Union University
Union University Center for Faculty Development
Center for Faculty Development

Center Dialogue



In the Academy Dialogue Groups

The Purpose

To provide faculty with opportunities to read and discuss books (often books they have always wanted to read) and ideas in an interdisciplinary, informal, lunch setting where no one is the teacher and everyone is a learner.

The Process

  • At the beginning of each semester, interested faculty can suggest topics of interests
  • The Center for Faculty Development will buy the books, schedule the meetings, find the rooms and provide lunch
  • Most groups tend to meet three times during the semester.

Fall 2012 Dialogue Groups

  • The Narnian:The Life and Imagination of C. S. Lewis Alan Jacobs.
  • Everyday Theology Kevin J. Vanhoozer.
  • Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies Marylin Chandler Mc Entyre.
  • Creating a Sense of Presence in Online Teaching Rosemary M. Lehman.

Spring 2012 Dialogue Groups

  • The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship, George Marsden, Oxford University Press, 1997.
  • Transformational Teaching in the Information Age: Making How and Why We Teach Relevant to Students, Rosebrough and Leverett, Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2011

Fall 2011 Dialogue Groups

  • Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegner (Set in the 1930s, this novel focuses on scholarly aspirations, ambitions, politics, achievements, relational dynamics, and disappointments, both in and out of the academy.)
  • Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, School, John Medina
  • Jesus Christ and the Life of the Mind, Mark Noll

Spring 2011 Dialogue Groups

  • The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship; George Marsden
  • Creating Significant Learning Experiences; L. Dee Fink
  • The Wonder of the World: A Journey from Science to the Mind of God; Roy Abraham Varghese
  • Celebration of Discipline; Richard Foster
  • Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future; Tim Elmore

Fall 2010 Dialogue Groups

  • Cultural Intelligence: Improving Your CQ to Engage Our Multicultural World; David Livermore
  • Creating Significant Learning Experiences; L. Dee Fink
  • The Bondage of the Will; Martin Luther
  • The World is Flat; Thomas L. Friedman

History

"Study is a specific kind of experience in which through careful observation of objective structures we cause thought processes to move in a certain way . . . When done with concentration, perception and repetition, ingrained habits of thought are formed."
-Richard Foster; Celebration of Discipline