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The Ends and Goals of Higher Education

Peace, Beauty, Relationships: Teenage reflections on the MidWest Faculty Ministry Conference

Sunset at Cedar Campus
Sunset at Cedar Campus

It’s about time for a follow-up to The End of Higher Ed — Update #1 and what a joy to have one of my talented teenage daughters looking for the opportunity 🙂 If you have a story to share about one of this summer’s faculty conferences, please be in touch with me. Thank-you! ~ Thomas B. Grosh IV, Associate Director, Emerging Scholars Network 

Peace and Beauty . . .

The air grew crisp and it was so incredibly quiet… It wasn’t until we arrived at the lake that we realized it may not be the city at all that seemed so quiet, but the reality that 5 full of life kids were not with us. Either way, we missed our kids but relished in the calm and tranquil. We walked out in the waters. We felt the sand under our feet. We embraced the quiet and the beauty. I could feel the weight of 5 long, stressful weeks lift… I felt alive. Inspired. Refreshed. In awe. Captivated…  I’ve never experienced water so calm…  It was like glass for as far as my eyes could see…until we stepped in and caused ripples… The quietness demanded attention in a way different from the thundering of towering waves hitting sandy beaches…Coming out of a period of treading water and trying to stay above the waves made me stop and rest in a new way in the calm waters. – Ashley Campbell, Don’t Forget You Love to Swim (Under the Sycamore, 9/15/2014)

This quote from Ashley Campbell from her blog, Under the Sycamore, describes a night at InterVarsity Cedar Campus almost perfectly.  I don’t have five kids, a husband, and have never been to Great Salt Lake, but I still related to this.  I had felt that peace and beauty.  The creation just standing still and everything stopping.  In that moment, I didn’t think about the daunting first day as a freshman in high school.  I didn’t think about my friend’s problems, I didn’t even think about my imperfections.  All I did was praise God.  Over and over again, I remember saying, “Thank God.  Amen.”  I remember thinking of song lyrics that described my feelings. [Read more…] about Peace, Beauty, Relationships: Teenage reflections on the MidWest Faculty Ministry Conference

Book Review: Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science

Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science by Edward Lurie (Chicago: U. of Chicago Press, 1960. Note: reprinted in 1988 by Johns Hopkins U. Press).

Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science by Edward Lurie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Louis Agassiz might well be considered the foremost naturalist of the first half of the nineteenth century. He brought a rigor to the scientific enterprise in America that inspired everyone from cabinet members to farmers. And he also reflects the human dilemma of being caught late in life in a paradigm shift as the work of Charles Darwin won over a younger generation of zoologists, some who had studied with Agassiz.

This is an older work, published in 1960 and a cheap find at a used book sale at our local library! Lurie traces Agassiz from his youth in Switzerland, his clear sense of a plan for his life from age 15 that led to a succession of studies first in Neuchatel, and then in Germany, his efforts to forestall his parents aims that he would settle down to a respectable medical practice in his home town, and fortuitous relationships with Humboldt and Cuvier. It was with the latter that his metaphysical and scientific convictions about special creation and the fixed nature of species were formed. During this time he gained great reknown in Europe with lectures on glaciation and how these wiped out species and how different species were specially created in various locations following the last ice age. [Read more…] about Book Review: Louis Agassiz: A Life in Science

The End of Higher Ed — Update #1

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets. — Matthew 22:37-40

The Ends and Goals of Higher Education in Twenty-First-Century America: Change and the Calling of the Christian Educator (Cedar Campus, June 21-27).

What a joy for our whole family to participate in the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship MidWest Faculty Ministry Conference. A shout out to Bob Trube for his superb directing of the conference and the InterVarsity staff (Robin Capcara, Bob Clark, Debra Clark, Howard Van Cleave, Charles Yu) who alongside the presenters (coordinated by Todd Lundberg) and the amazing InterVarsity Cedar Campus staff/crew truly hit a home run. To God be the glory!

For Bob Trube’s “on the ground” reflections on The Ends and Goals of Higher Education in Twenty-First-Century America: Change and the Calling of the Christian Educator visit

Thank-you for praying for . . . [Read more…] about The End of Higher Ed — Update #1

Review: March Madness ’14 Finals, Dialogue . . .

Integrating faith & field vs. Realizing justice in action

Ready for finals . . . graduation?

Yes, we’ve made it to the finals of ESN March Madness ’14. I have learned a lot as we have wrestled with the question:

What is the most pressing issue for the Christian to engage when journeying in higher ed?

Please share your vote and invite others to do likewise. Winner will be announced on Good Friday (4/18). Note: If you haven’t voted in ESN March Madness ’14 (and invited others to do likewise), now is the time to engage to make sure your vote is heard.

As I’ve shared before, this tourney is influencing our priority of focus as we prepare for Fall 2014. If you have a desire to address a particular topic or recommend a possible contributor (e.g., book to be reviewed, book reviewer, interview, offer a reflection), please let me know.

Engaging in the conversation . . .

Below are a few pieces which really caught my attention and yes, there are more on ESN’s Facebook Wall 🙂 Please do not hesitate to share your must reads in the comments section below, on Facebook, via email, etc. . . . [Read more…] about Review: March Madness ’14 Finals, Dialogue . . .

Review: March Madness ’14, Reads, Opportunities . . .

ESN March Madness ’14 . . .

A quick ESN March Madness ’14 round between “Finding & keeping vocation” and “Realizing justice in action” followed by a face-off with “Diversity in higher ed” to see who goes to the finals to take on “Integrating faith & field” surprised me by starting with a tie in my own household. Hmm . . .

My wife has stuck to her position that “Realizing justice in action” is possibly the “most pressing issue for the Christian to engage when journeying in higher ed”. Do you agree? I’ll count the votes on Sunday night to begin the finals week. If you haven’t voted in ESN March Madness ’14 (and invited others to do likewise), now is the time to engage to make sure your vote is heard.

As I’ve shared before, this tourney is influencing our priority of focus as we prepare for Fall 2014. If you have a desire to address a particular topic or recommend a possible contributor (e.g., book to be reviewed, book reviewer, interview, offer a reflection), please let me know.

Must reads . . .

Below are a few pieces which really caught my attention, with lots more on ESN’s Facebook Wall 🙂 Please do not hesitate to share your must reads in the comments section below.

[Read more…] about Review: March Madness ’14, Reads, Opportunities . . .