rates that recognize the investment of tax and institutional funds in students' success. This book equips professors to address each of these outcome goals in a proactive manner. (From the Publisher)

“Today’s Syllabus Fulfills Three Roles”
The Modern Practice of Adult Education: A Postmodern Critique

Briton challenges the dominant depoliticized vision of adult education, calling into question the modernist tenets and moral integrity of contemporary adult education practice. By examining his own struggle to escape the confines of modernist thought, the author delivers a succinct yet decisive critique of modern educational practice and challenges educators to reconceptualize their field of endeavor as a postmodern pedagogy of engagement. In refusing to deny its conjectural foundations, to mask its tenuous structure, or to defend its precarious integrity, the book assumes a form that distinguishes it markedly from its modernist counterparts. In favoring commentary over empirical evidence, a multiplicity of voices over a prescriptive narrative, the development of an ethical attitude toward practice over formulaic prescriptions for practice, and inter- over intra-disciplinary sources to substantiate its claims, this work calls into question a whole range of modernist predilections. By repeatedly breaching the narrowly prescribed parameters of adult education's orthodoxy and constantly promoting reflective inquiry, this book reveals how different, yet equally valid, forms of evidence can be drawn upon to develop an ethical postmodern perspective that calls the modern instrumental practice of adult education into question. (From the Publisher)

Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Vol. 12, No. 2

Wabash Center Staff Contact

Sarah Farmer, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Wabash Center

farmers@wabash.edu