May 2023, Vol. 9, No. 2

What Is One Alternative Way to Measure and Conceptualize Spirituality? Critical Conversations #33 

Nayoung Jang, Korea University Sejong
K. C. Culver, The University of Alabama
Nicholas A. Bowman, The University of Iowa

In  A Scale of Authenticity as a Secular Measurement of Spirituality, the authors propose a scale to measure college students’ authenticity, which is a closely related concept to spirituality. They answer questions posed by JCC editors.  Read More.

Questions Relating to Moral Development: JCC, May 2023

Pamela C. Crosby, Co-Editor, Journal of College and Character

Here are some important questions that relate to moral development that are explored in articles in the May 2023 issue (vol. 24, no. 2) of the Journal of College and Character. Read more

New Spaces & Roles for Student Affairs Educators

Living in the Now: Spirituality and the Impact of the Pandemic on Undergraduate Students

Michael J. Stebleton, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities

Clearly, the pandemic continues to shape students’ perceptions around their academic, personal, and professional experiences. In my last column post (February 2023), I described an exercise where I asked undergraduate students how Covid-19 might have influenced their own values about work and life overall. Most notably, many students discussed how the pandemic nudged them to re-evaluate priorities in their own lives, while other students discussed making significant changes around their major or intended career trajectories.. Read more.

Lessons in Moral Development Learned From a Sabbatical Adventure

Humanizing an Essential Question: The Agency – Structure Dialectic

Peter Mather, Ohio University

I regularly found that students had difficulties knowing how to translate their understanding of theories into their work. I believed I had found the silver bullet: theoretical models that promote action. My attention to the framework of agency was built on a belief that the world is complex, in an ongoing state of flux, and people are confronting epic, existential concerns that deal with meaning and existence.  Read more.

Critical Religious Studies in Higher Education

Conference Roundup

Jenny L. Small Brandeis University

Jenny Small and her colleagues Renee Bowling, Julia Collett, and Sachi Edwards compiled of list of presentations related to critical religious studies at the conferences they collectively attended this year: . Read more.

Engaging Civic Religious Pluralism

Civic Religious Pluralism: Expectations & Equipping Ourselves for the Year

Becca Hartman-Pickerill, Interfaith America

As we prepare for another momentous year, this is an invitation to expect relationships and connection, expect difference and disagreement, and invest in the time needed to cultivate bridgebuilding skills. While the instances of conflict and disagreement hold our attention (see Ripley’s book to learn more), one of the skills of bridgebuilding is developing a radar screen for stories of engagement, connection and collaboration across difference. Listen to, read, repeat those stories too. Many religious traditions call their adherents to be careful about what crosses their eyes, what they take into their hearts, and what they give their attention to; academics share a similar commitment, though differently framed, to pay attention to the best thinking and argument that you disagree with (not the most outlandish).  Whatever the motivation, my hope for our campuses and broader community is to live into these expectations and aspirations. Read more.

Fostering Moral Development

 A Sense of Security

Alan Acosta, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School 

One question I have been grappling with lately is can higher education institutions guarantee students' safety? And to think take that one step further, should that even be a guarantee higher education institutions make? Read more.